Watchmen: Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3

Right at the get-go, Moore introduces us to the metaphor of a story-within-a-story; The Tails of the Black Freighter comic. In the world of Watchmen, the entertainment focus shifted from superheroes to pirates long ago due to people growing tired over superhero antics in real life. This is summed up very simply and solidly by the News stand salesman, whilst simultaneously alluding to popular comic book heroes, Superman and The Flash:
"Y.know, Super-heroes are finished. These days it's all about Pirates...Back in '39, before the real masked men showed up, super-hero comics were enormous. Guess their appeal wore off... I remember there was Super-man, Flash-man..."
This gives us exposition on the state of the public opinion of superheroes, then and now.
As for the function of the story-within-a-story, it serves as a metaphor for the looming threat of nuclear war. Imagery such as in the opening helps drive this point: We begin upon a man putting up a black and yellow sign for a fallout shelter while narration from the Tales of the Black Freighter is read over it, "Delirious, I saw that Hell-bound ship's black sails against the yellow indies sky, and knew again the stench of powder and men's brains, and war."Tragically,  we are beginning to see that war, specifically death, is more of an inevitability than a possibility.
 There is an allusion that the "Survivor" in the Black Freighter could symbolize Dr. Manhattan. In the last panel on page 3, the Survivor caresses the face of a wooden figurehead that had carried him safely to land. In the next panel we come in on Dr. Manhattan caressing Laurie's face whilst engaging in intimate activities, in the same manner the  Survivor was caressing the figurehead. All the while this narration reads: "Her damp embrace had prevented me from drifting beyond reach, yet this small comfort was all I could offer... (Segues into the panel with Dr. Manhattan and Laurie) I could not love her as she had loved me." This paints Jon and the Survivor both as mostly detached people still holding on to humanity, but barely by a thread. Furthermore, it could be implied that if there were a Nuclear fallout, Jon could easily Survive it. Although, if we assume that the horrible tragedy that struck the Survivor's crew is symbolic of the Nuclear Fallout, after Jon leaves earth, this narration from the Black Freighter may prove that he is not the Survivor, but rather an uncaring, departed God: "That night, I slept badly beneath cold, distant stars, pondering upon the cold, distant God in whose hands the fate of Davidstown rested. Was he really there? Had he been there once, but now departed?" This statement serves to symbolize Jon who had left earth on the forefront of possible nuclear disaster, as the Survivor's God had left his crew when the were slaughtered by the Black Freighter.

An interesting use of symbolism I found in this chapter were the clouds, mists and general smoky substances representing the things that Jon had become detached to. Early in the chapter Laurie says about Jon, "This world, the real world, to Him it's like walking through mist, and all the people are like Shadows... just shadows in the Fog." As Laurie states this, she is blocked from view by the steam from a teapot; because they had just broke up, this represents Dr. Manhattan's detachment from her. On the cover of the chapter, there is a waft of smoke in front of the fallout shelter sign, representing his detachment from the well being of humans. When Jon decides to leave the planet he is surrounded by a ring of dust or smoke right before he teleports, emphasizing the entirety of humanity he is leaving behind.Finally, on Mars, Dr. Manhattan is walking about the new planet whilst a trail of dust and dirt is kicked up behind him, this, along with the simultaneous glimpses of the United States talking possible collateral damage in a coming Nuclear war, help symbolize the huge problem on earth Jon has left behind.

Chapter 4

In this chapter of Watchmen (My second favorite, next to the next chronological issue) We are given a ton of exposition through Dr. Manhattan's omniscient perspective. He experiences time in "all at once", and the entirety of the issue is an example of this. For those who have read Slaughter House Five: this is a very similar technique that Kurt Vonnegut used for the main character Billy Pilgrim; "Billy Pilgrim had become unstuck in time..." This approach gives a very untypical structure of the story, and in doing so helps us better understand Dr. Manhattan's perspective. His narration helps to differentiate Dr. Manhattan's omniscient perspective from a simple flashback; he only speaks in the present tense in each scene regardless of 'time'.

Watchmen Chapters 1 and 2

Watchmen

Chapter 1

In Chapter 1 of Watchmen, Rorschach's Journal is used as a narrative device that serves two purposes: It gives us bearing on the world of Watchmen through Rorschach's unfiltered and harsh perspective and also characterizes Rorschach as a harsh, paranoid and stubborn character. Rorschach himself serves as a device, in this chapter, to introduce each of the other characters in the story by warning them of someone who is "picking off costumed heroes."

There are various visual motifs being employed immediately. One such motif is the flashbacks of Eddie Blake's attack and death that occur in a red filter, the only exception to the dominate red color scheme in these flashback panels is the smiley face that Blake is wearing. Throughout the first chapter there are various color schemes for different backgrounds as well as characters: Rorschach most often appears surrounded in browns and various dark colors, Daniel Dreiberg is surrounded by browns and yellows, Adrian Veidt is encompassed in a variety of purples, Dr. Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk appear with pale greens and purples. Each of these color schemes sets a certain tone for each interaction. For instance when Rorschach visits Veidt the two have a more straight-forward conversation than any other in the first chapter, a dignified conversation, dignity being a trait of royalty, of which purple is most often associated with. Of course, it could be argued that the purple is symbolic of Veidt's riches, or royalty.

The famous Watchmen symbol, the blood-stained smiley plays as important foreshadowing in the chapter. In the first chapter alone, I feel the smiley symbolizes former peace and happiness. When it becomes stained with blood during The Comedian's altercation with the unknown assailant, it represents events being set in motion that threaten to disturb the peace and happiness our characters are experiencing. When it pops up in the last seen of the chapter, the blood mark is gone whilst Laurie and Daniel have a nice, laughable conversation. Because the blood is no longer present, it represents peace and happiness again, characterized by the pair's comfort and happiness with each other.

My favorite element in the book is the beginning of a popular quote being introduced at the start of the chapter, and then at the end of that chapter the quote is finished off wholly in a small panel. The quote serves to highlight the central theme of the chapter while simultaneously, grandiosely, instructing the reader to connect the dots, in terms of what occurred.

Two final elements of note are presented at the end of the chapter. The excerpt from the fictional novel "Under The Hood" of which was "written" by Hollis Mason, the former Nite Owl; this excerpt serves to provide further background on the setting of Watchmen. The other element of note, being the clock on the lastly page being both curiously and ominously close to midnight.

Chapter 2

Immediately, in Chapter 2, we take note of patterns that can be found throughout the book. Firstly, The covers of each issue, as we have seen, are a close up of something in the first panel of the first page. It was first evident in Chapter 1, when we are given the Smiley on the ground surrounded by blood. Here we have the face of an angel statue in a cemetery, in the rain. In both instances it serves to give the reader a focus point for the issue and to immediately give a transition from the cover, to the story.

Another pattern we've seen and will continue to see, is the changing of the image of the clock on the last page that continues to tick towards midnight, but now includes, even more foreboding than the clock itself, blood. If that doesn't give a reader a sense of foreshadowing, I don't know what will.


A visual motif present in this issue is whenever there are two scenes occurring simultaneously, the panels alternate and, teaming with the 9-panel format littered throughout the book, create an 'X' type pattern; with one scene taking the form of the 'X' and the other taking the remaining panels. In a nearly identical fashion, whenever Moloch tells Rorschach of his encounter with The Comedian, all nine panels remain in the same scene but change color tone, thus creating the 'X' shape with the panels yet again.

As far as I am aware, the 'X' panel pages serve only an aesthetic purpose; merely symmetrically eye-pleasing.

Transitions in this chapter occur in a very interesting manner. There are nearly no simple scene changes in this chapter, most transitions are set-up with a visual aid: Often a character is taken and "flashbacked' to a point in time where we are looking at them in the same position but in a different time period, the transition take 2-3 panels. Another aid in scene transitions is the use of dialogue: like when transitioning between Laurie and her mother conversing, and The Comedian's funeral. Whenever we transition to and from the funeral, Laurie and/or her mother remarks of something thematically or visually relevant at the funeral.

Through the use of the flashback, we are able to characterize both The Comedian and the one experiencing the flashback. Interestingly, The Comedian exposes for the reader the pivotal character flaws in several characters, in their flashbacks to him: Ozymandias is deduced as the smartest man in a hopeless world ("...Then Ozzy here is gonna be the smartest man on the cinder."), Dr. Manhattan is made aware of his growing detachment to humanity (*Regarding Blake's outright murder of a pregnant woman, "You WATCHED me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into SNOWFLAKES! You coulda teleported either of us to Goddamn Australia... But you didn't lift a finger!") and The Comedian even has himself figured out in his flashback with Daniel, which is epitomized by the thought provoking exchange between the two: "What happened to the American Dream?" to which the Comedian responds, "It came true. You're looking at it."

These exchanges serve as a very grim reminder to us as we read through Watchmen: These are not typical, straightforward heroes; none of them are, in any fashion. These characters are all deeply flawed, and we've only begun to see them wholly.