Batman Begins

Batman Begins is a film with many creative techniques. The symbolism used in this movie was a great contribution to the film. It helped the audience further comprehend the film in general, and it's characters.

A symbol that is frequently used in Batman Begins is masks. In the film, Dr.Crane has a mask that is quite frightening. When he wears this mask he becomes "the scarecrow", and his mask releases some sort of gas that causes others to have terrifying hallucinations. This symbolizes that every individual experiences fear to a certain degree. These hallucinations dug deep down into peoples souls to expose what they were honestly afraid of. In the same way, when Bruce Wayne becomes Batman his mask is a symbol of what he truly fears, which is bats. He decides to embrace what he is afraid of and attempts to help the world around him, instead of hurting others the way that Dr.Crane is.

The Wayne mansion is one of the only physical things left that remind Bruce of his parents. This makes the mansion an obvious symbol of the Wayne family. For this reason, Bruce does not necessarily enjoy the mansion. When it burns down, this symbolizes a new start for Bruce. Instead of being surrounded by his past, in a way he can put parts of it behind him. When he decides to rebuild the mansion, he's remembering his family and all that they stand for, but he's also adding some of his own personal touches so that he can grow has a person.

The arrowhead in Batman Begins is mainly a symbol of the relationship between Bruce and Rachel, and all they had gone through together. In the beginning of the film, Bruce steals the arrowhead from Rachel and he falls into a well, where he discovers an area that is full of bats. This also makes the arrowhead a symbol of the beginning of Bruce's main fear. When Rachel returns the arrowhead to Bruce on his 30th birthday, he had already embraced his fear, and had learned to accept it as a part of his life.

Shown at some points in the film is a clip of Bruce as a child with his father. Bruce's father is using a stethoscope on Bruce, and it is a very quiet scene. The stethoscope is a symbol of how similar Bruce and his father are. Bruce's father is a man who helps others, and when Bruce is older he tries his best to protect the people of Gotham. By physically using the stethoscope on Bruce, this signifies how close Bruce and his father were. It shows that they are basically connected and share the same common intentions.

After watching Batman Begins, I realized just how significant some of the symbols turned out to be in the film. They not only helped the story along, but also made it easier to understand the reasons behind the behaviour of certain characters. The use of symbolism gave more depth to each character, and made the story more interesting.