In fact, The Dark Knight is as much about Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) as it is about Batman.
In this article, we’re going to unveil how Two-Face subtly replaces Batman as the central character in The Dark Knight.
Thematic Analysis
Before we dive into the intricate details of The Dark Knight’s plot, it’s important to understand the central themes of the narrative to understand Harvey Dent’s significance in the story.
The central theme of The Dark Knight is corruption and the fallibility of heroes. If you ask me, a villain is a former hero who was brutally let down or manipulated by society. But what causes the 180-degree transformation? Well, we might not be born evil, but we do have equal parts of both good and evil in us. All it needs is a precise trigger to unleash the beast within us.
The narrative also explores duality, quite literally, through both the protagonist’s and antagonist’s journeys, amidst all the “superheroism”. At the same time, The Dark Knight seeks accountability from the entire justice system. As Batman and Gordon are forced to skirt laws and make questionable alliances to protect Gotham, we are compelled to question at what point justice meets vigilantism for the greater good.
Story Analysis–Unveiling How Two-Face Is The Central Character Of The Narrative
The narrative begins at a time when Gotham is practically being run by thugs, with the crime rate at an all-time high. The film opens with the Joker (Heath Ledger) brutally robbing the Gotham City Bank.
While Batman is fighting crimes as a bat-masked Dark Knight, bending rules and using violence to keep the criminals in check, District Attorney Harvey Dent is the rising hero, Gotham’s White Knight, who’s bringing them down by the law, closely working with Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) of the police department.
‘The Dark Knight’Source: Warner Bros.
Batman’s friendship with Lieutenant Gordon brings Dent and Batman together as a team, as they go after the criminals. At the same time, Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, is seemingly insecure about Harvey Dent, as he is dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), his childhood friend and love of his life.
Under their campaign against the crime lords, Harvey and Gordon raid all the different mob banks, confiscating crime money, causing serious damage to Gotham’s crime world. Greatly worried and upset, the mob bosses are pondering their next movies when the Joker extends support to them. Joker paints Batman as the real threat, telling them how no safekeeping is good enough against him, considering he is above the law, and so are his methods.
As a solution to their troubles, Joker offers to kill Batman in exchange for 50% of their remaining mob funds.
Just as the Joker suspects, Batman captures the primary accountant of the mob, Lau (Chin Han), and brings him to Harvey and Gordon for interrogation. As they are close to breaking Lau to retrieve the names of the mob members, the Joker retaliates against them with full force, focused on freeing Lau, the biggest evidence against the crime lords.
The Joker threatens Gotham City with a string of murders unless Batman reveals his real identity before the public. Joker begins a rampage of killings, starting with Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Colin McFarlane) and Judge Surillo, who is presiding over the mob trial. Joker also plans an attack against Harvey Dent, but Batman saves him.
Cornered, Bruce Wayne finally decides to come clean before the public. But before he can do that, Harvey announces himself to be the bat-suited vigilante of Gotham.
Soon, the Joker kidnaps both Harvey and Rachel. He traps them in separate locations, rigged with explosives, openly challenging Batman to save them. But even with his best efforts, Batman fails to save the day. Rachel gets killed in the explosion while Dent gets seriously disfigured, with half of his face getting completely burned.
‘The Dark Knight’Source: Warner Bros.
Next, the Joker creates a diversion for Batman and Gordon and goes to meet Dent at the hospital. He manipulates Dent into believing that he was let down by the people he’s been fighting for, and now it’s time to switch sides. Deeply influenced by the Joker’s perspective, Dent sets out on a killing spree as Two-Face, avenging Rachel’s death by killing those whom he holds responsible.
Soon, it’s Batman versus Gotham’s former White Knight. In the end, although Two-Face dies at the hands of Batman, we realize how he was a victim of corruption. After Harvey’s death, Batman takes the onus of all of his actions to preserve Dent’s reputation as the White Knight of Gotham–the hero who people knew.
Dent’s transformation from Gotham’s White Knight to Two-Face is more than a subplot—it is the emotional and thematic anchor of the narrative. Dent becomes the collateral of Batman and Joker’s philosophical battle, and his death in the end showcases how sometimes corruption outweighs honesty.
Dent’s legal crusade against crime versus Batman’s reckless vigilantism over Gotham also forces us to think about how decay in the system can outweigh all kinds of purgatory efforts.
What do you think?
