BATMAN AND THE CONCEPT OF EVIL
IN OUR SECIOTY
HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

Batman is a man of fiction that only lives in world of comics and other media. But the morals and values the Dark Knight possesses are too tangible to ignore. As a society, the same morals and values define our interpretation of what we perceive evil. A so-called hero can only be defined by his opposition against evil. American Service members fight the nations wars to destroy what the nation defines as evil, in this situation terrorism is that evil. To many this equates of being a hero to others a killer. Just as service members are define by their actions against terrorism. (MISSING SOMETHING )Evil exist regardless if it is in comics or real life. We as society are defined by the rules we deem exactable in our fight against what society see as evil. Thought this paper it explores coalitions between the evil Batman Faces and the evil society faces . Evil is a word that can have many distinctive meanings, such as ethically wrong or causing ruin, pain or injury. Merely by the definition of evil, an individual can only have a grasp of what evil is through experience and moral belief. With that in mind, the question arises, where do does society draw the line between evil and good? It cannot. The boundary is based on individual opinions, usually dependent on religion, childhood experience, and a collective view on the matter. Society uses imagery of comic books to express artistically how the view the world in popular culture and the disputes between good and evil. The creative team behind comics is constantly borrowing symbolic symbols from the realms of popular culture, high art, politics, science, social issues and perception of evil, are just a few examples. It should be no surprise that comic books interpretation of evil mirrors society interoperation very closely. Because of these similarities, super heroes are extremely reloadable, obviously not relatable in the sense of humans flying with an arsenal of superpowers, But on the moral side and the hero’s opposition against evil. Batman’s opposition against evil is well know, and his one rule not kill defines his hero status. The Joker is a highly intelligent psychopath murderer without rival. It is difficult to imagine an individual with the same disregard for human life as the joker is portrayed in comics. But the do exist and will discuss them later on this paper. The Joker is infamously know for killing the second Boy wonder Robin, Jason Todd, beating him to a bloody pulp with a crow bar before blowing up a building with Jason inside. He shot and killed Lieutenant Sarah Essen, Commissioner Jim Gordon’s second wife, in front of dozens of toddlers, no less, whom the Joker threatened to kill in order to lure Sarah Essen to him. Years earlier in DC universe the Joker shot Barbara Gordon Commissioner Jim Gordon’s daughter and the former Batgirl in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down, and then tormented commissioner Gordon with nude pictures of Barbara laying down in a pool of her own blood. Batman unsurprisingly catches the Joker and puts him back through what Batman calls the “revolving door” at Arkham alyssum. Batman comprehends and knows that the Joker will escape, and the murderess rampage will continue. So the question arises why is it so difficult for Batman to just kill and eliminated the Joker? The answer to the question various, depending on who’s point of view is answering the question and the ethics behind the decision. This debate between killing or not killing can fit with two ethical views with in our society, the deontological and utilitarianism. John Start Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." (4) The argument in favor of killing the Joker or anyone with the same ethical demeanor is fairly