In 1939, the Caped Crusader, more commonly known as Batman, was created at the hands of Bob Kane and Bill Finger. When Batman debuted, people loved his story. He instantly became a hit and has become increasingly popular ever since. Today, Batman is considered to be one of the greatest super heroes of all time, even though he is a regular human being with no supernatural powers. Batman’s characteristics and story are a direct comparison to Dimmesdale from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, through their motivations, stereotypes, and struggles between doing what is right for society or themselves. There are many things that motivate both Dimmesdale’s and Batman’s internal characteristics. In his article Batman: Psychic Trauma and Its Solution, Michael Brody writes “Bruce Wayne [Batman], like most of Lifton’s and Olson’s subjects, is a survivor” (Brody). According to Brody, Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, suffers from “death guilt.” The idea of death guilt is whenever there is a tragic event where people die, the survivors feel guilt for living while others died and blame themselves for the other’s death because they did not save them. This concept of death guilt drives both Dimmesdale and Bruce Wayne. Waynes’s death guilt comes from when he was a child. He had a phobia of bats and while at a play that displayed his fears he asked his parents to leave the theatre. When they walked out of the theatre, the young Bruce witnessed a thief rob and kill his parents. He blamed himself for their death because they were killed as a result of his fear. This eventually led to Bruce Wayne adopting his second identity of Batman. Dimmesdale’s death guilt does not come from literal death, but from death of a reputation. He committed adultery with a woman named Hester and she became pregnant. She was punished for the sin while Dimmesdale’s name was kept a secret. He felt guilty because Hester’s reputation died while his prospered. Next, Dimmesdale and Batman alike also used their tragedies to motivate themselves. In Sandra J. Lowe’s essay Character Analysis of Batman and The Joker she writes “He [Batman] felt responsible for their deaths [parents] because of his fear, the