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Batman's Ethos In The Dark Knight

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Batman's Ethos In The Dark Knight
Ryan Small
3/2/17
English 101-16
Assignment #4

In this closing scene of The Dark Knight, Gordon and Batman use cause and effect to justify lying to the general public about the events that took place that resulted in the deaths of five citizens of Gotham. Batman believes that if the word gets out that the Joker corrupted the once heroic police captain Harvey Dent, then all of the inspirational work Dent accomplished would stand for nothing. Batman further explains that the people deserve to have their faith rewarded, and therefore they must protect the reputation and overall image of the well-known known hero. Gordon has no choice but to go along with this logic, and in turn they choose to pin the murders on Batman and protect the honor of …show more content…
In order to appeal to the ethos of the audience, Batman is presented as an honorable hero for taking the blame for Dent’s crime. Though the movie producers are successful at persuading the audience of the honor of Batman, it is also confusing to have Batman not be the hero at the end of the movie. Therefore, the open-endedness and vagueness at the conclusion of this movie hinders the persuasiveness used by the writers to have Batman be the hero of the movie. But, this vagueness also serves as a logical tool used by the writers to leave the audience wanting more storyline. The logic used by the writers is that if they leave Batman in a sticky situation at the conclusion of this movie, then the viewers will want further information and answers to the problem at hand. This use of logic, as well as the cause and effect of this decision, is an effective persuasive tool used to convince the audience to continue to follow the …show more content…
USU OpenSourceWare, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.
Langer, E. "Cause-and-Effect Reasoning." Changingminds.org. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(6), 635-642, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.
User, Super. "Home - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, the Modes of Persuasion ‒ Explanation and Examples." Home - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, the Modes of Persuasion ‒ Explanation and Examples. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2017.
Nolan, Christopher, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, David S. Goyer, Jonathan Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, James N. Howard, Hans Zimmer, and Bob Kane. The Dark Knight. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video,
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