groupfouristhebest.files.wordpress.com · Web viewTowards the end of the book, Dr. Manhattan did kill Rorshach of his own volition, but it was only to logically support was Ozymandias

Ho1

Bruce Ngoun Ho

English 114B

Professor Collins

19 February, 2015

Compare & Contrast of Ozymandias, Rorshach, Dr. Manhattan

In “Watchman” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, there are many similarities and differences between Ozymandias, Rorshach, and Dr. Manhattan. The three heroes are very powerful both physically and mentally, but have different ideas about justice and to what extent this justice may be taken to so that it is achieved. They do feel that society is corrupt, that the world is corrupt, but they do not share the same philosophies. In Tunisia, Tunisians start a rebellion and demand the resignation of the interim government (they were ruled by a dictator). In succeeding, most of the civilians that rebelled were educated middle classmen who knew nothing of the lower, poor classes. During elections, the middle classmen lost to a democratic candidate who understood very well how it felt to be in the poor part of the pyramid. What started off as a rebellion for the middle classmen to live better lives in a better community resulted in the election of a candidate that they did not fully support. Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan may disagree with this outcome, but Rorshach may have some reasons in supporting this election. Ozymandias, Rorshach, and Dr. Manhattan are similar in some ways, but different in many.

When a hero “serves” justice, he, or she, is acting to apply fairness to whomever deserves it. In many cases, justice is “served” to those who act wrongly. For example, a man kills a woman for her belongings and is chased down by a masked vigilante. The masked vigilante then batters the villain and turns him into the police. The vigilante has “served” justice. Rorschach believes in justice, but his “justice” is more extreme. Rorschach acts in a way that is, “do wrong and wrong shall be done to you” sort of way. This means that Rorshach’s justice would result in murdering the one who has murdered. Ozymandias’s justice is all for the greater good. When he was a masked vigilante, he took down villains and goons to keep others safe, but as he matured and learned of the corrupted world, he tried to create a better future. His “justice” told him to save the world and resulted in the killing of millions of lives across the globe. The resulting end may not have justified Ozymandias’s means. In saving the world, he consequentially rid people from living actual lives, literally. Dr Manhattan differs greatly from the other two. Ozymandias and Rorshach had a sense of justice. I believe that Dr. Manhattan has no sense of the sort. He is so intelligent and so powerful that he often loses himself in his own work. Although it is true that Dr. Manhattan single-handedly ended a war, he only did fought because the government requested him to. Towards the end of the book, Dr. Manhattan did kill Rorshach of his own volition, but it was only to logically support was Ozymandias was trying to do. The resulting end of Dr. Manhattan killing Rorshach may have met its means. Rorschach was already corrupt and was going to cause mayhem by adding to the occurring panic.

The philosophies of the three heros are probably what separates them the most. Rorschach’s philosophy is objectivism. He believes in understanding reality and that he must accept the world for what it has become, no matter how corrupt. In a way, coming to understand reality through perception is what corrupted Rorschach himself. Instead of accepting the world for what it has become, Ozymandias’s decided to take matters into his own hands and cleanse the world himself. In order to create world peace and save it from destroying itself, he had decided to take the lives of millions. Dr. Manhattan goes through great philosophical changes throughout the book. At first, he only cared about humanity because his only attachment to it was Laurie Juspecyk. After losing her, he lost interest in humanity and ran to Mars, but later regains interest through observation and introspection. After Ozymandias rids the lives of millions, Dr. Manhattan comes to the conclusion that human life is a precious phenomenon and even states that he may create human life of his own one day. In saying this, it is unsure whether he means that he’ll give birth to a single child, or to an entire civilization.

In 2011, Tunisians succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship. Most of the Tunisians that rebelled were educated middle classmen. After the rebellion was over, it was time for the Tunisians to elect a face for the country. The middle classmen who though they had everything all figured out ended up failing the elections because they did not fully understand the situation that the poor classmen were undergoing. The Tunisians overthrew the interim government, but consequentially could not govern themselves. Ozymandias fits into this country’s problem perfectly. However, since Tunisia could not govern itself, they decided to debate through elections. Ozymandias, instead of getting a new leader for the country, chose to cleanse the population instead. Had Rorshach been thrown into this case, I believe he might have just assassinated the dictator or pick out all the bugs deep within the government. Well, maybe not the bugs deep within, but most likely those that would cause a public disturbance. With Rorshach, any corrupted leader can be elected and he would just accept the occurrence as the reality in which he lives. Dr Manhattan may understand the corrupt government, but would not intervene. When the new leader of the state was to be chosen, he would allow himself to be used as any useful resource. Such as becoming an iconic figure for the country, becoming a military weapon, or even the countries head of nuclear science.

Ozymandias, Rorshach, and Dr. Manhattan are all very powerful heroes. They similarly believe that the world is corrupt, but do not believe on the actions that can be taken towards this problem. Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan feel that this problem can be fixed, but Rorshach came to the conclusion that it is the world he lives in. It is simply reality for him. Although some of them believe in a justice, their actions may not meet their means. Ozymandias, Rorshach, and Dr. Manhattan are indeed similar in some ways, but their differences greatly outweighs the similarities.