Watchmen written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons utilizes the literary tool of symbols to connect ideas and themes. Time is a major theme throughout the comic and plays a significant part in the structure and outcome of the story. This theme is successfully coupled to the theme of destiny by the use of the clock and other symbols that are present throughout the comic. Symbols such as clocks, the smiley pin, and the graffiti are utilized to efficiently connect the themes of time, justice and the loss of innocence and morality throughout Watchmen. The combination of all of these themes ultimately allude to Ozymandias’ decision to unleash chaos on Manhattan by foreshadowing his betrayal and explaining how impossible it is to entrench the peace that he has manufactured by unleashing this chaos. The clocks in Watchmen are used to foreshadow crucial future events and connect the themes of morality and time. Other than the literal connection between calling themselves Watchmen and recurring images of actual watches, doomsday clocks and time in general plays a huge part in the arc of the comic’s storyline. This is because of the impending destruction that the world is to face at the hands of Ozymandias. Doctor Manhattan’s father was a watchmaker before learning that time is irrelevant and therefore useless. Jon himself finds this out through his own experience with time and seeing back and forth through it. This is particularly important because the whole reason he
End of Watch: a police phrased used in two scenarios; when an officer is done with their current shift, or when the officer is killed in the line of duty. Stephen King used this as a foreshadowing title for the final book of the Bill Hodges trilogy. To conclude the series, King disjoints from the first two realistic books into a supernatural setting.
Watchers, by Dean Koontz, describes the themes of the powerful effects of love and the dangers of technology. Watchers starts off with three different subplots but ends with one cohesive story. Travis Cornell believed his life was in a constant downhill spiral until he meets a dog who he later names einstein. Vincent Nasco is an mentally-ill cereal killer who will do anything for money and fame. Nora Devon is a quiet person who believes she is not anything special, until she lets her guard down and meets the love of her life. Throughout the story, Nora and Travis meet and fall in love and discover what Einstein truly is. When a creature from a secret experiment escapes, the Outsider, Travis, Nora and Einstein are faced with a series of difficult
When read with a critical eye, the world of superhero comics often offers a lens with which we can examine society, our values, the meaning of justice, and the role of the individual in regards to the greater community. If all of this information is garnered from critical reading, then the way in which the medium of comics constructs these meanings will reflect an embrace or a rejection of the common symbols and ideology of it’s source culture. In the case of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s 1987 graphic novel, Watchmen, the second approach is used, as Moore’s writing draws upon the common cultural understanding of superheroes and exaggerates or tweaks them, exposing their underlying ideals. In this way, Watchmen functions not only as a
Looking at the insight from historians such as: Roy Rosenzweig, Nick Salvatore, and Lizabeth Cohen, on the history of American labor, we can better understand the issues, challenges, and successes of ordinary Americans during a time when industrial capitalism and corporations took over as the leading principle in American society. The depth of character of immigrants or ordinary Americans to meet the demanding needs of what an industrial society requires is truly amazing. I have reviewed three historical monographs in accordance to their copyright and each describe how persistent ordinary, working class Americans confronted or beat back those demanding needs. The order is as follows: Eight Hours For What We Will by Roy Rosenzweig; Eugene
Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath” describe the stories of underdogs. In the chapter 2, he explains the story about Vivek Ranadivé who decided to coach his daughter’s no experienced basketball team. Malcolm told a fantastic story about how a father who has no basketball experience helped her daughter’s basketball won the game. The points somehow convinced me because the father really changed their team’s weakness to the advantage. This shows that sometimes have resources or preponderances are not good things. Try everything and don't give up easily, because the results are unpredictable. Notwithstanding, the story is really convincing but there are some points in the book let me feel skeptical to the book. The girls won the game use
When you see the homeless what do you think about? Do you see them and feel disgust or are you someone who wonders how and why they are where they are, or maybe, you are one of the few who want to help and who are able to. In the U.S., more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year and that number is growing. They are families with little children, people who are trying to escape domestic violence, people with mental illness, veterans who have served our country, and many more. From what I read in Jonathan Kozol’s “Untouchables” city officials in various places are only coming up with short term solutions, that aren’t helping the homeless. City officials are just trying to get rid of the homeless from their cities or area. I think it’s time that more individuals and groups, really gets involved and figure out a way to help those who are already homeless, and stop future people from becoming homeless. We have to come up with ways to help the homeless readjust and get back into the world.
The book NewJack: Guarding Sing Sing by Ted Conover is an profound book to read it gave me a great glimpse of how the prison life really is and how you can put yourself in comparing how Hollywood movies or TV shows displays them. Conover discuss about the history of Sing Sing prison since 1826. It was an authentic and straight forward of how the prison life is especially for those who want to pursue as a correctional officers. It gave two perspectives one from the guards and the other by the inmates. It shows a psychological effects of violence between the guards and inmates within the cell walls also it gave the transformation life in training and life with inmates. What surprise me in the book it only took the recruiters seven weeks training camp during those week they had to “write the use of force, from penal law to “standard of inmates behavior”… there would be tests every Friday, on which we had to score 70 percent or better. We’d have two hours of physical performance test in out last week. We’d learn how to use batons and how to fight hand to hand in a course called Defensive Tactics. We’d have to qualify on a shooting range. Finally, we’d be exposed to tear gas and learn how to fire gas guns (p.23).” The training camp was very similar to a military boot camp. After the seven weeks of training they all went straight to prison work during prison they had to deal with the hardship, stress and chaos surrounding the job of officers and what they go through during
Most everyone knows what Greg Hardy brings to the table. He was pro bowler in 2013. Hardy’s stacked up an average of 13 sacks and 40 solo tackles in his last two full seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He’s extremely explosive off the edge and has elite hands that make it almost impossible to block him for an entire game. Hardy will be a huge upgrade for the Cowboys. With one position improved in the “rush men” rotation, who else can the Cowboys count on to contribute not only during Hardy’s four game suspension but also for the entire season.
Watchmen is a revolutionary piece of literature. It is technically a comic book, some prefer to call it a graphic novel. There is a negative connotation that goes along with that. Graphic novels are frequently presumed too childish and fantastic to actually teach any insightful lessons or even make you ponder them at all. Watchmen is a graphic novel that transcends this undue criticism of comic books. It is, “One of the first instances ... of [a] new kind of comic book ... a first phase of development, the transition of the superhero from fantasy to literature." (Klock, pgs. 25-26)
There have been lots and lots of objects symbolizing the clock, for example blood spattered on the yellow smile badge, and every time they appeared I have been always wondering and anticipating about what would happen when the clock strikes twelve. I believe it must have been a question that got stuck in all the readers who have read this book. The result was certainly much more impactful and powerful than I ever imagined. All the people indifferently killed and laying on the street and the heroes were defeated by a single man who was believed to be their colleagues. It was enough to intensify the ending of the story and continuously engage me into
Subsequently, while most superhero plots involve an element of fantasy, the characters in Moore’s graphic novel are, for the most part, embedded into pessimistic version of reality with only lifelike traits. Obviously, the one glaring exception in Watchmen is Doctor Manhattan, who is transformed into a being capable of a number of otherworldly abilities. However, the other five heroes in the story are regular humans who take the initiative to aid in the protection of society. This is unlike most superheroes in previous comics, who are often blessed with a divine power that allows them to conquer all evil. Additionally, referring to the society in which Moore’s heroes are immersed in, it is situated in a location known to its readers, with a certain twist. While Superman has his Metropolis and Batman has his Gotham City, the six costumed adventurers are based in New York City, or more accurately, a filthy parody of it. The universe in which Moore sets his story is the closest to reality, with a hyperbolic emphasis on the evil in society, in which superheroes have been set it. Hence, the problems presented to the superheroes are not something to be combatted with fantastical talents, but more nuanced with realistic obstacles without a clear solution. In Watchmen, the imminent threat of nuclear war is a state of affairs that would have been realistic for readers, particularly during the time period of the graphic novel’s release in 1987. This, coupled with the urban violence
The idea of double consciousness, termed by W.E.B. Du Bois, for African Americans deals with the notion that one’s self has duality in being black and American. It is the attempt to reconcile two cultures that make up the identity of black men and women. One can only see through the eyes of another. A veil exists in this idea, where one has limits in how he or she can see or be seen. This individual is invisible to the onlookers of the veil, and those onlookers may be invisible to the individual. This then alters how one can truly interpret their conscious. This concept is one that has been explored in various themes of literature,
Allen Moore’s sordid depiction of twentieth century life presents a complex world, where the distinction between a virtuous hero and a villainous wrongdoer is often blurred. In stark contrast to the traditionally popularized portrayal of superheroes, whose unquestionably altruistic motives ultimately produce unrealistically idealized results; the realistically flawed characters of Watchmen exist in a multi faceted world characterized by moral ambiguity. America’s imperialistic ambitions have long been justified as an expression of American idealism. Much like the portrayal of superheroes in popular culture, America’s intervention in foreign affairs was portrayed as the result of a clearly defined problem, where American intervention was
In the comic Watchmen, various elements are at work to bring the comic to life through its pages. Each element working together providing a more in-depth feeling to the reading and understanding of each page. Looking at chapter X pp.12-13, the size and shape, coloration, and transitions are the three elements I found most interesting when looking at these two pages alongside what and how the part of the story was being told.
The clocks in Watchmen are used to foreshadow the future events in the novel and connect the theme of morality to the theme of time. Other than the literal connection between calling themselves Watchmen and actual watches, clocks and time in general play a huge part in the arc of the comic’s storyline. Doctor Manhattan’s father was a watchmaker before learning that time is relevant and therefore useless. Jon himself finds this out through his own experience with time and seeing back and forth through it. This is particularly important because the whole