Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

WATCHMEN

Foreshadowing: There is a huge amount of foreshadowing done in Watchmen through its story within a story comic called Tales of the Black Freighter. Now in this story, the main character is planning on attacking a town in which he believes are trying to attack his village. He realizes after the fact that the village was never in danger and he killed innocent people. This is foreshadowing Ozymandias’s plan failing, as he also thought the world was in danger and killed innocent people to stop it, the difference is we never learn if the plan was a success or failed over time. The failure is further foreshadowed when Veidt says he keeps dreaming of swimming towards "a black..." like the ending of Tales of the Black Freighter when the character swims towards the black freighter.

There are a few complex characters in Watchmen that deserve elaborate analysis. Like any other character in a story, the characters in Watchmen have flaws, qualities, and challenges.

Theme #3: Meaning to life

The question that most people want answered is "what is the meaning to life?". Some people say that we are here by chance, others say that we were created, and some just don't care why we are here and alive. Watchmen emphasizes on this theme about what it means it live and is life meaningful or meaningless. Also if we make our own choices or is everything preordained?

"...for you are life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg..." (Moore 250).

This quote was stated by Dr. Manhattan when he learned the value of life from Laurie. It basically means that life isn't chance, but a miracle. Dr. Manhattan had a revelation about life that we sometimes never notice or forget. Birth has become so commonplace because there are so many people in the world that we forget how breathtaking life is.

Theme #2: Deconstructed god-like/authority -like figures

Throughout history, mankind has changed and perverted God as well as positions in power. Some people have used their power for good, and some for bad. As for God, people have disfigured him into something He's not so that He can suit people's purposes. Watchmen shows this concept throughout the novel, mainly through the character Dr. Manhattan.

"I don't think there is a a God...If there is, I'm not him" (Moore 65).

This quote shows that Dr. Manhattan doesn't think himself God, but everyone around him thinks he is. This proves that society has corrupted the image of God. Society, however, feels like their being intimidated or oppressed by this god-like being because of his immense power, even though Dr. Manhattan did help society when he was with the Watchmen.

This quote explains, in Dr. Manhattan's point of view, that humans are controlled or everything is preordained for them; their choices and actions. This is what the author seems to believe because Dr. Manhattan practically tells events in time that happen or have already happened. This suggests that humans don't make their own choices in life, something else does. But are we really controlled by outside forces? That's for you to decide.

"We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings" (Moore 227).

Style

This phrase is painted all over the streets of the city. The phrase is a reference to the amount of power we give to authority figures, and how an unchecked authority figure could run dangerously rampant. For example, if we were to give Stephen Harper too much power, he could use it against us because who overlooks him while in power?

The style of the Watchmen is a graphic novel. The definition of a graphic novel is “a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book”. So basically, the Watchmen is a hybrid between a novel and comic. It was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons in 1986. The difference between most superhero fictions and Watchmen’s style is more dark and edgy from the traditional superhero comics. In Watchmen, instead of knowing who the superheroes and villains are from the beginning, the writer twists the traditional superhero genre into a different mold. Moore portrays this graphic novel as what happens when superheroes kill. Normally, superheroes cannot kill humans. But in Watchmen, that is completely thrown out the window when Ozymandias decides to exterminate half of the human’s population. Ozymandias even tries to defend himself by saying it was for the “greater good”. Some of his other superhero companions actually agree with him! This shows one of the noticeable differences between Watchmen and some of the comic books such as “Superhero” and “Spiderman”.

Watchmen is also a commentary on the political situation that was going on at the time. There was a cold war between Russia and USA and multiple major national issues arising in the U.S at the time. The book spoke upon issues such; rape, war, homosexuality, corruption, war with Russia. However many critics say it was written from a left-wing view, which pretty much voided the commentary as it was bias.

Watchmen is also a novel that has been influenced by others and/or has influenced others. Alan Moore has always said that one of major influences on Watchmen was the co-creator of Spiderman, Stan Ditko. Ironically, Ditko and Moore’s political views are the most opposite. Watchmen also influenced a lot of the comic books that came out after it. We began to see a lot more darker storylines in the golden-era comics. The storylines began to mimic that of Watchmen; a story in which good and evil was not clearly defined. An example of such would probably be the Dark Knight storyline in Batman. You could say if not for Watchmen and its introduction to a new type of superhero genre, the Dark Knight movie series would have never been created...

"Who watches the Watchmen?"

Literary Devices

Symbolism

Comedian badge: This iconic symbol from the Watchmen series has been a topic which has debated about for a long time. Some people think that the smiley face is representation of how the U.S was in the 1980s, corruption, drugs and carefree warfare. In the end, everyone would blood on their hands from their bad decisions. Others believe that the smiley face is a representation of pre-Watchmen comic book era; cheesy, daft and geared towards children. The bloodstain represents Watchmen itself: a dark, twisted, and violent take on something that's supposed to be written for children. In the mid 2000s , Moore stepped out and let us know what he wanted this face to represent. He said that symbol was to represent that of pre-Watchmen era with a twist but also said the symbol had a meaning in the book. In the book, the smiley face is actually worn by The Comedian, a superhero who gets killed in the first scene. It gets a blood smear on it. Now when you look at the smiley face as a clock, the bloodstain is at 11:55 or five minutes to midnight, which is the position that the Doomsday Clock is at throughout the story. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how close it was to “midnight”, or nuclear war with Russia in the 80s.

Rorschach mask: Another symbol that is important in the novel is Rorschach’s mask. Rorschach mask is completely identical to what he stands for as a superhero: things are right or wrong, good or evil, black or white. His mask also “consisted of a specialized fabric, one that was actually two layers of fabric with viscous black and white fluids trapped between them. The fluids remained in constant motion, being affected by heat and pressure; however the black and white colors never combined to form gray. The patterns formed by the fluids also maintained a constant symmetrical pattern down the midline of whatever shape the fabric had been formed into.” So basically it is a symbol of good or evil with the two always in motion, trying to balance each other out, consistent with the ideologies of Rorschach. The white on the mask represents his good, right thing to do character while the black blobs are just the ferocity he has to show being his superhero character

Secondary Sources

- Major Themes and Symbols in ‘Watchmen’ by Alan Moore.

http://www.hyperink.com/Major-Themes-And-Symbols-Inlsquowatchmenrsquo-By-Alan-Moore-b244a7

Had summaries of themes and symbols in Watchmen

"He saw the true face of the twentieth century and chose to become a reflection, a parody of it" (Moore 53).

This quote shows that the Comedian, like Rorschach, knew that society's inner monsters came loose and started to massacre them. Unlike Rorschach, who never compromised to society, the Comedian decided to let his inner monster not just out but also to let it have some fun. He became like society but not entirely and showed society that they can't hide their demons forever.

"This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face" (Moore 1)

Themes

- Monsters in all of all us

- Deconstructed god-like/authority-like figures

- Meaning of life

Theme #1: Monsters are hidden in all of us

There are monsters or demons inside of us that affect our lives. Whether we choose to show it out front or hide it inside of us, it's always there. Watchmen touches up on this concept throughout the novel. The whole of society is trying to hide the fact that there are monsters inside them but some characters, such as the Comedian and Rorschach, know that society can't hide their demons that easily.

This quote shows that Rorschach knows that society isn't as "good" as they think they are. He knows that society is drowning in their own sin. That's why society is afraid of him, because it reminds of what they are, monsters unleashed from within themselves. Rorschach, however, knows of the demon inside him, that's why he calls his mask his face.

Character Analysis

The Comedian

Ironically the comedian is the saddest character in watchmen

He believes that humans are savages in nature and that civilization is nothing more than an idea. This is how justifies his choice to become a mockery to society by fighting and killing without thought.

He's driven by justice and the American dream, but he is constantly blinded by his own arrogance. Not only is he insensitive to society but also his fellow superheroes

Ozymandias

Also know as Adrian Veidt

During the Cold War, the easy is torn from the west, and Adrian believes he can reunite the two to obtain world peace

Through his methods he creates a villain out of himself

He believes that the only way to build something new, is to destroy the old.

Not only is he incredibly smart, matched and surpassed only by Dr. Manhattan, he is also at the physical peak of so called "human perfection"

Rorschach

Also known as Walter kovacs, Rorschach can be identified as an anti hero with additional heroic elements attached

As a child his mother rejected him, giving him a negative view of women for the rest of his life.

Because the gruesome murder of a young girl, he becomes a brutal and violent anti hero

This results in him using Rorschach as his main identity and throwing away everything that was Walter Kovacs

Rorschach treats everything him as very black and white. This creates an issue of being closes minded on certain situations as with Dr. Manhattan's and Ozymandias plan to reunite the world.

Rorschach brutality towards criminals is often deemed as psychopathic

Though Rorschach is often violent, he possesses a few very heroic qualities

His greatest quality is his desire for truth, which lead to his death.

Dr. Manhattan

A physicist who in 1959 was disintegrated in an "Intrinsic Field Subtractor", returns as the most powerful being on earth

Able to manipulate any matter to his will, Dr. Manhattan is virtually unstoppable.

Along with the comedian, he joins the US army and fount in Vietnam

Instead of involving himself into human relationships, Dr. Manhattan takes and interest in science an technology.

He is the only character in the graphic novel that actually has super powers. His most impressive power is his ability to perceive time in a different fashion, such as, seeing into the future.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi