When you are old and retired, would you still allow yourself to pursue the passions you desired when you were younger? In the graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, stopped being Batman for ten years until the Mutant gang threatened peoples’ lives in Gotham City. The Bat-signal in Bruce Wayne’s heart emitted as the city began to go down. While trying to save Gotham City, Batman is in a losing battle against his old age and the younger villains could easily take him down, but his motivation to save the city was strength in itself (Yehl). The Barrow High School students should read this graphic novel because the graphic novel creates a connection with American history such as the United …show more content…
In a few scenes of the comic, Frank Miller described the war with Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States, the nuclear bombs, and a few scenes with a phony Ronald Reagan. American History is a required course at Barrow High School and the topics mentioned above are all covered in the course; furthermore, knowing the history teacher at the school, he would suggest students to know a little bit about those topics in order to ace his tests and quizzes. A scene in the graphic novel describes the relationship with the Soviet Union and the United States that would soon lead into a nuclear war. “ American Tr—Excuse me… Heroic American troops are now engaged in direct combat with Soviet forces… Now, there’s been a lot of loose talk these days about nuclear war…” (Miller, 119) The phony Ronald Reagan is an interesting character in the story. The Ronald Reagan in real life helped to redefine American politics; however, in the graphic novel he made come sarcastic comments, “… Well let me tell you nobody’s running off half-cocked, no sir… But we sure as shootin’ aren’t running away, either, we’ve got to secure our—ahem—stand up for the cause of freedom… and those cute little Corto Maltese people, they want us there, Just you ask them… Meanwhile, don’t fret… we’ve got God on our side… or the next best thing, anyway… Heh…” (Miller, …show more content…
Batman is a caped crime fighter who saves the city of any danger, but he is much more than that. He is a teacher, but he is not certified, he is a detective, but was not trained, he is a father, but does not have any children of his own, Batman is a role model despite his age and his appearance. I think the students of Barrow High School should read Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns because the graphic novel incorporates subjects taught in the Barrow High School American History class, the graphic novel exposes a side of Batman not many people know of, there is a hidden theme in the novel explaining to people that they should follow their passion despite their age, it tells people that you do not need superpowers to make a difference, and the comic tells readers to reserve judgment based off of rumors. The final page of the graphic novel is probably the most emotional scene yet Batman faked his death, but he is still in pursuit to save Gotham City, “ …Here, in the endless cave, far past the burnt remains of a crime fighter whose time has passed… It begins here—an army—to bring sense to a world plagued by worse than thieves and murderers… This will be a good life… Good enough” (Miller,