Figueroa 1

Maria Figueroa
Prof. Derohanessian
English 113B
22 April, 2015
The Joker
Sometimes there are people who have mental illness that can lead them to becoming evil
and to commit evil actions. The article Understanding People with Mental Illness Who Are and
Are Not Criminal Justice Involved: A Comparison of Criminal Thinking and Psychiatric
Symptoms by Nicole R. Gross and Robert D. Morgan argues that there are many individuals
who have committed insane actions, but one of the reasons why they have done it: it is because
they suffer psychological problems, which cause them to lose control of themselves and to harm
others. For example, in the comic book Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller the
Joker is presented as a villain who has been in an Arkham asylum for ten years where he was
treated to get cured. In addition, Miller gives the reader with strong background for the Joker; he
provides the asylum at Arkham where he has been getting help for ten years and states his past
crimes. He also draws the Joker as having no choice other than being an evil individual since he
is mentally ill. The Joker mental disorders take him to the point where he enjoys committing
crimes, and because he does not get the proper help from his medical doctors, he is not able to
change his malicious behavior and continues harming children and increasing violence.
At the beginning of the comic novel, Miller introduces the Joker as a character who is in the
asylum getting treated by Dr. Wolper, but his behavior does not say anything positive about him.
The Joker complains for everything, including the weather. For instance, he says, Ninety-nine

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degrees and the air conditioner blows, water is out in my building, and I couldnt even take a
shower this morning (Miller 115). Apparently, he seems uncomfortable in the place that he is
currently at. The way that he is treated by his doctors influences him not to follow a better
conduct and to simply have the same behavior. As the illustration shows, the Joker complains
about being too hot and not being able to take a shower, the person attending him responds in a
rude way. His response is its the way your underwear sticks to (Miller 115). This is obvious
that the doctor behavior is not helpful for the Joker and his help is pointless, since he is not
providing him a good service instead he is offending him. The doctors attitude towards him at
some point affects the Jokers behavior. To emphasize, Miller provides good images on how the
Joker is being kind of ignored by the doctors. The illustrations have a black background which
symbolizes sadness. This informs us that the Joker does not represent happiness. The pictures
also show how the doctors close the window on the Jokers face without even taking in
consideration that he is uncomfortable about the heat (Miller 115). Their only response is yeah
well, dont see him sweating and walk away, then the other person adds, He makes me sick
(Miller 115). The doctors are just harming him more and transforming him into a hater person
because instead of getting help he is becoming more evil. In addition, the article Mental Illness
and Substance Abuse Increase the Risk of Violence by Friedman Richard states that patients
with mental illness who do not get the proper attentions tend not to get any better instead, their
problems increase and make them depressed and more dangerous. This is an example of why the
Joker becomes the way he is. He did not receive the appropriate attention, and had no choice
than to harm others as a way of escaping his problems.
People who have psychological problems like the Joker tend to enjoy committing crimes.
The Joker is an individual who has committed many crimes and at a certain point does not regret

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any of his actions. Even though he was getting help, he did not change his behavior. The Jokers
anxiety of doing evil actions sticks with him throughout the comic novel. In addition, the Joker
discovers that Batman had returned to Gotham city, so he convinces his medical doctor that he is
sane, and that he deserves to go out. For example, The Jokers says, Please lock me away from
the human memory meaning that he does not want others to remember what he has done to
them (Miller 86). The way that Miller presents the illustration of the Joker telling Dr. Wolper that
he should be released from the asylum definitely informs us that the Joker is desperate to go out
and feel the freedom again. The Joker ends up being released. His mental illness definitely
influences him to act the way he does because all the evilness is already in his mind. For
instance, the night before he gets out of the asylum he cannot even sleep and his words are
should be fresh tomorrow, tomorrow I go free, this reveals his desire to go out and continue
with his usual life (Miller 117). Once free, he appears on a late- night talk show as a PR stunt,
once he is there he says, so many faces, so different from one another, so few smiles how he
studies the individuals appearances define that he is not able to find happiness in others, he only
sees that darker side of people just like his own soul is (Miller 125). The Jokers behavior
informs us that he might have experienced evil incidents during his childhood that is why he
behaves the way he does. The fact that he uses red lipstick to drive people crazy defines his
passion for harming people. Even the color red tells us that he always looks for blood. The fact
that he always wears red characterizes him as a criminal. He also releases a cloud of Joker
venom harming about two hundred and six people (Miller 130). All what the Joker
experienced throughout his childhood portraits who he is today.
People with mental illness like the Joker cause more violence toward children. Statistics
show that people with certain mental illnesses are prone to exhibiting violent behavior. For

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example, it has been found that about 45% individuals who have mental disorders have been
involved in several crimes, and the majority of them have children involved (Fried1). Fried
states that mental disorders conduce people to act more violent and to attack others easily. He
says that even though individuals do not want to harm others, their mind tells them the opposite
and that is when they act wrong. He presents a case of an individual named Roxana Lee. She
suffers mental disorders problems and was prescribed a treatment to control her problem.
Apparently, the treatment was not working well, and she was getting worse. She could not be left
alone because she will go out and hurt others, especially kids (Fired 1). This relates to how
Miller presents the Joker in the DKR, in the sense that he is just a victim of his actions. If he
would have been a sane person without any mental illness, then he would have thought many
times before harming kids. In Book number three, Hunt the Dark knight, the Joker increases his
crimes. Even innocent children are victims of his malicious conduct. The Joker does not realize
how many children he is hurting, and how much he is affecting Gotham city. For example, the
way that he plans his crime toward kids is insane because he is taking advantage of the
innocence of those little individuals who do not know anything about his real intentions. Once
again, the Joker implements what his illness and past experiences tell him to do. The Joker goes
to the fair and distributes cotton candy to kids to achieve his purpose of poisoning the Gotham
reservoirs (Miller141). After giving out cotton candy to the kids, the joker realizes that he got
caught by Batman and escapes leaving many kids dead at the fair (Miller141). The Joker evilness
toward children notifies us that his life as a child was not happy, and that he probably went
through crazy problems. The Joker mental illness is perhaps a consequence of childhood life, and
his actions are definitely resembling what kind of experiences he faced.

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Many people say that individuals like the Joker who are criminals and enjoy harming people
do it because that is how they are. They believe that those criminal individuals are naturally born
to kill. Although, individuals have this opinion, studies have shown that individuals experiences
during their childhood describe the person who they are today. For example, Miller presents the
asylum where the Joker was treated for ten years. This informs us that the Jokers mental illness
and probably his experiences as a child defines the individual who he is today. In addition, "The
Ability to Recover from Childhood Abuse Depends on Family and Community Support by
Banyard, Victoria L., and Linda M. Williams argues that children who have faced abuse or any
type of problems at an early age can impact their lives. For instance, it has been found that only
45% of children who have been through abuse or violence during their childhood overcome the
problem (Banyard et. al). This definitely tells us that our experiences as children define our
personality and behavior when we are adults.
Overall, Miller presents the Joker in the comic novel as an individual who has been in an
asylum and provides evidence of his crimes. The Joker is a character who definitely represents
people with mental illness. To sum it up, the way that the Joker acts throughout the novel shows
that he probably had a hard time as a kid, and therefore, he has a desire to harm others. The
illustrations and text that Miller provides us about the Joker are definitely a perfect description of
who he is. The red on his lips and the black background on all the panels describe his evil
personality.

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Work Cited
Banyard, Victoria L., and Linda M. Williams. "The Ability to Recover from Childhood Abuse
Depends on Family and Community Support." Child Abuse. Ed. Heidi Williams. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Adolescent Survivors of
Sexual Abuse: Developmental Outcomes." The Prevention Researcher 14.2 (Apr. 2007):
6-10. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Friedman, Richard A. "Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Increase the Risk of Violence."
Mental Illness and Criminal Behavior. Ed. Shannon Fiack. Detroit: Greenhaven Press,
2009. At Issue. Rpt. from "Violence and Mental IllnessHow Strong Is the Link?" New
England Journal of Medicine 355.20 (16 Nov. 2006): 2064-2066. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 18 Apr. 2015.
Miller, Janson, Lynn Varley. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. New York: DC comics, 1986.
Print.
Nicole R. Gross and Robert D. Morgan " Understanding People with Mental Illness Who Are
and Are Not Criminal Justice Involved: A Comparison of Criminal Thinking and
Psychiatric Symptoms " Mental Illness and Criminal Behavior. Ed. Shannon Fiack.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Real 'Mental Health Lesson'
from Virginia Tech." The Huffington Post. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
21 Apr. 2015.