Watching the Watchmen Essay

Irony is a very big part of a story, because it can create new elements in a story. Some of these elements may include humor and theme. "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a great example for this.

Many authors use irony as a way of questioning the reader or emphasizing a central idea. A literary device, such as irony, can only be made simple with the help of examples. Irony can help a reader to better understand certain parts of a novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald helps the reader to recognize and understand his use of irony by giving key examples throughout The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s lush parties, Myrtle’s death, Gatsby’s death, and the title of the novel to demonstrate how irony plays a key role in the development of the plot.

In this paper I argue that Alan Moore's Watchmen uses its dystopia to critique the selfish nature of humanity that abandons morals to achieve one’s goals and a society that trusts superheroes without legal and moral authority to oversee their power. By depicting each superhero’s violent actions and their moral decisions, it criticizes the consequentialist’s argument that “the end justifies the means” . Watchmen features superheroes that are normal humans who don’t possess super powers except Dr. Manhattan and struggling for their moral standings from their past. After Adrian Veidt destroys the half of New York, he asks, “I did the right thing, didn't I?”. Although other characters do not directly ask, we can see that they all ask the question

Although irony may be associated with negative events or actions, it can also be a sign of good for characters within stories. According to Dictionary.com, irony in literature is defined as “a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.” The use of irony is found within the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini uses irony to portray and develop the main dynamic character in this story, Amir. Most of the major events Amir is faced with at a younger age seemingly come full circle when he reaches adulthood. Irony plays a role as Amir lives through tragic events that ultimately teach him how to become a better person.

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

It is often said that irony is the vital literary element to a story because it gives the story character. Whether it changes the mood, creates suspense, adds foreshadowing, engages the reader or something else, irony can do many things for a story.

In the documentary On Our Watch PBS takes us to southern Africa. In the state of Darfur, there were air raids that would start at the brink of dawn and end in the middle of the day, after the air raids there would be troops on foot that would raid the villages and rape the women, they would also kill the men and cut off the young boy's genitals so they can bleed out and their mothers would watch their sons die in their arms. Just from that I think we should intervene and put an end to the rape, murder, and terror. On a viewer's standpoint, this totally changed my personal opinion on affairs overseas. To begin I would like to talk about the Darfur Government and how the wanted help from the UN and declined it when there was an opportunity

doing. When Moore began to think of his role models he thought, the “people who’d had the

William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, used irony to tell his story of a group of young British boys stranded on a deserted island. The readers can clearly spot the irony in the dialogue and Ralph, one of the main character, is also aware of the irony in his situation. The irony in the novel forces the readers to step aside and think about the hidden meanings the author is trying to express.

​There are many different literary devices that are used in writing to enhance a theme or to carry those themes throughout a storyline. In The Hunger Games and The Road, irony is used in bringing attention to the theme of humanity and carrying it from beginning to the end of the novels. It is used in writing to contrast between “what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant” (Puchner i). In The Road, McCarthy uses irony to show the difference between what we would expect from a humane perspective and how those left have fallen so far from those expectations. One instance of this irony occurred when the father and son observed two men and a pregnant woman traveling on the road. Later, when these travelers were

The book’s main focus is on the gradual disillusionment of the narrator and his personal battles. In particular, the book develops the battle the narrator faces when he discovers the truth about the Brotherhood organization. He eventually realizes that they are using him for their own purposes and encouraged him to incite the blacks to a riotous level so they will kill one another. The narrator develops feelings of hopelessness when it becomes apparent that he is being betrayed by both white and black cultures. His overwhelming feeling of emptiness comes to a climax when he falls into a manhole during a riot. While hibernating in the underground black community, the narrator struggles to find meaning in his invisibility and to come up with his true identity. The seclusion allows the reader to realize the disillusionment of the narrator. Ellison does an incredible job of getting inside the narrator’s character and describing his emotional battle. At times it feels as if the text is purely his thoughts transcribed directly onto the page. The narrator traces back his history

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)

In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

She uses it to show us how each party feels, without making it too obvious at the same time. She uses ironic situations in order to let us know what is going on with her characters feelings, emotions, actions, and their past experiences. Without it, the stories she writes would be drastically different, and if I may be so bold to say, quite dull. But fortunately for all of us, she uses irony very, very well throughout all of her stories, especially this one, "The Storm." It's tied in so well that it aids us to see that this is not a storm of just thunder or lightning, but of lust and

In the book Hamlet by Shakespeare, irony is used numerous times in order to give the reader insight on what is going on. As stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, irony is an action that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. If this strategy were not included in this drama, it would take away the whole purpose. This play would consist of no suspense and would be extremely boring to the reader because the characters would know as much as the readers know. This allows for incite to what can happen in the future or what has happened in the past. The irony in this play ultimately revolves around Hamlet and his plan to achieve revenge with Claudius. From the play that Hamlet organizes