Literary Analysis: Watchmen

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

We all make mistakes that we later regret, but that's life. We need to focus more on just accepting to live with it.

Postmodernism is a term that lacks a definitive definition. According to Fabe, postmodernism has become meaningless, which is ironically appropriate because one of the core concerns of postmodernism is meaningless (173). Mast and Kawin note that “postmodernism analyzes a world without a definitive center,” and builds on references to popular culture (630). In class, we discussed that postmodernism comments on contemporary culture, often through quotation, appropriation, borrowing, homage, reusing, and recycling. After watching the two postmodern films, Annie Hall and How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman, I think postmodernism fits into all of these definitions. I also think postmodern films offer a sort of truth that is often unrecognizable

The following paper will present a brief summary of Alan Moore’s Watchmen book as well as one of Declaration, whose authors are Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Also, it will critique and analyze Watchmen through Hardt and Negri’s point of view offered by Declaration. Finally, a subjective argument will be provided regarding a contemporary political dysfunctionality that connects with one of the ones that can be found in Watchmen.

Postmodernism or postculturalism, a term often also used, offer a very different and much more radical version of constructivism. They are strongly opposed to the universalist premises of realism, liberalism, Marxism and post-Marxism, and are highly critical of the general phenomenon of the aforementioned modernity (Lawson, p. 145).

In The Watchman, Dr. Manhattan is a superman who exhibits some very human qualities, while having other qualities that set him apart from society. At the beginning of The Watchman, Dr. Manhattan is a very neutral character. He does not do things on a whim; all of his actions are logic based. He appears to have complete control over the physical realm, including time, though he seems to struggle with interpersonal relationships. Though Dr. Manhattan changes very little during the course of The Watchman, the description of his transformation lends valuable insight into his character.

Postmodernism is a term which is highly contested in the sociological world, where it is used to indicate a significant detachment from modernism. It is easier to give the uses of the term; ‘to give a name to the present historical period, to name a specific style in arts and architecture and to name a point of rupture or disjuncture in epistemology’ (Buchanan, 2010). For this,

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

The term “postmodernism” was first used by the philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard in 1979. This term refers to the rejection of modernist ideas. However, if you have not had the chance to watch and films from the modern era, then it could prove difficult to tell whether or not original films are considered to be modernist or postmodernist. The films Stranger than Fiction and the short film Play are both postmodern films because they share the elements of hyper-reality, ambiguity, and metafiction.

Watchmen Written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is about masked superheroes being murdered. The first murder was the comedian, his name was Edward Blake. Edward Blake was thrown out of a window after being beaten up by someone, who isn’t known yet. When he was thrown out of the window the killer left a bloody smiley face as a symbol. Rorschach is one of the few masked superheroes left that still investigate and work to solve a crime. He finds the body and the smiley face and goes to investigate the crime scene after the police leave the scene. Rorschach goes to the previously masked superheroes and warns then. The first hero he goes to is Dan Dreiberg, he was the nite owl.

To fully appreciate the differences and similarities between Postmodernism and Modernism, it is required to understand exactly what they are. Modernism is the term we give to the accumulated creations and activities of designers in the early 20th century, who had the theory that traditional forms of literature, religion, social organization, and most of all, art and architecture, had become outdated in the new social, political, and economic environment of a fully industrialised world. One of the main characteristics of Modernism is self-consciousness, which typically caused exstensive experimentations of form and function. The creative process of generating work was also explored, forming new techniques in design. Modernism rejected all ideology of realism and prefers to reference and parody works of the past. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is a radical rejection of Modernist design. Taking place in the late 20th century, it is a movement in art, criticism, and architecture that disputes the majority of modernist tendencies. The Postmodernist analysis of society and culture lead to the expansion of critical theory and advanced the works of architecture, literature, and design. This entire re-evaluation of the western value system of popular culture, love, marriage, economy, that took place from the 1950s and 60s, leading to the peak of the Social Revolution in 1968, is commonly referred as Postmodernity which influenced postmodern thought, as opposed to the term

Watchmen by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons utilizes the literary tool of symbols. Symbols such as the smiley pin, clocks, and the haunting “who watches the watchmen” graffiti all come up several times in the graphic novel, thus alluding to a deeper meaning. 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 loss of innocence throughout Watchmen.

Postmodern art decided to make revolutionary break with past and questioned previous theories known as “big narratives” of art, politics, economics and overall culture in order to create new theories. The big part of postmodern theory deals with the belief of preexistence of the art all around us. The artist is the one who can recognize these elements of art around as and synthesize them into the art work. This art work becomes object of interpretation which inevitably varies among different generations, social groups, national group, religious groups, and depends on some extent of the educational level of the observers and it is also different in the same individual in different times or environments. The different interpretations of

Postmodernism was a reaction against the modernism philosophical values and assumptions. Although many agree that there is a thin line between modernism and postmodernism, postmodernism is not modernism. In modernism, scientific theories were used to determine what is true. However, postmodernism allows individuals to question the theories and not take them as facts (Duignan, 2014). While modernism emphasized on objectivism, postmodernism allows extensive subjectivism in all aspects of life.

ostmodernism was a movement that began in the 1960s that affected all forms of art and literature of that time period. Postmodernism followed modernism and it sought to challenge the ideas and values of modernistic theatre, modernism was formed to shake up theatre, introducing new theories of science and technology to explain the world, whereas postmodern theatre raises more questions than supplying the answers for the audience. Modernism created a ‘grand-narrative’ whereby there was only one meaning which would be told to the audience. Postmodernism broke down the ‘grand-narrative’ when Jean-François Lyotard wrote La Condition postmoderne: Rapport sur le savoir (The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge) (1979), he came up with