MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

The Department of English Language and Literature

Cultural and Historical Context

to Alan Moore’s Watchmen

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2019

Supervisor: Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun Ph.D. Author: Jan Kozelka

Bibliography

KOZELKA, Jan. Cultural and Historical Context to Alan Moore’s Watchmen: Bachelor Thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, The Department of English Language and Literature, 2019. 57p. Supervisor Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun, Ph.D.

Abstract

The bachelor thesis “Cultural and historical context to Alan Moore’s Watchmen” deals with position graphic novel Watchmen holds in English literature. It analyzes the themes and symbols of the novel, present in its characters and story, explaining their meaning and puts them in context. It also aims to put the novel in historical perspective, compare its events to the similar events in real history and explain the reasoning behind the differences present in the fictional timeline.

Keywords

Superhero, theme, analogy, morality, characters, timeline, graphic novel

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Pronouncement

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

On March 29th 2019 in Brno …………………….

Jan Kozelka

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Acknowledgement

I would like to thank here to Mgr. Jiří Šalamoun Ph.D. for helping and advising me in creation of this thesis, for his patience and understanding. I also want to thank Bc. Aleš Zápotocký for proof-reading and suggestions for improvement and finally my dear mother for her technical and moral support.

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Content 1. Introduction ...... 6 2. Alan Moore bio ...... 8 3. Characters ...... 11 3.1. Laurie Juspenzyk ...... 11 3.2. Daniel Dreiberg ...... 12 3.3. Edward Morgan Blake ...... 13 3.4. Walter Kovacs ...... 15 3.5. Adrian Veidt ...... 16 3.6. Jon Osterman ...... 17 4. Plot Analysis and Summary ...... 19 4.1. Chapter One ...... 21 4.2. Chapter Two ...... 22 4.3. Chapter Three ...... 23 4.4. Chapter Four ...... 24 4.5. Chapter Five ...... 25 4.6. Chapter Six ...... 25 4.7. Chapter Seven ...... 26 4.8. Chapter Eight ...... 28 4.9. Chapter Nine ...... 28 4.10. Chapter Ten ...... 29 4.11. Chapter Eleven ...... 30 4.12. Chapter Twelve ...... 30 5. Critique and Analysis of the Comic ...... 33 6. Comparison of Fictional and Real World Timeline ...... 39 6.1. Political situation in the USA...... 39 6.2. Vietnam War and Cold War ...... 42 6.3. Counterculture and Women Rights ...... 45 7. Conclusion ...... 52 8. Bibliography...... 55

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1. Introduction

Even though position of graphic novels in the landscape of literal arts definitely improved in the recent years, it is still largely under researched topic struggling to find its place in a literal arts landscape. As an avid graphic novel enthusiast, when it came to picking the topic for my bachelor thesis, I hope that this work will to some degree help to rectify this underrepresentation. After consideration of which graphic novel and author would be best suited for an in-depth thesis, I chose Alan Moore and his Watchmen, a graphic novel often considered as one of the great breakthroughs in its field. Merriam –

Webster dictionary defines graphic novel as a story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book.

The goal is to carefully consider Watchmen in its entirety, and for the sake of that, this thesis has two aims. One aim is to go over the themes and ideas presented in the book, explore and explain different philosophies and morals that are displayed to the reader. To achieve this the thesis looks at author and his background to put his opinions and viewpoints in context, it gives basic summary of how it is viewed by other analysts and critics and it looks in depth at the characters and story. This is done by detailed dissection of said aspects, going character by character and chapter by chapter to make sure to encompass the whole picture and to present the cultural significance of the novel.

The other aim of my thesis takes a different approach and looks at historical context of the novel. It goes over major aspects of the era in which the story takes place, looks at its events and tries to collate them with real world events and situation. My task here is to prove Watchmen offers unique commentary on the events in the USA of late 1960s to early 1980s, its problems and political situation. I also aim to show that Moore crafted the penultimate realistic look at how superheroes would appear in a highly believable world and how their presence would realistically change the course of history. To prove 6 it the chapter dealing with historical significance looks at major problems of the era and either tries to find their representation in Moore’s story, or to look at how these events differ in his fictional world and then it explains why possibly are these events different form our world.

Hopefully this thesis will help the struggle of establishing Watchmen as a graphic novel capable of deep and thought provoking ideas and scenarios, while also highlighting its probably most realistic portrayal of masked vigilantes and the impact they would have on the real world.

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2. Alan Moore biography

To fully understand where did the idea for Watchmen came from, it is important to

first look at Alan Moore’s life and background and to see where his specific outlook on

graphic novel genre came from, as well as what type of experience might be behind some

common themes in his stories. Knowing his past and his attitudes will help to put the

themes of the story in context.

Author often considered by many as one of the most important comic writers of all

time, belonging among the most influential ones. Ever since 2016 he is efficiently retired

from comic world, if one does not count the recent short return with an illustrated poem

he submitted to 24 Panels, an anthology dedicated to raise money for survivors of Glenfell

fire. This act of altruism, coupled with harsh criticism of a man1 that could be considered

responsible, is typical for Moore, and we see this part of his character thorough his career.

Born in Northhamptonshire, England, Moore grew up in working class family in

relative poverty and without siblings. Avid reader even in his preliminary studies, he

already developed focus on comic strips. While studying at Northampton Grammar

School, he first came to confrontation with middle class of society. This meeting is

soon followed by distaste and Moore’s leaving of any academic pursuits in favor of

publishing his own ideas, never to return to standard study institution

(TheFamousPeople.com).

Moore instead started publishing his poems and essays, even creating his own

magazine Embryo and joining Art Lab, involving its members in creation process. It

was around this time he also started using LSD, and began developing his first ideas

for gazing beyond what is seen, and he started looking for systems behind what we

1 Politician and journalist Boris Johnson 8 perceive as normal (Gray 22). He wanted to expose certain themes in the world, politics and even human nature. Due to his abuse of LSD, he was expelled from school, by his words, he was so inept, his headmaster came in contact with other schools and removed any chance for Moore to be accepted anywhere. In 1978, he began working as a freelance writer and illustrator, getting published his first strip

Maxwell The Magic Cat, which ran until 1986, when Moore due to the editorial disputes ended the run.

The next breakthrough came in 1980, when Moore started publishing for 2000AD, a prominent British comic magazine. Along with his 1983 reinvention of Swamp-thing for

DC Comics, where he turned obscure superhero into a story questioning the definition of life and in which the main character struggles through his transhumanism, Moore started to be more and more prominent. Swamp-thing and its run under Moore’s direction could be its own analysis, as Moore delves deeply into questions that comes from creature that is not a human, believes for a time to be originating from human, and slowly discovering it might be something much greater, or even better put, something entirely different.

Swamp-Things run showed Moore is more than adept at tackling deep philosophical questions and deconstructing typical graphic novel tropes (Di Liddo 54). After the creation of Hellblazer, he could no longer be considered an underground comics writer.

Due to his work with DC Comics, he also became the first British comics writer publishing for an American company. Frustrated with lack of creator rights in Britain, he left 2000AD in 1986 and altogether stopped writing under publishers in Great Britain.

1986 proved to be an incredibly busy year for Moore, as he manages to write several

Superman and Batman stories and also his probably most regarded and famous work –

Watchmen.

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Alan Moore left DC Comics in 1989 and established his own company, returning to an underground sphere of comics. Over the years he published several works, such as

V for Vendetta (1989), Lost girls (1991), A Small Killing (1991), Voices of Fire (1996) – his debut regular novel and of course The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999-

2012), maybe his most influential graphic novel after Watchmen and V for Vendetta.

Alan Moore received several awards for his work, had most of his most influential comics filmed and is known as a strong supporter of homosexual and feminist movement.

He is an anarchist, strong opponent of any government control or any other form of suppression. But undeniably his biggest contribution is the fact that he transformed the landscape of comics to allow a creation of more adult and deep stories and cemented graphic novels as a medium equal to regular novels in the west.

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3. Characters

Characters in any literary work often bear the most important themes and ideas of the story, with Watchmen not being an exception to this rule. Therefore I believe it is vital to look at them more closely, and to clearly explain their motivations, problems and what they represent in the story, as well as some basic information about their backstory. It also helps the clarity of text, as I will sometimes use their alter ego names, either to refer to a different side of a character, or even a total change in mindset of said character.

3.1. Laurie Juspenzyk

Aka Silk Spectre, more accurately Silk Spectre II. Thorough the thesis she is usually addressed as Laurie, to avoid confusion between her and her mother, Silk Spectre/Sally

Juspenzyk. Laurie is the most stable and grounded character of the Watchmen, or at least it would seem at first sight. The comic over time reveals her as a character of conflict, often being in the crux of two polarizing ideas or positions. Dissatisfied with her relationship with confusing and distant Dr. Manhattan, she gets close with Dan Dreiberg, whom she shares much in common as well as allowing her to be much closer to herself, but she has to, in a way, betray Manhattan. Because of that, she also participate in a relationship conflict.

There is also a conflict about her calling as a masked vigilante, as she is the only character in the story that was pushed into a life of a superhero. Inheriting the title of Silk

Spectre from her mother, she often states she never actually wanted to be a superhero, that she never really got to know anything else. As such she is the only character to welcome her forced retirement in 1977. But this stance of hers is also not certain, as when given the opportunity to come back, she slowly realizes the positive sides, freedom and

11 unique expression as well as adrenaline a life of a masked vigilante offers. Being able to help people and deep bond with others doing the same, and in the final act, she chooses this life willingly, for the first time.

Her final and most essential conflict in the story is in her relationship to Comedian, the superhero who attempted to rape her mother in years she was active as a superhero herself, and as later revealed, her mother’s late lover and Laurie’s father. This information, the information she herself repressed in her memory, serves as the ultimate conflict of her identity (Moore Issue IX 23). Her life long hatred for this man is in conflict with the fact that she came from him and he was more than just a collection of bad character traits.Moore also uses this incredibly conflicting life that happened due so many circumstances as a final tipping point for Dr. Manhattan, finally convincing him humanity is worth saving.

3.2. Daniel Dreiberg

Dreiberg with his alter ego Nite Owl, similarly to Laurie, represents a calmer, more grounded side of Watchmen cast. It is not the only similarity he shares with Laurie. He is also a second vigilante of said name, and he also keeps a close relationship with the original Nite Owl. But where Laurie represents stability between her alter egos, not even recognizing there is any difference between them, Dreiberg bears stability of the opposite kind. His alter ego is very different to his usual, shy and diffident self.

When he lost the ability to be this perfected version of himself, it could be compared to psychological castration, in a sense. Moore himself even represents it in his relationship with Laurie, where Dreiberg is not capable to respond to her sexual advances, even though

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he is interested in her. But that all changes the moment he assumes again his mantle as a

Nite Owl, regaining his confidence and, in a sense, a reason to live and be himself.

But Dreiberg still represents the normal human in this story. Not having a grand plan

or ideals, struggling with finding his way. To my understanding, his denial of looming

doom of nuclear war and his calm uninspired life is a Moore’s representation of how

western people often dealt with the life in a Cold War. As long as he can, he ignores any

signs of incoming conflict, and when he cannot ignore them anymore, he tries to convince

everyone, most importantly himself, that there is nothing he can do.

While he may seem like the least important one of the main cast, as his struggles are

more mundane and, when facing the final threat of the story2, actually confirming there

truly is nothing he can do about the events unfolding, he has a key role. He serves as a

moral compass and heart of story, the view of a normal human.

3.3. Edward Morgan Blake

Commonly referred to as The Comedian, one of the few superheroes that did not stop

being active after the Keene Act of 1977, instead opting to enroll with the government as

their official asset. As a government agent he took on jobs highly similar to the work of

a CIA special operative, helping to win the Vietnam War for the USA, committing

hundreds of operations, usually the likes of assassination or search and destroy. In the

book, for most of a time, he is shown as a despicable human being, at least to most people.

A man that is uncaring, cynical and egotistical. It is hard not to interpret his character as

Moore’s analogy to US covert operations.

2 A touch of irony Moore displays in almost all of his works. 13

However, as with all the characters in Watchmen, he is not so one-dimensional. He seems to be suffering from chronic depressions and paranoia, possibly some sort of PTSD and also a very specific outlook on life. As he puts it, human life, morals and society, all of it is a big joke. When one is pushed to the wall, all of that will falls down, and humans will degenerate to their animalistic tendencies. All of human society can break down in an instant, it needs just a slight shove, not even a strong push. This fact, supported by what is shown to reader in the story, how mob groups swiftly at moment the desperation grows too much, how people won’t help assaulted woman, just because they don’t know her and they won’t risk their own health. These are just a few examples of what he calls

“the joke”. As he puts it, once you see this truth about humans and life in general, you can either give up, cry and kill yourself, or laugh at it, accept the lie about society and humanity as a punchline (Moore Issue VI 15). That is what Blake chose to represent, he is the mirror to the worst of humanity, fully with the intention of showing it to everyone, that his form is what hides in any person.

He is also the only character here that is already dead at the start of the story, killed for learning too much. It is interesting to note that in his final moments, his belief that he represents the worst of humanity is shaken, as after realizing what is a plan of Adrian

Veidt, even he is horrified. This might put Veidt plan in a perspective – a man who believes humanity is capable of the worst possible acts, is horrified by the plan of a man that believes he will save the world. The complexity of this message is analyzed more in depth in a later chapter.

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3.4. Walter Kovacs

Aka Rorschach, a character that probably needs distinguishing between his civil name and his crimefighting name the most. Rorschach is maybe the most fleshed out character of the novel, because while we see the basic origins of every main character, Rorschach is the one we actually see analyzed in the story. In the chapter “The Abyss Gazes Also”, we delve deep into his psyche, and learn what led this man to such extremes, what forced him so far from humanity. In this chapter, he is at his lowest, and here he starts being

Rorschach, not just calling himself that name. He (and by extension me too) views

Rorschach as a different entity to himself, a new person born of Walter Kovacs, when

Walter saw too much and could not deal with the evil anymore, Rorschach was born

(Moore Issue VI 21). This new Rorschach is brutal, non-negotiating and always dealing in absolutes. He stands as a first of the three extreme characters of the group, to him, world is filled with filth and evil, corrupted beyond redemption, and only worthwhile pursue is to punish and destroy this corruption at every opportunity. As a man pushed beyond his limits, he appears to discard humanity in favor of ideals, to help himself cope with the hate he has for the people and their evil tendencies. He is also the only vigilante who never stopped fighting crime illegally, he literally could not stop his crusade due to his drive. His idealistic worldview culminates in the finale of the comic, where he stands as the only hero willing to destroy the world for the sake of truth. It is worth to mention though, when he screams at Manhattan to kill him or he will reveal Adrian’s plan to the world, he bizarrely seems almost aware of his limiting worldview (Moore Issue XII 24).

To be clearer, he seems to be aware that his purely black and white outlook and inability to compromise will actually cause the nuclear holocaust. Instead of compromising his ideals however, he chooses the other way out, letting himself be killed so he can stay true to his rules. It is up the discussion if this is intended to be willing sacrifice or just a scene

15 similar to putting down a rabid dog. The fact that his journal, containing the entire plan finds its way to a newspaper office makes understanding his decision even more of an ordeal.

3.5. Adrian Veidt

Aka Ozymandias. A billionaire genius with infinite funds and desire to save the world, wanting to become a grand leader of the world. Viewing himself equal to the greatest man of the history, he feels himself to be the spiritual kin to Alexander the Great. He built himself from nothing, his entire life is shaped by his desire to achieve greatness. That influenced everything about his life – his international business empire (he needs to make the world more developed), him becoming a superhero (he needs to prove his mettle), creating his grand plan to stop the world from mutual destruction (looking at the problem as his own Gordian knot) and finally even using Alexanders Egyptian name –

Ozymandias. Everything he does is for the sake of becoming closer to the idea of a man he views as the only person that would understand (Moore Issue XI 22).

On an altar of his goals, no sacrifice is too great, as everything he does is for the better future. He is portrayed as a dangerous megalomaniac, manipulative and cold. He is never shown to doubt himself, never needing an assurance or help, everything he does he achieves by his own power, without any consent from the people he helps or hurts. But right at the end, his image of greatness cracks a little. After he gets away with everything he did, killing millions, he wavers in his dedication. Maybe because everything worked, he loses his composure for a moment and is shown that he wants assurance. He is still human and seeks consolation of a higher power, in his case of Dr. Manhattan. The fact

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that he is refused one seems to impact him, showing an opposite side to man of greatness

– the guilt and consequences are also on them alone, same as the victories and glory.

Ultimately, Veidt in terms of an analogy may be seen as a parallel to a government,

similarly as Comedian. But while Blake is a stand-in for secret service and their black ops

behind the eyes of public, Veidt would be the higher government, the decision maker, the

dictator. His cold and condescending demeanor fits with Moore’s critique of a

government that does not follow the will of the people, one that supposedly act on

people’s behalf, but without their consent.

3.6. Jon Osterman

Aka Dr. Manhattan, the actual superbeing of Watchmen. And to quote from his

chapter: “The superman is real, and he is American”. But that quote from the comic is a

little misleading, as the more one learns about Dr. Manhattan, the more obvious is the fact

that not only is he not feeling as an American, he does not feel as a human at all. After an

accident, Jon Osterman became a being of unprecedented abilities, capable of atomic

manipulation and controlling energy on a wide selection of wavelengths. His intellect is

significantly increased, and thanks to him, the science of the Watchmen developed in a

different direction than in our world3.

His influence on political state is also unprecedented. Being a sole reason for USA

winning the Vietnam War, he is considered a state asset, and serves as a effective deterrent

against Russia. The Cold War is much ‘colder’ thanks to his presence, and it is his absence

that serves as a catalyst for the Doom Clock4 to start moving.

3 More about these differences in a chapter focused on comparing their and our world. 4 Note another usage of clocks connected to Dr. Manhattan 17

As a character, he is one of the most impressive delves in the idea of a inhuman superhero. The Way Moore chooses to show the fact that Osterman experience time not as a straight line, but more as a simultaneous event, with everything possibly being ‘now’ for him, was masterful (Moore Issue IV 17). Often books and comics failed to consider that creature with so much different view on existence and having such a different skillset and motivation would not probably just jumped on the opportunity to help us, instead it is more probably that such creature would even have trouble to understand us. The fact that Dr. Manhattan started as a human even adds to confusion of his character, creating a conflict within himself, where after all contemplating about his goals and dreams, he even comes to the conclusion it might have been better, or more accurately simpler, if he made a different choice, and never became what he is in the first place(Moore Issue IV 28).

Osterman position might be considered Moore’s interpretation of God, or a godlike figure. Such a creature would have so much knowledge and power, that its viewpoints would be inconceivable to us. And that is much of Ostermans story ark, how little is he a human anymore, the moment where Laurie convinces him to return to Earth to help seemingly after awakening his humanity, only to be revealed that his motivation is more of a scientist looking at ants and not wanting to destroy the ant farm if not necessary. At the end of this he actually assumes the mantle of a god in full, as just in the last chapter, he is asked for absolution, decides about the fate of entire planet and also chooses to leave

Earth and create life somewhere in the universe to see what it will lead to. In this last chapter, we can say he finally leaves his humanity behind and fully accepts his new life

(Moore Issue XII 27)

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4. Plot Analysis and Summary

The story of Watchmen is loaded with information and implications, themes and characters, none of them as simply as they appear on the first sight. After all, it is said that: ”…you can no more read the same book again as you can step into the same river.”

(Beckett 1). And that analogy fits incredibly well with this novel. More than likely the reader will miss on many themes, narrative devices and analogies even on their second or third read. This following segment is intended to rectify this to a degree. It will analyze chapter after chapter, clarify the theme and points out exact elements that support these claims.

Before the in depth analysis of every single chapter of the comic, I would like to give a reader a very brief summary of the entire story to avoid any confusion about the chronological order of events. The story of the comic starts with a murder of Comedian, first discovered by Rorschach. After the introduction of the rest of the characters, done while Rorschach continues his investigation and warning rest of the once masked vigilantes about a killer that targets them, we move on to the funeral of Comedian, establish relationships between Nite Owl, Laurie Juspenzyk and Dr. Manhattan. It is revealed to us that Comedian was killed because he learned something important, something so bad he could not withstand it.

Meanwhile Dr. Manhattan is accused of causing cancer by his mere presence live on television. As a result of this Manhattan leaves for Mars in self inflicted exile. This starts an avalanche of consequences, as the only real superhuman and American sole Russian repellent left. This prompts attack in Afghanistan and starts countdown to a full-blown nuclear war.

Several chapters then deal with the backstory and origins of individual Watchmen, with the intermission of Rorschach being framed for murder and sent to jail. While this 19 occurs Laurie is considering her relationship with Manhattan and seeks refuge with Dan

Dreiberg. The two of them start to develop feelings for one another, culminating later in the story as a serious relationship.

Situation soon becomes worse. People start rioting in the streets, as a result of fear and feeling of upcoming and unavoidable doom. Dreiberg and Laurie decided there was truth to Rorschach’s warning and after a brief rescue operation they break him out of the prison. Immediately after that Laurie is taken away for a talk with Dr. Manhattan on Mars, where she tries to persuade him to return to Earth and save humanity from destruction.

While trying to convince more and more distant Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach and Nite Owl make a dramatic realization. The culprit behind all the machinations seems to be Adrian

Veidt, fellow ex-superhero and rich genius. They embark to Antarctica to breach into his lair and confront him about these accusations.

Last chapters are more or less dedicated to Adrian, explaining his motivation and reasoning. Following this explanation he is confronted by Rorschach and Nite Owl, where he confesses to being guilty of murder of Comedian, murders, manipulation and worse.

His plan is to sacrifice almost three million people in New York, killed by a genetically engineered creature, to force USA and USSR to stop the hostilities and unite against the alien threat, thus achieving world peace. Heroes try to stop him, but he proves to strong, and it is after the appearance of Dr. Manhattan he admits defeat in terms of physical confrontation, only to reveal it was already too late – his plan is already done and nothing can be done about it.

Than comes the final act, where Veidt informs the heroes that should they tell the truth to the world, only thing they achieve is the start of World War III and make the sacrifice of three million people futile. He provides evidence that his plan truly worked and actually made the world leaders sit together and negotiate. All heroes except for Rorschach

20 begrudgingly agree that the only option is to stay silent, to avoid further casualties. Only

Rorschach stands his ground, that a compromise with evil is never an option. To avoid catastrophe, Dr. Manhattan is then forced to eliminate Rorschach and the story comes to a somber and ambiguous conclusion. Dreiberg and Laurie are starting new live together, again as vigilantes, Dr. Manhattan leaves our galaxy to start new life somewhere in the universe and Veidt stays with his success and doubts as the man who rules from behind curtains. And on the final note, the reader sees that Rorschach’s journal, the same journal containing all his theories and secrets he discovered before he died, found it’s way to a local newspaper. Reader is then left to choose for himself how to interpret this ending note. This summary, while a brief and bare, should help the reader to better follow the following analysis of themes and ideas.

4.1. Chapter One

Theme and meaning of this chapter is introduction, first introducing the world and its background, what were the key moments that differs it from our world. It also introduces the characters and sets up their starting allegiances. Comedian, Dr Manhattan and Laurie

Juspenzyk work for the government, while Nite Owl and Adrien Veidt are retired and

Rorchach is an outlaw hunted for sticking to the way masked vigilantes worked before the Keene Act. Special importance should be given to the way each character is introduced, mostly looking over the city and its people from above, separated from normal humans, towering over the city. There are two significant exceptions to this rule –

Rorchach is introduced the opposite way, portrayed from bellow, with skyscrapers standing above him. His position is different, where others are ideals and protectors, watching over the world as a higher and separated beings (or as they would believe), he

21 rises from the filth of the city, being less akin to a stereotypical superhero god and more closer to natural force. Lastly there is Dan Dreiberg, second Nite Owl, also differently portrayed. As the most grounded of the group, he is shown straight up, in his apartment.

It also hints at the viewpoints of each hero and gives reader a basic idea about their morals

– Veidt sees himself as a harbinger of human fate, above them in their intelligence, while

Eduard Blake (recently departed Comedian) view them with disdain, but similarly as inferior, for their inability to see the picture, to see “the joke”. Manhattan in his giant fifty-feet tall version easily shows the reader his separation from humanity. (Beckett 1)

4.2. Chapter Two

Key aspect of this chapter is Blake’s funeral, and from that the theme of this chapter can be derived. Death - both ontological and real. “Ontological death is best described known as the phenomenon of “world collapse,” which occurs when one experiences an incident so jarring to his/her personal reality that the thing which gives one’s life, or world, meaning – whether God or something else – no longer applies” (Beckett 2).

Death and the end of the current world is one of the bigger themes of the book, Moore and Gibbons use it to show the fragility of the world and lifes, to show how plans fail to meet the reality, but also to set up a new status quo, to start anew. Every death in one way or another leads to a new beginning, leaving the old reality behind.

Less obvious symbol of this concept than Blake’s funeral is Laurie’s confrontation with her mother, Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre, using this scene as narrative trope of “cracked mirror”, contrasting young, attractive and athletic Laurie with her old and sick mother, who is long past her prime and, though once very similar to her daughter, is

22 now viewing the world and her past through a more mellow and nostalgic eyes. Her role is to represent death of Laurie’s current reality.

The Comedian’s attempted rape in Sally’s flashback could be seen as a death of innocence, the milestone in the history of masked vigilantes. This chapter also shows more symbolic deaths in other memories – disbanding of two different superhero groups,

The Minutemen and The Crimebusters, the first one disbanding after the aforementioned rape attempt, the latter one disassembled almost immediately after being created due to inefficient concept. The last death ,and also the last scene, presented is Blake’s murder of a Vietnamese woman at the end of a Vietnam war, who claimed to be pregnant with

Blake being the father. Eduard Blake serves as a connection for all these events, either being a catalyst, initiating force or a receiver. This ties to his personal character theme, while also being a narrative connection.

4.3. Chapter Three

Following the previous chapter and its theme of death, this next piece naturally focuses on a theme of “the new dawn”. New reality is given to the reader, where

Rorschach’s alter ego, Walter Kovacs, enters the scene holding his sign that states “The

End is Nigh” – this statement holds special importance, as according to the timeline of the comic, this is the end of the world as people know it. The end of the world will happen later this day. And although it will come close to that, it will not be with a bang, but with tiny little pebbles, rolling down hill, growing bigger until it sweeps the whole world.

Crumbling relationship of Dr. Manhattan and Laurie Juspenzyk is also part of the theme of new dawn, as well as first steps on a relationship of Laurie and Nite Owl aka

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Dan Dreiberg. These two also face the new reality when forced to use their hero training to fend off a random thug attack.

Last and most important new realities are established with Dr. Manhattan, first when he is left by Laurie, second when he faces the reveal of a possibility his mere presence can cause cancer to normal human (possibly explaining deaths of several of his old acquaintances), and finally the biggest change, when after this reveal he goes into a self- inflicted exodus on Mars. This decision has by far, the direst consequences, as the United

States suddenly lost their key component of defense, their absolute deterrent against

Russia, and as a result, the Cold war, driven to a halt by the presence of Manhattan and his near-limitless power, starts heating up. As a result of this new status quo Russia invades Afghanistan and the world of Watchmen is now also facing a new world, a world on a brink of nuclear holocaust. (Beckett 3)

4.4. Chapter Four

This part of the story is focused on aforementioned Dr. Manhattan, his background and key element influencing his often confusing behavior. Ever since his accident that made him the only actual metahuman of the story, he experiences time differently. He does not perceive any moment as past or future, only ever as now. Moore shows this by using non-linear narration, displaying different stories from past of Dr. Manhattan, influencing each other, as for him, it is always present, he is experiencing them all at the same moment.

The key element of this chapter is “the one moment that decided the future”, for

Manhattan it being the day after Hiroshima bombing, when his father forced him to give up a career of a watchmaker, becoming scientist instead. That one decision sent him on a

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path, where he becomes, similar to Jesus Christ, a demarcation line. As the ultimate

watchmaker, he makes the world, he changes reality by being or not being. Seeing the

cogs of the universe, it is best explained with a direct quote from Chris Beckett: “there

was “before” Dr. Manhattan and there was “after” Dr. Manhattan.”

4.5. Chapter Five

“Fearful symmetry”, chapter named after a famous poem from William Blake5. This

chapter, focusing on police catching Rorschach and explaining a little bit about his nature,

his animalistic tendencies and drive, is slightly different from the others. It lacks the

typical unifying narrative theme, instead using a visual theme. Thorough the chapter

symmetry is repeatedly used in symbols and moments, but more importantly, Moore and

Gibbons did something that is extremely unique. The entire chapter is symmetrical, the

layout from beginning to end mirrors itself, both content-wise and position-wise. That

means page three has the same layout as page twenty-six, that fourth panel on page seven

has some sort of connection with sixth panel on page twenty-three. This decision is often

noticed only on repeated readings, but even without noticing it adds something intangible

to the narrative, a weird rhythm, creating somehow eerie atmosphere.

4.6. Chapter Six

Second chapter mainly focused on Rorschach, but this one is less artistic and more

expositional. It aims to explain the origin of Rorschach, from where came the idea and

his mentality. Symbol for this transformation, from Walter Kovacs to Rorschach, is a

5 Alan Moore is his big admirer. 25 butterfly, showed in a rorschach spot to Walter Kovacs in prison. Dr Long, a psychiatrist in prison is tasked to study captured Rorschach, and over time it becomes obvious that

Rorschach is slowly introducing Dr Long to how he sees the world. This culminates in a gruesome reveal that Rorschach himself views as his turning point, when he stopped being Walter Kovacs, when he stopped being “soft” as a crimefighter.

Symbol of a butterfly used as a symbol for metamorphosis, and also to represent his bleak outlook, as its connection to brutal murder is meant to stain the symbol, to show how seeing the dark nature of humanity won’t leave anyone unscathed. Rorschach is locked in his hate and disdain for humanity thanks to this experience. Similarly to him,

Comedian sees everything humans struggle for as joke thanks to the same knowledge, and even a calm and composed Dr Long is forever changed after Rorschach reveals this truth to him. He loses his wife and motivation, instead wallowing in the despair of not being able to to do anything about it. His feeling of helplessness is opposed by

Rorschach’s grim determination to do what he sees as right against all adversities and costs. The final message Dr Long and a reader sees is that anyone can become someone this extreme, anyone can take on too many bad decisions and end up as a monster in the night.

4.7. Chapter Seven

Theme of this chapter is something often noticed in graphic novel stories, although only in recent decade had it become more acknowledged. Sexual tension and superheroes is a topic that only recently became more discussed mostly because of social taboo of

26

such ideas in USA6, stemming from the country’s history and cultural background, being

founded by catholic puritans. Sexual subtext makes quite a bit of sense, considering all

the skintight spandex, revealing outfits and all the people in perfect or near perfect

physical forms, sexuality was often used as an attraction before. To my knowledge

however, it was never successfully addressed in previous stories in superhero genre. In

this chapter though, Moore and Gibbons decided to tackle this issue directly, with the two

most human and stable characters of the story – Laurie Juspenzyk and Dan Dreiberg.

Laurie at this point basically ended her relationship with Dr. Manhattan, and due to

circumstances ended up staying at Dreiberg’s home. Their dynamic, built onto this point

gets more flirtatious, scenes filled with sexual symbolism, most obvious being Archie,

Dreiberg’s blimp, which ties to later theme about alter egos and also can serve as a

surrogate, as seen in a scene where Laurie accidentally activates a flamethrower, almost

to say, prematurely (Moore, Watchmen 7 2). This buildup finally culminates when Laurie

and Dan share a moment when watching news about ramping crisis in the world (the fear

from the future serving them as a catalyst). This attempt fizzles thanks to Dreiberg’s lack

of virility and feeling of helplessness, which are countered as he finally assumes his

identity as a Nite Owl once again. This identity serves as his idealized version, allowing

him to truly express himself without doubts and giving him a feel of control of his life,

finally returning Laurie’s feelings and taking hold over his life again. It is important to

point out, that this is not meant as a display of a fetish, more of a assuming the role more

true to one self and using this freedom of alter ego to take control of one’s life (Beckett

7).

6 In contrast manga comics in Japan where there they have no such taboos and ever since their creation they had a specific genre dealing with these tension, in western society sex is still considered as something unnatural when presented in media, often more criticized than portrayal of violance 27

4.8. Chapter Eight

This chapter focuses mainly on theme of liberation, the most obvious one being

Rorschach’s liberation from prison. It serves as a form of set-up, to prepare heroes to face the storm coming in later chapters. Functionally speaking, it is the last chapter before the story ramps up for the final push, with all the reveals and twists of the big finale. Less obvious liberation happens with Dreiberg and Laurie, who undergo their own liberation, accepting their return to costumed crimefighting “in the spirit of 76” (referencing the

Keene Act that forced them to retire) (Beckett 8). After their spontaneous operation where they saved people in the previous chapter, this one is planned and confirms their willingness and dedication to return. Despite Laurie continuing to imply it is a one time thing, and despite her again referencing her mother forced her on the path of vigilantism, by the end of the chapter she agrees with Dreiberg that she wants to return to it as much as he does, as it is part of her personality. They both break the shackles of their mundane, almost fake lives and accept their true identity. Final liberation of this chapter could be seen in death of Mason Hollis, the original Nite Owl, in fit of senseless violence, where he is attacked by angry mob in his home, due to the misplaced association with the resurface of masked vigilantes. This could be seen as liberation from mortal coil, while also foreshadowing the events to come (Beckett 8).

4.9. Chapter Nine

This chapter plays with a slightly more complicated theme, one that can be perfectly explored in visual media, such as graphic novels. It focuses on the haze that misshapes our memories, be it due nostalgia or repression, and how much our memories tend to be

28

subjective rather than objective (Beckett 9). While trying to convince Dr. Manhattan to

save humanity, Laurie slowly comes to a revelation about who her real father was. At first

blaming this on her mother, she soon realizes that it was mostly herself that deceived her.

Repressing her true memories and choosing not to see the clues, she built an entire fake

narrative because it was easier to deal with. Visually, this haziness of her memory is

represented by using blurred reflections of her throughout the chapter, most prominently

through a bottle of perfume, called “Nostalgia”. This visual analogy culminates when she

finally cannot lie to herself anymore, her mental walls crumble while in real world she

destroys Manhatton’s glass fortress. But symbolically, from these debris comes

something new, as it is this realization of a what a series of random circumstances

Laurie’s life actually was that convinces Manhattan to reconsider his standpoint on

humans and importance of life. Haziness of memory is also explored with Manhattan

himself, as he reveals to Laurie that there are parts of his memory, mostly memories of

the future that he cannot recall, giving readers first moment of weakness from this

omnipotent character.

4.10. Chapter Ten

As far as themes go, chapter ten only has one big symbol, the image of two riders

approaching, be it in planes of Air Force One and Two, with President Nixon and Vice

president Ford on their way into hiding in NORAD7 (Beckett 10). This visual in then

repeated several times in the chapter, be it a duo of Jehovah’s Witnesses by the newsstand

or two riders on horses in The Tales of Black Freighter (fictional comic within the world

of Watchmen). But the one that bears the most meaning is when Rorschach uses it as an

7 North American Aerospace Defense Command 29 analogy. “World on the verge of apocalypse. Death and War already here, the other two won’t be far behind.” (Moore Issue X 20). Two riders signaling the end of the world.

4.11. Chapter Eleven

The entirety if chapter eleven is focused on story and plan of Adrian Veidt and his point of view. It explains his motivations and by extent the reasoning for the events that happened in the story. Readers delve deep into Veidt’s psyche, revealing his motivation, the extent of his machinations and most importantly, showing the second inhuman…or maybe the most human…character in the story. But while Manhattan is hard to grasp due to him actually being a creature beyond human scope, Veidt actually lead himself to a place where one can doubt how much of human he actually still is. Detached from humanity due to his, as he sees it, perfection, he views himself alone, above the rest of the world. But while Manhattan in the same position views humans as animals, as creatures to study, Veidt believes in caring for the humans like a shepherd cares for his flock. He compares himself to Alexander the Great, believing both of them to be the pinnacle of human race, responsible for it’s further survival and development. And in the current political scene, with the policy of Mutually Assured Destruction as being his

Gordian knot, just waiting for him to solve. This whole scenario culminates with him initiating his plan, setting New York as ground zero, thoroughly devastating the whole city’s population. (Beckett 11).

4.12. Chapter Twelve

The final chapter, dealing with the results of heroes trying to stop Adrian Veidt, revealing of all the cogs in his plan and its scale. The basic outline of his plan is simple –

30 since World War 3 is unavoidable either now or in the future, Veidt created what is basically an alien creature using his near limitless resources and kidnapped/hired specialists. This creature was teleported in New York and died just moments later, releasing a wave of energy that killed around three million people. This will be interpreted as an alien attack and the governments of the world will unite to prepare to fight a common enemy. This explanation is obviously an oversimplification of what the entire story sets up, but the details are not what took interest of mine and number of other people.

It is the fact here of all places, Alan Moore, the same Alan Moore whose opinions I analyzed in his biography, the one that is famous for his antifascist, antigovernment, even anarchistic views, the same Moore that always said one man should never choose what is good for other people, the same man here at this point lets the reader to decide what is objectively a moral choice. Because what Veidt did was horrible, but his reasoning is sound. Not just that, what he did ultimately worked, as it is shown in the comic, making even harder to choose what is right to do for the heroes, as in revealing his scheme, they would render the sacrifice of three million people meaningless, as well as probably causing another war. But if one chooses to agree with Veidt, where is the line, because if one can justify killing of millions, what makes this different from what some of the worst dictators did. And after all, right at the end the comic implies not even the best plan will work forever, as we see the diary of Rorschach, the only one of the heroes who chose not to compromise (and died for his belief), to find its way to the hands of reporters, which could mean the entire plan might be still rendered hollow. Especially for this ending, several critics have accused Watchmen of being too dark and bleak, lacking any sort of positive message, lacking the optimism that, according to them, should be present in superheroes stories, so they would give us something inspiring and lead us forward.

However, Chris Beckett disagrees, instead proposing it’s the other way around, that the

31 main meaning of Watchmen is hope. Hope in all of the main cast at the end after all,

Dreiberg and Laurie bare hope for their new future together, again as crimefighters. Dr.

Manhattan giving life a second chance, choosing it over physics and cosmic phenomena.

Veidt stopping incoming war, finally leading to Russia and USA to sit and find a common ground. Even Rorschach, in death, can be seen as representing hope, hope for the better future, for a dream of fair and clean world, with no morally grey areas. He kept this hope for his vision even when faced with unstoppable plan of Adrian Veidt and omnipotent decision of Dr. Manhattan. He refused to give up.

While this is certainly one of the bigger themes in the ending, I believe another main goal for Moore was to cause the exact confusion with the final moral dilemma. He wants the reader to be confused, not to be sure about his opinion, to work out what is moral according to him, only to realize he might be wrong. And ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer, at least not according to me, and probably not according to Moore either.

The people are always the ones who decide whether something is moral or not, and what was seen as a good cause yesterday might be a horrid monstrosity tomorrow. History is written by the victors and was rewritten so many times the truth tends to get lost along the way. So the aim is not to choose what is good, but to think and consider, why it could or could not be good, and what path it may lead us to.

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5. Critique and Analysis of the Comic

This chapter will look in detail at some previously done analysis of Watchmen, with

the goal to get a better perspective of the novel’s role in a grander graphic novel

landscape. It is also meant to explain why this specific work of Moore’s holds such a

significance and why it changed the role of graphic novels and the perspective people

held for them. It is going to look at how author approaches the superhero idea and the

moral, ethical implications that would presence of a masked superpowered vigilante had

on a more realistic setting. The main philosophical topics to be explored here would be

humanity and inhumanity, contrast of absolutes and morality. These themes are so

commonly associated with Watchmen that it is required to at least look at some critics

who analyzed them.

When we talk about the importance of Watchmen, one always has to state what its

significance for the comic world is. The impact Alan Moore had on the world and

perception of comics in most of his work cannot be overstated. However, Watchmen

stands tall above them8 in terms of the change for the superhero genre, and according to

Annalisa Di Liddo and many others, is along with Frank Millers The Dark Knight Returns

responsible for kickstarting the change in superhero narrative, offering different view on

the typical superhero, less of a shining and peerless icon, and more troubled soul, haunted

by its own demons and fears, often damaged in some regard (54). To paraphrase Tony

Spanakos, who looked at Watchmen’s morality - according to Moore, in our world

someone like Batman or his like would be considered a severe case of sociopath,

dangerous and unstable individual (37).

8 I intentionally do not mention famous authors like Art Spiegelman or Will Eisner, who played significant role proving the signifikance of graphic novels as a serious media. Although significant, in this thesis the focus is on a superhero subgenre. 33

That is what his story offers us, presents us with the world where masked vigilantes

were present since the 30s, being an influence on their world as both a positive and a

negative force, getting in conflict with regular lawmen and later with general public,

finally coming to halt with Keene Act9 in 1977, where the masked heroes are either forced

to retire or enroll as state assets.

It cannot be overstated how Moore meticulously crafted a world as detailed and

intricate as our own, even the slightest details addressed. Both Matt Hlinak and Marco

Pelliteri point out how Moore not only made believable changes to our history coming

from the fact superhero exist in his fictional one, but also how the story actually naturally

develops these changes as the time went on in Moore’s universe. It was this exact

attention to detail that actually lead me to the creation of this thesis as well.

One can also look at Watchmen as study of morality and humanity. What is moral and

justice, how can those concepts be stretched given the right circumstances? We can

clearly see the influence of Nietsche’s concept of Übermensch in not just one, but three

of its main characters, each one of them representing aspects of it, and each of them

ultimately failing to achieve this status, due to their specific faults or beliefs. Each of them

could also be seen as different representation of mentioned concept.

Another viewpoint that could be considered is the ethical one. Especially the final act

of the story presents the moral and ethical dilemma. When Adrian Veidt kills half of the

New York city citizens, we are shown the horrendous images of what actually happened,

we see the evil of his ways. But that line starts to blur, when he presents evidence of the

unavoidable world war and human’s mutual destruction. He is uncaring with his message,

not considering any arguments the rest of the group makes, his dictator and savior

9 Fictional act of the US, forcing all masked vigilantes to either cease their aktivity or enroll in government service 34 tendency is fully realized at this point. To Veidt, no one can stop his ultimate plan, no one can change his course. Only when confronted with Dr. Manhattan, an entity he has to acknowledge as superior in power, is he quick to offer the group a life in peace and safety, only for the price of keeping his secret. In any prior graphic novel story, this would have been the simple question, but here we are presented with a real dilemma. Veidt surveillance shows his plan worked, the world is finally steered away from the nuclear war, USA and USSR are starting to negotiate on friendly terms. His plan to unify world against outside enemy was a success. He even offers to compensate heroes for their silence, even though his ultimate argument is presented before that – revealing the ruse, an act typically chosen in a superhero story as clearly moral and ethical, would only serve the destruction of the world, probably triggering the apocalyptic effect. Veidt’s act would be seen as a trigger, and even if war could be avoided, his fall would trigger an economic catastrophe. Ethically speaking, it would also render the sacrifice that was done in New

York pointless. Only Rorschach is not dissuaded by these revelations, sticking to his unmoving and unchanging vision of justice, further underlining the dissonance between the just and ethical actions, while also confronting the three Übermensch candidates viewpoints (Keeping 57).

Robert Loftis summarizes this accurately, describing Ozymandias as a consequentialist, someone who believes that consequences are the only thing that matters, which rings true with his immediate offer to the group the moment he is faced with an opponent he cannot overcome (71). More about his viewpoint and why I believe he ultimately fails to stay true to this conviction will be discussed in chapter dedicated to his character. Rorschach on the other hand could be described as a deontologist, believing morality and justice are absolute. While Veidt believes everything he does is justified as long as it achieves beneficial goal, Rorschach rationalizes anything he does is justified as

35 long as he adheres to the ultimate moral and just code he holds. Consequences are of little importance, as long as what was done was with these ideals in mind.

Both of these extremes are used to express the ultimate critique of authoritarianism, which is a running theme in the book. Superheroes deciding what is best with no consideration for the people they choose for, same as the governments against which they rebel, they choose according to their values, not the values of the people they represent.

They use these ideologies to rationalize their actions, but are shown as flawed and corrupt in their own way. They are unable to transcend human morals and its limitation, but struggle to do so in their own ways, further cementing the conflicting morality masked superhero has to face.

The theme of rationalizing power is present all through the book, although a lot of fine points are only obvious in retrospect. But even if we could go the other way, and saw his actions as truly justified and ethical, we would be wrong. As how could we as onlookers believe in his cause, if right at the end, we learn that even Veidt himself wants to be affirmed by higher authority, to hear someone say he did good. The message of the book, as worded by Dr. Manhattan as a response to his inquiry: “Jon, before you leave . .

. I did the right thing, didn’t I? It all worked out in the end.”, is a bleak, yet realistic: “‘In the end’? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.“, as we are shown that Rorschach’s journal is out there, sent to the office of right-wing newspaper New Frontierman. The ambiguity of the final pages leaves us guessing at the continuation, setting up previously reasons why this could mean that all was in vain or that this act changes nothing (White

81).

The final theme that can be derived from these two is corruption, as an ever present force, even in the brightest figures of superheroes. When that is taken into account, it does not matter if someone is leftist or rightist, if they are clean and rich or dirty and brash.

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Those are just excuses, justifications and rationalizations so they can push their own agenda. Moore and Gibbons are not interested in what can be justified under the wings of ideals (Loftis 76). As in the real world, these ideals are most often used only as an excuse.

It is no coincidence that the most moral character, one that could be considered untouched by this corruption is Nite Owl, a man who holds no specific ideology and is instead driven by common decency and intent to help people.

At last I want to mention a slightly less discussed topic, the theme of humanity, or more specifically what makes a human human. This topic is mostly focused on Dr.

Manhattan and will be discussed later, but the general theme should be mentioned in this chapter. It is also tied to the previously talked questions about morality and justice. Can any of those things be applied to a being that is not human? According to Kant we could, but then again, animals are most often taken out of the morality discussion, can we truly place there a creature that can see, feel and be present in the past, present and the future, all at the same time (Robichaud 12)? A being who can be at multiple places at the same time, see atoms at motion, go to any place in the universe. Trying to understand him is something we as readers share with every person in the comic meeting Dr. Manhattan.

We cannot even prove whether this entity is the original Jon Osterman, the human who through accident became Manhattan. James Digiovanna presents us with different philosophical viewpoints to why he is or is not Osterman, referencing works of Decartes,

Locke and Hume, not to mention others (105). By the end of it all, the closest we get to finding the answer as to who he is would be his own quote: ”It didn’t kill Osterman, did you think it would kill me?”. Using this, it could be said that Manhattan himself sees

Osterman as a different entity, with different values and goals, but his memories served as a basis for a person he later became. He is also capable of another impossibility, being on several place at the same time. These replicas are however still him, sharing the same

37 attributes and though experiencing different things, while that would normally constitute different person, he is still one consciousness, one being, experiencing all of that at the same time. This fact combined with him experiencing time out of joint makes Manhattan very hard to understand and reason with. It is understandable that in this predicament he himself loses touch with his humanity and begins to question even the fundamental beliefs and values most common people have. His fatalism, determinism and overall actions as well as possible symbols shall also be analyzed in his own chapter, for now it should just be said that his character serves less as a parallel to real life groups than the other heroes, but much more than the others, he offers a very unique perspective on destiny, omnipotence and predestination, as well as a look at a more realistic mind of a true superhuman. Alien, even though starting as a human. In opposition to his inhuman qualities stands the fact that what makes him save human race is actually a fragment of human nature he rediscovers when pondering about a miracle of one’s life. It is human kindness that saved the world but delivered through the hand of a creature that views it more as a curiosity in physics than common sense or kindness. This leaves reader to wonder just how much human Dr. Manhattan truly stays, and gives a very unique questions about humanity and how it changes through power one has.

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6. Comparison of Fictional and Real World Timeline

This section of the thesis is focused on different aspect of Watchmen than all previous

chapters. It explains the major events of the era the graphic novel takes place in and

compares them with the equivalent part of history in our timeline. Namely it goes over

events in the USA from approximately 1964 till 1980. The goal is to either find and

identify same or similar scenarios, or if there are differences between said timelines,

identify the reasons for a change and explain its context for both realities. As for a method,

every major chapter will first be explained, after which follows the comic comparison.

6.1. Political situation in the USA

This era of American history can be characterized as a time of conflict inside the

country that started as the fight for Civil Rights (beginning in the 1960s and culminating

with Civil Rights Act of 1968, forbidding all forms of racial discrimination) transform in

rise of Counterculture and hippies. This could be seen as a direct result of people growing

wary and dissatisfied with the live under constant threat of nuclear war and continual war

with communism, resulting in a form of tiredness and in case of younger people,

dissatisfaction about emotions and conventions they did not agree with and resulting in

open refusal of current culture.

The USA also faced economical issues on home soil, a result of a long period of semi-

war economy and heavy investments in Vietnam War along with a heavy hit that was oil

crisis of 1973, which was a consequence of oil embargo from OAPEC10. This embargo

10 Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries

39 caused a rise in costs of petroleum to more than four times the original price, severely hitting American industry. This is often considered as the first oil crisis, with the second coming in 1979.

Late seventies can also be pointed as the time of turning point from liberalism towards more conservative attitude, even though it was only a slow turn until Ronald Reagan became the president. This slow switch in political standpoint is mostly due to the desire for safety, and because of the reaction to Counterculture. Ever present was a growing distrust to government, culminating after Watergate Scandal of 1972.

Special attention needs to be given to Nixon administration (1969 – 1974), which dealt with these problems reasonably well, even though Nixon’s main focus was more on the foreign policy than on the home one. The antiwar movement hit its peak during his term, when in 1970 in the Kent State shootings the National Guard came in conflict with demonstrators. Nixon faced numeral economical issues such as rampant inflation, which combined with the oil crisis led to an extreme rise in living costs and increase in criminality, which naturally often gravitated toward Counterculture centers, San

Francisco and New York especially becoming extremely prolific in terms of concentrated crime in all forms, centers of the cities often becoming hotspots for prostitution, drug dealing and criminal attacks of all sorts (O’Neill 265). Especially in New York, situation became quite extreme, with criminality being at all time highest, Times Square becoming basically a no-go zone.

When comparing differences in home politics between our world and world of

Watchmen, most of them stem from a simple fact, splitting the timelines that started from single point – presence of masked superheroes, especially Dr. Manhattan. Economical situation in the USA is significantly better, at least overall, mostly due to nonexistent hit

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from the oil crisis of 1973 – no such crisis happened thanks to the USA using technology

developed by Dr. Manhattan, most important being some alternative source of energy he

introduced, making most of industry independent on oil. As such involvement of USA in

Middle East is minimal, and therefore when Manhattan leaves Earth, their positions in

Afghanistan for example are immediately lost, as they held much less significance. The

USA is undergoing industrial rise thanks to Manhattan, although this boom seems to be

focused mostly on government fields, and while the economy appears stronger,

criminality is still high.

Socially speaking, situation seems much more similar to the real situation of the

timeline. Criminality is still incredibly high, this time mostly fueled only on the

dissatisfaction of people with the government (and less on economical fall) and it is

actually one of the reasons for the appearance of masked vigilantes. A real life murder of

Kitty Genovese11 actually serves as a catalyst for the creation of Rorschach. Riots and

criminality stays the same, as it serves as a better ground for the existence of superheroes,

and it also may be seen as Moore’s suggested opinion that the reason for the criminality

were mostly cultural, not economical, or that the better government economy does not

equal better living environment.

Greatest differences can be seen in Nixon administration, its foreign aspects discussed

more in the later subchapters, but only briefly here. Nixon’s history before election

appears to be same between the realities, although Moore appears to play into a popular

conspiration theory about John F. Kennedy. In his world, Comedian was the one who shot

Kennedy as the second shooter, mirroring the conspiration theory where some people

believe Kennedy was killed on order of some USA secret service. Given the fact that

11 Although the events described are from in later years mostly debunked article in New York Times 41

Comedian works for the US government in the story and also that he is often portrayed as an agent - it is either a playful nod towards said theories, or intentional jab at darker practices of secret services.

Nixon in Watchmen involved Manhattan in foreign and domestic policies, achieving even greater popularity than in the real world, leading to people in the world complaining less about him and more about government in general. His downfall in the real world, that being the Watergate Scandal, also never truly happened in Watchmen. It is however implied that there was some sort of incident tied to Watergate, but before the reporters

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed the scandal to public in the real world, could do so in here, they were assassinated (again by Comedian). Instead of resignation in 1974

Nixon actually repelled the 22nd amendment, that would limited him for only two terms, and was reelected in 1976, 1980 and 1984 (Atkinson). This fits realistically with the fact that he faced less problems than in the real world so his popularity would not wane, while also avoiding the scandal. Moore created highly probable, if slightly cynical portrait of alternative timeline, even if we can see his anarchistic views in his one-sided critique of the government.

6.2. Vietnam War and Cold War

Cold War is the unavoidable presence when talking about this point in history.

Conflict with no direct war, that some would argue started almost immediately after the

Second World War and could be considered in some shape or form continuing to this day.

When talking about Nixon’s America or Watchmen it needs to be talked about for the huge importance it holds in both timelines. But it would not be sensible to go over the entirety of the conflict, as the focus is to compare the two timelines and the graphic novel

42 does not give enough information to asses the entirety of Cold War. Therefore, this chapter will only go over the certain events that were touched upon in the comic and everything that is not mentioned should either be considered unchanged from real world or it is something we do not have enough information about. Because of this scarcity of information, I am not going to follow the exact chronology and instead go over specific events.

The most changing fact for the Cold war in Watchmen is the presence of Dr.

Manhattan. His presence changed the entirety of power dynamic between the USA and the USSR. While never directly attacking the USSR, the presence of nearly omnipotent superhuman meant USSR was way less willing to take risks which lead to fewer conflicts, with Vietnam War being the only one mentioned before his departure from Earth in the comic.

Vietnam War itself started in the comic same as the real one, in 1955, with North

Vietnam calling USSR for help and South calling for support in the USA. As far as graphic novel tells the reader, nothing changed until 1968, when president Nixon under pressure with his attempts for re-election promised as part of his campaign for swift end of war that Dr. Manhattan shall take action in Vietnam. And as promised, in 1971 a giant blue man appeared in Vietnam, causing forests to burn and melting bunkers with little emotion. This sight had two understandable side effects – war in Vietnam ended in the

USA favor in just a few months, and local Vietnamese people started viewing Dr.

Manhattan as sort of godlike figure. These two facts led to annexation of Vietnam, making it a 51st state of the United States, giving the US stronger position in Asia, causing even further fear in the USSR to get involved in military actions (Atkinson).

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This fear in Soviets led to them having much more isolationist policy, and stronger focus on space race. It also resulted in the fact that there never came a de-escalation in

USA-USSR relationships and Nixon never opened friendlier negotiations channels due to his policy of détente, which started in 1972 and ultimately led to setting up trade agreements with USSR and China. There never was any groundwork for creation of

SALT II agreement which would regulate arms race or a treaty that would forbid placement of nuclear weapons in space (UNODA).

The nonexistence of these treaties and the extension of the arms race might be a reason why rocket technology is more advanced in Watchmen universe, with space travel being far more common and the implication that the US has a rocket silo hidden on the Moon.

It is also a reason as to why the moment Dr. Manhattan leaves the Earth, the USSR invades Afghanistan in 1985 (delayed from the real world invasion of 1979) and why threat of mutual destruction becomes imminent.

Other than space travel, there appears to be generally higher progress on the technological field, probably due to the involvement of Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias.

Other than electric transportation, it seems that genetic modification made significant breakthroughs, being capable of creating genetically modified, and even fully artificial animals. As genetic research is even to this day stunted more by moral problems rather than financial, one could presume that due to the worse state of Cold War, people were more open to genetic research. Overall, I believe Moore depicted highly believable set of events that happened as a result of the presence of masked vigilantes while taking in consideration rather realistic causality and believable changes in society.

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6.3. Counterculture and Women Rights

The United States in the seventies struggled in the storm of social changes and conflicting ideologies, and the cultural confrontation that came as a result of counterculture reached perhaps its highest point. It was also the time of second-wave feminism, with Gloria Steinem as the important figure at the head of the movement. But first something briefly about counterculture and the impact it had on society.

Counterculture in its roots can be dated back to the early sixties and it is closely connected with hippie movement, the New Left and overall rebellion against the established culture. To get more detailed info about its roots, I suggest William O’Neill and his Coming Apart, given a more detailed look at its history. In the simplest of terms, counterculture started with the young people, as a mean of repelling old social norms and attitudes these people felt were not their own. Their ideas of liberalism originally stemmed from their beginning connection to the Civil Right Movement, and led to a very liberal views on sexualism, feminism, dress code and basically most aspects of society.

However, it is not true that it was only a movement that gave form to a youthful rebellion, even if it probably started in that sense. It is often misinterpreted in such way, even though the age of supporters over time became much more diverse, which is not surprising, considering the movement lasted around twenty years. It is also important to mention that while the movement was by no mean small, its impact on society and its uniformity in youth was heavily blown out of proportions by the traditionalists that felt threatened. Counterculture was typically a feature of middle-class youths, as the higher class tended to be involved with current establishment and few in numbers, while the most numerous youths from poorer origins tented to oppose it, as they already had to work and learned how the world actually works. One has to remember that while the

45 movement was not necessarily tied to young people, it was stemming from youthful idealism.

One of the main parts was Anti-war sentiment, fueled mostly by the Vietnam War, which was a shock to a lot of especially young and not jaded people, as the first medialized war in history. Some of these people had the desire to dress the way they wanted, embrace more freely with their sexuality and overall more freedoms in society, especially for women and homosexuals.

Although all the goals mentioned above were quite noble of an idea, what ultimately caused counterculture most problems were paradoxically themselves. Mostly the bohemian way of living, which invited people only interested in that, and widespread use of drugs, mostly marihuana and LSD. This in turned caused that most meccas of counterculture slowly degenerated with the growing criminality, drug abuse and prostitution. This had the consequence of the movement starting to lose steam in late seventies thanks to the inability to separate itself from these elements and also because of the struggling to live by its own ideology. Typical hippie of late era would denounce capitalism, but than would be forced to have a small shop to sell some symbols of his culture, so as to have money to buy food or drugs. Everyone remembers Woodstock, but nobody wants to remember Altamont, a festival from the same year, where The Rolling

Stones, wanting to cash in on the Woodstock’s success, made their own festival so badly mishandled, it ended in death and heavy hit hippies held in the common eye(O’Neill

261).This dichotomy caused the counterculture to destroy itself, along with arrival of

Ronald Reagan in 1980.

This duality of counterculture can be seen in Watchmen if we decide to view the fictional Top Knots as the analogy for hippies. The movement present in the background

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of many scenes in Watchmen, they are often seen in similar areas as criminals, dressed in

different outfits than the rest and they are always present at protests. When the feelings

of hopelessness hit their peak with the desperation in wake of imminent nuclear threat

and seeking the people responsible, they turn their ire to masked vigilantes, as because of

Dr. Manhattan’s connection to government they see them responsible, beating the old

man Hollis12 to death as they believe him to be one of said superheroes. These misguided

acts and desperate need to fight against establishment, their connection to criminality and

overall conflict with themselves lead me to believe they are indeed Moore’s reference to

counterculture society turned extreme by circumstances.

Other important social change that should be talked about is feminism. So called

“Second-wave feminism” appeared around 1963 and lasted till around 1982, where it died

out due to achieving many of its goals as well as a shift toward more conservative politics

and different issues that society had to tackle on. The initial impulse to its creation was

given by Betty Friedan, who brought to the attention the unequal position of the housewife

in a society that tends to trap them in the said role. It was this perceive of a role that was

forced upon that lead her creation of National Organization of Women. Friedan achieved

several successes, the biggest probably being the Women’s Strike for Equality of 1970, a

nationwide strike of women to bring attention to their demands of free childcare,

abortions on demand and a right of equal opportunity. Soon after though, the feminists

started to face infighting. Younger and more hotheaded feminists started gravitating

towards the political left led by Gloria Steinem while the more conservative ones agreeing

more with Phillis Shaftly and the ones who chose to stay in the middle usually agreed

with Friedan (O’Neill 196).

12 The original Nite Owl in retirement 47

It was a typical fight between the idealistic young and the reasonable adult that can see more consequences. Many women for example were not inclined to absolute Equal

Rights Amendment, which failed its ratification in 1972. These women wished for equal rights and opportunities but did not wished to destroy the possibility for women to actually pick a path that was viewed by radical left as “not empowering”, wanting not to berate the position of housewife or make women be included in military draft.

Ultimately, the movement ended up split between older, more conservative feminists and younger radical ones. It also stayed as mostly white women endeavor, as women of color were still more occupied with problems tied to racial inclusion and feminism was not as important to them. Even still, the second-wave feminism achieved several successes in its time, the most important being equalizing pays and education and such, equal standing before the law and improvement of the laws to protect against rape and abuse. They also forwarded greater acceptance of women standing as equals and acceptance of women in different roles (O’Neill 198).

Comparing this to the comic, we see something quite interesting. While most of the comic portrays the world more advanced, it shows the life is usually still bleak, sometimes even more so than in our world. But this is not the case for women’s rights. If anything,

Moore’s world seems to be even more accepting of women, at least in forms of equality, at least in the years it takes place. Women are seen in different high educated positions, or positions not typical in the era. Scientists, higher leading position in government

(though it is not sure how high they are) and other not progressive position. Even homosexuality is being more accepted, seeing man holding hands in romantic fashion on the street does not raise concern in Moore’s world, and lesbians (or gay women, as they

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are called in his world) are in general accepted in fictional world of 1985. But that was

not always the case.

While there seem to be little prejudice in world of Watchmen towards women in

general, there used to be quite a lot of it in its fictional sixties. Women seemed to be

accepted even then, but only if they were very obviously women. Example being original

Silk Spectre, mother of Laurie Juspenzyk, and Silhouette, other superhero of the original

superhero team of the world, Minutemen13. Both women, but where Silk Spectre was

welcomed and accepted as women in her sexualized outfit, Silhouette was ostracized, and

after she came out as a lesbian, outright forced out of the group. Later she was found

raped and murdered. Even Silk Spectre herself, after the attempted rape on her person

from Comedian, while saved, she is not met with acceptance, but with cold demeanor,

asked to cover herself, and even she herself later feels like she is partly responsible for

the event. This implies to reader that women in the past of this were only accepted in

these typically masculine positions when flaunting her heterosexuality (Donovan and

Richardson 178).

This creates interesting dynamic between both Silk Spectres, that being relationship

between Sally and her daughter Laurie. Their relationship is strained at best, Laurie not

capable of accepting how her mother can be contempt with how she was sexualized as a

superhero. Laurie herself is dissatisfied with her revealing costume, her objectification.

On an obvious basis, she would be expected to be much better feminist representation

than her mother. But is she? From the feminist standpoint, their relationship can be seen

in two ways.

13 The original superhero team in Watchmen, disbanded soon after the attempted rape and series of deaths in their ranks 49

First is a more simple one that they represent the two phases of second-wave feminism previously described, Sally being the trailblazer, making way in men’s world but wanting to keep some of the traditional values and contempt with what she achieved, and Laurie being the younger and more aggressive later ideology that viewed the old one as insufficient and seen them as for what they failed to achieve instead for the ones that made the hardest and first steps (Donovan and Richardson 179). This dynamic is quite obvious and I am sure Moore at least partially wanted it to be viewed this way, based on what is known about his history and political viewpoints, as analyzed in the chapter focused on him.

Slightly more complicated interpretation is that Laurie is not truly frustrated with the failure of her mother as a feminist, but her own. This is because, while she is at first sight more free and emancipated than her mother, thorough the story she is never her own person, as opposed to her mother who, however she might have been sexualized in her job, still acted in such way by her choice. Meanwhile Laurie is living with Dr. Manhattan because the government needs her to keep him “happy”. The moment that stops working out, she finds refuge with Dan Dreiberg, again seeking shelter rather than standing on her own. Even her path as a superhero was not her choice, but rather it was forced on her by her mother. When viewed this way the ending of the story is actually her personal victory as a feminist, since it is her decision to start a new life on her own terms, changing her superhero persona to her liking (slightly ironically wanting a costume similar to her late father, a manly costume). I personally like this interpretation a little bit more, as it shows

Laurie as achieving progress and developing as a character (Donovan and Richardson

182).

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These references in my opinion show that Moore was closely in contact with feminist and homosexual movement and their ideologies. Given an era he wrote Watchmen, it would fit he would paraphrase the internal struggle of the movement in these characters.

As for the higher progress of feminism and acceptance in his work, this might be a case of authors wishes, as Moore went on record he is a strong supporter of both said movements (TheFamousPeople.com).

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7. Conclusion

My main goal was to carefully consider Watchmen in its entirety and for the sake of this goal, I went over biography of Alan Moore, reviewed opinions and critics of analysts and researchers who dealt with similar aspects of his work before me and made a deep analysis of the themes and philosophical topics present in the story. We can see this in the dubious morality of the ending of the story, where it forces readers to choose what is right thing according to them, or when we are presented with Rorschach’s extreme worldview, only to be shown that where this view comes from, is actually quite understandable. These are just two of ideas that are presented and discussed in this thesis, and so I would consider the presence and in-depth implementation deeper psychological and philosophical themes confirmed.

Another aim of my thesis was to take major aspects and events of the era in the comic and correlate them with the events that took place in our world’s history and its commentary. This was confirmed by the reviewing similarities and differences seen in these timelines, where some of the issues, such as the position of homosexuals which is somewhat improved, hinting at Moore’s personal preference, while other problems were delayed, for example the escalation of the Cold War. He uses the female characters of the story to reflect the inner conflict of second-wave feminism or the character of Comedian to criticize the ruthlessness of the US government. Even as important change as a presence of masked superheroes would be to realistic world, Moore shows that the problems society faces are much bigger then some criminals in the dark alley, which leads us to the third aim of the thesis, realistic portrayal of superheroes and their impact on a world till their appearance same as ours.

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To this aim thesis goes in great details over the impact these superheroes have, how presence of Dr. Manhattan boosted and reinforced economy, avoiding industrial crisis, or how his involvement changed the outcome of the Vietnam War and simultaneously delayed and escalated the Cold War. The government in the world of Watchmen had to take several different positions on the matter of masked vigilantes, culminating in Keene

Act, much more realistic approach than in typical graphic novel of an era, where superheroes ran around unchecked. Last, but by no means least, he presents the mindset and character of these vigilantes in a believable way. Normal people do not run in the night in the colorful costumes fighting criminals, and so Moore made them not normal.

They are often damaged, delusional or even inhuman. But their deeds and opinions are consistent, and even more importantly, believable. Manhattan’s uncaring nature is not random, it is a result of his ability to experience time out of order, Rorschach is not brutal for his fun, he is acting harshly because he has repeatedly seen the worst parts of humanity and viewing world in black and white is understandable trait for people who’ve seen similar things. In my opinion, Moore managed to picture probably the most realistic and human superheroes than anyone before him, and there can be no doubt that to this day, there is few graphic novels that managed to replicate this level of polish in its characters.

After this extensive analysis of all the different aspect and ideas, I believe there is little doubt that Watchmen is one of the most complex graphic novels in the media, and if there will ever be something similar to canon for graphic novels, it will be at the top of the list. Its philosophical extent is undoubtedly and large, and as shown, analyzing of its themes is a complicated and complex process.

After this extensive analysis of all the different aspect and ideas, I believe there is little doubt that Watchmen is one of the most complex graphic novels in the media, and

53 if there will ever be something similar to canon for graphic novels, it will be at the top of the list. Its philosophical extent is undoubtedly and large, and as shown, analyzing of its themes is a complicated and complex process.

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8. Bibliography

Primary source

Moore, Alan. and Gibbons, Dave. “Watchmen”, DC Comics, 1986-87.

“Show Treaty.” United Nations, United Nations, disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space/text.

Secondary sources

Atkinson, Doug. “The Annotated Watchmen.” The Annotated Watchmen, www.capnwacky.com/rj/watchmen.html.

Beckett, Chris. “Reading Watchmen.” December 2012, 31 Dec. 2012, www.readingwatchmen.com/.

Di Liddo, Annalisa. Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel.

University Press of Mississippi, 2009.

DiGiovanna, James. “Dr. Manhattan, I Presume?” Watchmen and Philosophy: a

Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Donovan, Sarah and Nick Richardson. “Watchwomen” Watchmen and Philosophy: a Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

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Flynn, Tyler. “Discovering the Literary Relevancy of Watchmen: A Review of the

Graphic Novels Philosophical Themes.” Liberty University, Liberty University,

2012.

“Graphic Novel.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/graphic novel.

Gray, Maggie. ALAN MOORE, OUT FROM THE UNDERGROUND: Cartooning,

Performance, and Dissent. Springer Internation PU, 2018.

Hlinak, Matt. “A Scholarly Analysis of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons'

'Watchmen'.” Pop Mythology, Pop Mythology, 2 May 2016, www.popmythology.com/watchmen-scholarly-analysis/.

Keeping, J.. “Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche’s Übermensch in

Watchmen” Watchmen and Philosophy: a Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White,

John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Loftis, J. Robert. “Means, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes” Watchmen and Philosophy: a Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons,

2009.

O‘Neill, William L. Coming Apart: an Informal History of America in the 1960s.

Times Books, 2005.

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Pellitteri , Marco. “Alan Moore, Watchmen and Some Notes on the Ideology of

Superhero Comics.” London Metropolitan University, London Metropolitan

University , 2011.

Robichaud, Christopher. “The Superman Exists, and He’s American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power” Watchmen and Philosophy: a Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Romero-Jodar, Andrés. ‘’Greek Romance, Alternative History and Political Trauma in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen.’’ Ganteau, Jean-Michel, and Susana

Onega Jaén. Trauma and Romance in Contemporary British Literature. Routledge,

2017, pp. 184-96

Spanakos, Tony. “Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act” Watchmen and Philosophy: a Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

TheFamousPeople.com. “Who Is Alan Moore? Everything You Need to

Know.” Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline, 28 Sept. 2017, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/alan-moore-4231.php.

White, Mark D.. “The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly” Watchmen and Philosophy: a

Rorschach Test, edited by Mark D White, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

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