On one level, they represent his fall from grace, the fact that he was once a force for good in Gotham, who has been corrupted by moral ugliness and the desire for revenge. His two faces, as well as his identity as Two-Face, have multiple symbolic meanings. Not long after the accident, he is corrupted by the Joker and becomes a horrible villain, one who lives his life by the rules of chance. Harvey Dent's face is burned on one half while the other side remains intact. Thus, the makeup symbolizes the ways that the Joker is intimidating and squirrelly. He wears the traditional makeup of a circus clown-normally an uncanny but harmless figure-but it is smeared and wild, signifying his instability and unpredictability. It also is representative of his status as a clown and a freak.

In the beginning of the film, two bank robbers discuss the Joker's makeup and the fact that it is his 'warpaint.' In this sense, the makeup is a kind of intimidating mask that the Joker wears to scare his victims, a symbol of his villainy. The Joker's sick games become something of a motif in the film, a testament to his sadistic philosophy and his belief that human nature is inherently ugly and ruthless. His final 'social experiment' is when he fills the two ferries carrying people across Gotham's river with explosives and asks the passengers on each boat to blow the other up before midnight. First, he begins killing people in order to goad Batman into revealing his true identity, then he says that he will blow up a hospital unless someone kills the man threatening to reveal Batman's identity himself. Throughout the film, The Joker conducts a number of 'social experiments,' perverse ultimatums that encourage ordinary citizens to commit acts of violence. Buy Study Guide Social Experiments (Motif)

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