The Dark Knight Rises Themes

The Dark Knight Rises Themes

Fear

Bruce Wayne is sent to the pit prison that Bane was sentenced to as a younger man. Here he must learn to re-embrace his fear as he has let go of fearing death. Here he must find how his fear, even from a young child can be a force that will allow him to get out of the prison that he is in. The physical prison and the mental prison that he is now in as Batman. This fear becomes his saving grace and allows him to save his city.

Chaos

The theme of chaos is heavy throughout the film as Bane and The League of Shadows desire to bring to fruition Ra's Al Ghul's vision of demolishing Gotham City. They do so by crippling the citizens of the city to feel trapped. If they leave the city a nuclear bomb will be detonated and everyone will die. Bane then releases the prisoners held under the Dent Act revealing that Commissioner Gordon had been lying to everyone about Harvey Dent's death in order to imprison criminals. This turns people against the authority of Gotham making them feel they can't trust them to tell the truth and thus leading them to follow the anarchist rule of Bane and his mercenaries.

Hope

While held in the pit the prisoners chant "rise" for Bruce as he climbs the wall in order to escape the prison. This word embodies the hope that is an undercurrent of Batman's character throughout the film and the trilogy. Batman is a symbol to the people of Gotham of hope. That their lives can be better, that criminals do not have the final say in the way things are and that they can live free from fear, danger and crime. And Batman inspires this in the citizens in this film as he always has in order to protect them and allow them to rise up.

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