Throughout time, there has been an amazing selection of stories about knights, but never before has there ever been a comparison done between a knight from the round table to the Dark Knight. Many knights have many things in common, such as their values and their honor, which is what always makes a knight, well a knight. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and “The Dark Knight” are more relatable than most people think, as Sir Gawain and Batman share several of the same characteristics, they’re both loyal, brave, and perfectionists.
The Dark Knight or the famous Batman is one of the most popular heroes in common time because of his amazing sense of justice and his want to maintain peace in the world. Today, there is no one person that doesn’t know of Batman and regardless of the person that is asked about him, one thing is always in their descriptions of him, Batman is brave and a good person. Batman is a very important character in this 21st century because he is a hero and he is well admired, but he holds no super powers, only the power that he exhorts by being the good person that he is, which his most important characteristic. He is the most relatable hero because he has no super powers, only his will to defend the innocent of help make this world a better place; nothing far from any child’s dream. This is a typical characteristic of what a knight is, honorable, loyal, brave, and good-hearted. Being so great can only lead to compare him to one of the greatest knights from another time, Sir Gawain, as both Batman and Sir Gawain fall into their own category.
Sir Gawain, form “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is one of the most remembered knights from the Anglo-Saxon time period. Sir Gawain has an amazing sense of right and wrong and regardless of the challenges he faces, he is always trying his hardest to remain loyal and rightful. Sir Gawain, like the Dark Knight, is a good person, and because he is a good person, he has been popular among the literature books. In the time that his story was published or told, he was a very respected knight and clearly he was the character that was idiolized by kids, just like Batman. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is not only an amazing story of the adventure by Sir Gawain but it is also a great tale of the rewards that can be found by being good. The knight in this story shows that even through the temptation of wrongs, a person can make up for not always being perfect and that perfection isn’t always a good thing. Out of the many critics that look at Sir Gawain, he himself, is his greatest critic which although doesn’t seem like it would be a great issue, at the end it becomes evident that being a perfectionist or expecting perfection from himself is one of the worst things that he can do to himself. Sir Gawain goes through an emotional battle with himself for not having been perfect and one-hundred percent loyal, but in reality, he should never beat himself up for a small mistake that any person could have committed. If instead of beating himself up for not being perfect he took what he had done, analyzed it, and made it into a positive criticism, he would be more aware that although he isn’t perfect, he would become an even better person. This is the greatest issue that Sir Gawain shares with Batman, trying to be perfect is not always the best thing.
Looking through history the greatest heroes, have never been perfect so Sir Gawain and Batman should not force or expect themselves to be perfect. As good as perfection can be, going to extremes on perfection can be the greatest damnation that they put themselves through. Many see perfection as the goal that everybody should share, but no human being is perfect and without perfection, there’s room for improvement and even the smartest and wisest person knows that no one knows everything. Psychologically, when these two characters held themselves through such high expectations, leads to a great deal of, perhaps deception which leads them through a path that would be hard for them to go through. Being perfect caused both Sir Gawain and Batman to block them from father growth, without this obsessive need for perfection, it would be much easier for them to find a way to improve themselves, not only as heroes but as people in general.
As simple as this comparison is, one great lesson can be learned when analyzing both of these incredible characters, perfection is never necessary because without perfection, theirs is always room for growth.
