What Makes Someone Truly Insane? Superhero Essay Example

I love comic books. Because of my love for comic books people often ask me “are you insane spending that much on paper?” Attempting to answer this question got me thinking, “What does it mean to be truly insane?”. Regarding this question, I had to turn to the most insane person I know which is Batman. Batman, although constantly “fighting for justice” is the most insane comic book character to exist.  First and foremost, Batman spends months coming up with plans to defeat certain “villains” who escape within the same book. Secondly, he understands the effects being batman has on others, but just does not care. Finally, Batman has completely lost his identity as Bruce Wayne.

For Batman to fight someone as simplistic as Bane Batman spends roughly one-month preparing. This is because instead of having a set plan or strategy Batman thinks of every possible outcome, then lets bane lead each interaction until he finds an opening to eliminate the threat. In contrast, if Batman were to have Bane’s objective, whether getting more steroids or money, laced with traps he could stop Bane immediately. Another possibility is because Bane only sees in one direction Batman could take advantage of the fact that Bane will not look at his surroundings and could put traps in a room if he steps anywhere is stuck in a cage, but instead Batman allows the same mistakes to occur due to his inability to change his mentality.

Batman, although being Batman for years has also lost any sense of empathy for the people he interacts with. A prime example is Jason Todd. Jason Todd was one of Batman’s robins this meant Jason along with Batman would fight crime at nighttime. Anyone taking a kid into a crime-fighting scenario is ludicrous, but Batman did so without even thinking if that was what Jason wanted. The true tragedy of Jason was one day while on patrol for Batman, Jason was captured by the joker.

While captured by the joker he was tortured for a week and then finally killed with a crowbar. Following this event what did Batman do? Nothing. Jason was supposedly one of his favorite Robins, so you would think Batman would want to pay back Jason for his years of service. Batman even saw the joker in front of him with Jason’s body but again did nothing. That same day along with killing Jason joker killed hundreds of other people. All of this could have been avoided if Batman did anything. Batman even thought that he should do something, but whether out of poor judgment or a lack of caring, he still did nothing to the joker or for Jason

Throughout these examples, you might have noticed that I have not called Batman “Bruce Wayne”. This is because I no longer think Bruce Wayne exists. Bruce Wayne along with his parents died long ago. Unfortunately for Bruce, his physical body was not killed, but instead his mental stability. If Bruce was alive wouldn’t he understand the significance of his actions? In Theory, Bruce has only ever delayed the inevitable. For Bruce Wayne to truly do something significant he has to kill the “villains” he interacts with or else the cycle will only continue. 

All these examples are just some of the many times Batman has made these mistakes. Batman makes the same mistakes over and over, but always expects a different result. Looking into the true definition of insanity it correlates with Batman perfectly. So, if you have ever pondered the question “what makes someone truly insane”. Look back at Batman and you will find your answer. Hell, maybe I am a little insane for buying these comics expect Batman to change, but at least I am not more insane than Batman himself.