Instead of explicitly apologizing for his wrongdoings or working on self-improvement, Jake punishes himself.
Jake believes he deserves to suffer to atone for his sins (his treatment of Vickie and Joey, his extreme sexual jealousy).
Jake is his own worst enemy, and his willingness to endure severe pain illuminates how he perceives himself. Jake’s masochistic tendencies stem from his need to assert his own dominance, control, and authority but, more importantly, they stem from his self-hatred. Throughout the film, Jake demonstrates his capacity for masochism: he bullies Joey into hitting him bare-fisted in the face, he encourages Robinson to savagely beat him in the ring, and he pours ice water down his pants to deny himself sexual gratification. The film’s final title card-the Bible quote “Once I was blind and now I can see”-implies that Jake has new, profound awareness of his past sins, and he can move forward and find salvation. When Jake sits in his jail cell, the literal darkness engulfs his body, with an exception of one glimmer of light illuminating his shoulder this image reinforces a hope for Jake’s atonement. Later, Jake passively awaits his punishment on a rope, which shares striking visual similarities to a crucifixion. During Jake’s last fight with Robinson, his trainer offers Jake his mouthpiece while making the sign of the cross, as if the mouthpiece were a communion wafer. Jake is a vile character, but Scorsese portrays him with Biblical imagery of redemption in the second half of the film, thereby suggests his worthiness of salvation. The possibility of Jake finding redemption permeates Raging Bull. Scorsese, therefore, shows how the inability to reconcile and articulate one’s inner conflicts eventually spirals into a destructive, disturbing isolation. The solitary confinement forces Jake to confront his own insecurities and primal instincts, which results in him violently smashing his head against the wall and trying to convince himself that he’s not an animal.
Jake’s arrest follows the collapse of his marriage with Vickie and relationship with Joey so, when he spends time in his dimly lit jail cell, nobody can comfort him, and he is left alone with his worst enemy: himself. Alienation reflects how Jake’s internal struggles destroy the relationships around him. The romantic opening credits characterize him as a graceful, solitary man, while the the second introduction to Jake, where, as an overweight, washed-out has-been, he practices his stand-up comedy lines (which also functions as the film’s ending), depicts the pity of his frank loneliness.
Within the first images of Raging Bull, we view Jake as an isolated, melancholic figure.
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