True Hero in The Dark Knight Essay Example

The city of Gotham is home to both the archetypal hero and antihero.  In “The Dark Knight”, Batman and Joker take on these roles respectively; each demonstrating the cliched traits of their role.  That is not to say that Batman and Joker were the only heroes in the film, as there are many supporting characters who not only directly, or indirectly, influenced the main characters but on their own accord acted selflessly for the citizens caught up in the proverbial mix.  In the chaos throughout the story, Commissioner Gordon used his relationship with Batman, his role as Police Commissioner, and his standing as a father to ensure the safety of his populace, his family and accomplish his duty to “protect and serve”.

As Batman was looking over the city he tunes into a radio where Joker tells the police where they will find the so-called “Harvey Dent”. The first one on the scene is Mr. Gordon, behind him in the shadows Batman appears and asks Mr. Gordon to identify the two innocent citizens that were slouched over the table dead. Mr. Gordon uses a paper towel while checking the names to see that one citizen's name is Harvey and the other is Dent. While Gordon called for his crime scene team in, he allows Batman to have 10 minutes alone in the apartment. While Batman is distracted by trying to figure out who the Joker is, Mr. Gordon sees a newspaper underneath one of the victims’ cups and sees that the Joker put his next target in the paper. Mr. Gordon immediately turns to Batman and tells him not to take to long and that he needs to immediately call one of his workers to keep the target under watch.  Mr. Gordon knows that the law can only do so much, so he bends it in a way where he is still following the rules but it’s a little more room to work with. 

Batman, as Bruce Wayne, scoured the area for the bad guys while Mr. Gordon upheld his duty and focused on protecting the intended target, the mayor.  As Batman skulked about neutralizing the shooters, Mr. Gordon sacrifices himself by jumping in front of a bullet meant for the mayor.  His “death” was staged with the objective of saving the city of Gotham.  This is brought to light later when Mr. Gordon was helping Batman rescue Harvey from the Joker.  In a scene were the Joker walks towards a fallen Batman, hoping to remove his mask, Mr. Gordon heroically steps in and takes Joker into custody thus protecting both Harvey and Batman.  His bravery and dedication to the citizens of Gotham earned Mr. Gordon a promotion to Commissioner.    

Mr. Gordon didn’t tell his family that he wasn’t truly dead because he wanted to ensure their safety by lying to them so they wouldn’t do anything foolish. Shortly after, the Jokers announces next victim Coleman Reese, and if no one killed him in the next hour he will blow up one of the hospitals. After hearing this message on the TV Commissioner Gordon immediately acts by showing confidence in his answers and keeping the worries of Gotham’s citizens in the back of his mind by telling his coworkers around him to call in every surrounding officer and tell them to get to the nearest hospital and start evacuating and searching all patients. Mr. Gordon needs every bus available in the city to ensure all patients safety, especially Gotham General where the injured Harvey Dent is staying at. Calm and collected Mr. Gordon heads straight to the victim, Mr. Reese to make sure no one will harm him.