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MASARYK UNIVERSITY Cultural and Historical Context to Alan Moore's Watchmen

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY Cultural and Historical Context to Alan Moore's Watchmen 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 2 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 3 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. 4 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 5 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. 7 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
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