Scarecrow: Greed for fear Article by Stafffighter, 05:02 AM 26th Aug Disclaimer: The following opinions are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the other endless crew staff. In fact they all disagree with me and persecute me regularly. Quick Overview: Dr. Jonathan Crane was always obsessed with fear. From his boyhood terrorizing birds to his adulthood as a university psychology professor the object was always to insight and observe fear. When he decided not to live on a professor’s salary he took on a criminal persona known to frighten both man and bird alike, he became the Scarecrow. The reason Jonathan needed additional money was that his collogues had commented on his clothing. He refused to give up his habit of spending his salary on books yet still sought to gain their acceptance by turning to criminal life to gain the needed funds. This is interesting in that it displays his main weakness, greed. Be it greed for science, greed for goods or greed for respect Jonathan refuses to sacrifice from one to gain another. It is this greed that leaves him at a loss when facing those on the other side of justice, more often than not, this means Batman. The crimes of the Scarecrow are fear based. While being the victim of a crime is frightening on principle he feels the need expand upon this, going to extravagant means to draw out the absolute in terror. While his delight in this terror is beyond apparent it should be noted that he is deliberate in observing and documenting the fear even in the heat of battle. He continues his study and thus shows himself as the same man he was in a slightly exaggerated form. This is both his passion and his downfall, and in a way so is Batman. A very apt question for any villain would be why they continue to work in places that have heroes. It would seem a counter productive decision. Scarecrow continues to base his operation in Gotham City because of Batman. Batman is designed to be every villains dread. What better way to study fear than to have an icon of it pointed straight at you? This is where greed comes in. Were he to do business elsewhere he would have a much better chance of succeeding and making his profit, but the chance to study so deeply would be lost to him. He attempts to have it all and ultimately finds himself too merely mortal to do so. The nature of greed is unrelenting pursuit. When one has greed towards more than one goal these multiple paths can easily become contradictory, turning what was merely unhealthy into an utter impossibility. The crimes and his studies are so interwoven that neither could exist without the other. This symbiosis the factor that dooms Scarecrow to failure lies. Jonathan had the intellect and insight to become almost any kind of criminal and enjoy a degree of success. In irreparably tying his crimes to his fear studies he turned it all into something no one man was capable of. Why he did this, one can only assume he was afraid of what he would miss. Disagree? Bring it up on the forum. Suggestions? E mail me. But don’t write an essay. If I use who you suggest I’ll only say what I have to say Back to Rants