The Watchmen is a comic book that describes how vigilante crime fighters helped in stopping the nuclear war in 1985. The vigilante crime fighters worked in organized groups, whereby they formed the first organized group in 1939, named the Minutemen. The first group of watchmen retired, and in 1966, a new generation of Watchmen formed to help in fighting crimes. The new generation vigilantes sometimes interacted with the older generation vigilantes, with the Comedian belonging to the both groups of vigilantes. Despite the great role that the watchmen played in combating crime in America, their activities started becoming unpopular with the police, the citizens, and the media. The unpopularity led to the anti-vigilante riots, making the vigilantes respond with increased brutality. In 1977, the government outlawed vigilante activities, and some vigilantes quit the vigilante activities while others continued seeking justice through the vigilante activities. In 1985, nuclear war raised international tensions and it seems unavoidable. At the time, the Watchmen included the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, who had supernatural abilities following an accident at a government research laboratory, Ozymandias, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre II, and Rorschach (Moore and Dave 2). At the time, the Comedian and Dr. Manhattan worked for the …show more content…
From the author’s perspective, the different forms of authority use power and violence in most cases to achieve peace in societies. For instance, for Ozymandias to stop the nuclear war, he had to create an alien-like creature that caused the death of so many people. Ozymandias example demonstrates the use of power and violence, whereby he possessed sufficient wealth to create the alien, which was used to divert the world’s attention from the cold war by killing hundreds of
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
The minutemen and their world: As the title says "their world" this is exactly the basis that Gross take when he wrote the book. Rather than focusing on the war during that time like normal American Revolution stories, Gross focuses on the people as a community and life before, during, and after the war in the community. Gross presents himself as one who lived in the community because he seems to know a lot about the community as he was present in it.
With the dawn of civilization soon thereafter followed the creation of authoritarian and totalitarian establishments. The history of man is inundated with instances of leaders rising to power over certain groups of people and through various means gaining formidable control to be used for good, evil, or an ambiguous mixture of both. However, it is an undeniable fact that once unchecked power is acquired, tyranny often ensues, and thus a dictatorial regime is born. Over the centuries, governmental establishments have risen and fallen, but as history and civilization progress, so does the potential for a larger and more powerful domination. The development of differing and contrasting theologies and structural philosophies leads not only to conflict, but perhaps more prominently to unification under one rule with a common belief, especially when that unifying belief provides a promising sense of belonging and structure to a weak society. This is what led to the rise of two of the most domineering totalitarian governments in history: Stalin’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich.
[1] Since the dawning of the industrial revolution, producing the stratification of socioeconomic status into a competitive class hierarchy never before seen, conflict theorists have appeared to define the unjust. From William Blake’s poetry to Karl Marx’ manifestos, from Bethlehem steel strikes to the current Labor Party, from Fidel Castro to the Mexican Zapatista movement, from Lenin to Mao Tse Tung, from the Molly Maguires to Jimmy Hoffa, the desire to upgrade the conditions of the working class have had a continual role in justifying violence, providing an equilibrium to keep capital interests in check, motivated whole countries to gain newly instituted political leaders and formats of rule, even in offering some form of purpose for, identity with, and release of violent rage inside the tribal nature of humans in a world of disintegrating, or disintegrated, tribes. The question of the new millennium might very well be whether or not humans can live without enemies. In a country, if not a world, with creature comforts easily secured, labor issues becoming obsolete, where will modern man direct his barbaric energy?
Watchmen takes place during one of our country’s most recent politically intense era’s. The fear of government corruption along with the fear of the Soviet Union and nuclear warfare was very much a real thing. Alan Moore uses political symbols, real and fictional, to represent this rough time and create a realistic setting to an otherwise fictional plot of superheroes. By incorporating mature messages and illustrations it does not only appeal to young adults looking to be entertained by a picture book. It allows Watchmen to stand alone in the category of graphic novels and be looked at as an icon of its time.
. Pilisuk, Marc. “[CN]Chapter 5: [CN] Networks of Power.” Who Benefits from Global Violence and War: Uncovering a Destructive System. With Jennifer Achord Rountree. Westport: Praeger Security International, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. Print.
The final chapter (The Right to Death and the Power Over Life) is particularly interesting and contemporary. He argues that even if biopower seeks to invest in life, wars had never been more murderous than today’s era. Wars were in the past conducted in the name of the sovereign, while contemporary wars are conducted in the name of race, and the elimination of the “Other”, to make society stronger.
The government of the United States and of Oceania use war as a political tool to control the social views of the people, the products and wealth of the country, and the opinions of politicians and government officials. The ways in which war is used as a political tool includes controlling citizens, and products of a country. Both the country in 1984 and the United States use war in similar ways. When comparing the current time with the story of 1984 it is easy to see the similarities in how war is used as a political tool.
The purpose of this paper is to show examples of evil both individual and institutional. Adolf Hitler’s vision of war and genocide was chosen as an example of individual evil. What other person in the 20th century defines evil better than Adolf Hitler? The Japanese invasion and subsequent rape of the then Chinese capital city of Nanking (Nanjing) in December 1937, was chosen as an institutional example of evil. These pages will show how a man rose to power in Germany and set in motion events that engulfed the world’s then superpowers in the costliest war in world history. How an army lost control of it’s men that then looted, burned and then systematically raped, tortured, and murdered 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers in a matter of weeks.
Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” focuses on several characters throughout the novel making the idea of a main character moot. However, one character can be described as the most influential to the plot of the graphic novel. Rorschach can be seen as such due to the fact that he narrates a large portion of the novel, and his heroic code that he follows. Not only does he influence the plot by those two reasons, but also by uniting the characters after a long silence. The Comedian is the only character that almost perfectly fits as the character with the most influence on the plot of “Watchmen.” The death of his character allows for the plot to be set in motion. He has not only has he shaped every other character in the novel, but the symbol that represents his character can be found throughout the graphic novel. Although Rorschach can be interpreted as the most influential character of “Watchmen,” The Comedian influenced more aspects of the plot than any other character of the graphic novel.
There are several significant, as well as less significant, themes that are put forth by the author. Some themes that are not as meticulously elaborated on, but still contribute to the book, include the idea that war can corrupt the government and it’s actions, police brutality was part of the norm of the 1960s, and the word “power” had more than one meaning during the civil rights era. All these themes are important to take into consideration upon reading this book; however th...
The writers introduce this whole concept of the vigilantees. Through the vigilantees the authors challenge the idea of heroism, what is justified and what is not. Rorschach being an example of this concept, has a view of the world which only allows him to see it in black and white. To see the evil and the good but nothing in between, there is no gray in his world. “Understood man's capacity for horror and never quit. Saw the worlds black underbelly and never surrendered. Once a man has seen, he can never turn his back on it. Never pretend it doesn't exist.” (Watchmen chapter VI, pg. 15) Rorschach is guided by his desire to stop injustice, showing no mercy for those who perform evil. Although having a vigilante with who is so intensely driven by anger could result dangerous, it is better than not having any type of security around at all times. The case of the 37 who saw murder and didn't call the police that appeared in the NY Times during the 1964, proves that vigilantees are necessary for the safety of the people. This case presents a women being killed while people witnessed it and did not do anything to help her. A policemen stated that “If we had been called when he (the murderer) first attacked, the women might have not been dead now.” (NY Times 3/27/1964) Witnesses could have saved the life of an innocent if they had chosen to do so, but they chose not to. This demonstrates that although vigilantees may get out of hand sometimes, when they do it they do it promote safety . If a vigilante would have been present during the murder of the women, she would have probably still be
As shown in literature, corruption and the abuse of power is an ongoing discussion. When it comes down to the point where people are being used and abused physically and psychologically, it creates a hostile environment for both the subjects and the abuser. As represented in the two similar texts Lord Of the Flies and “I Only Came to use the Phone”, corrupted authority and abuse of power usually end up leading to the collapse of a society or a world of chaos and violence.
The theme of power manifest itself in several texts in both Mosaic I and II, whether it is through an institution such as religion, science and politics or even on an individual level. In regards to these institutions, power has the ability to establish or demolish a society and this is portrayed throughout these texts. One is also able to see that it is not power itself, but a legitimation of the lust or love of power, that corrupts an individual and an example of this is seen the text Antigone.
In the novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, interprets the achievement of order and law through the use of power and violence by superheroes. This novel consists a total of seven different characters to demonstrate how superheroes obtain peace in society through the use of violence. The writer portrays the plot in different characters’ perspectives by guiding readers in their point of view. This motivation also assists readers to examine the loneliness and the feeling of isolation during Dr. Jonathan Osterman, Walter Joseph Kovacs and Laurie Juspeczky’s life experiences.