Analysis of watchmen

Chapter 1
The scene starts with the death of the comedian, some agents investigate the murder, speculating about what
might have happened.
During the night, a hooded person enters in the house trying to discover what has happened, he doesn’t
speak.
In the scene, two men are talking about a nite owl, when one of them comes back home finds that a man has
burst into his house. They start talking and we realise they know each other, the hooded one inform him that
the Comedian has been killed. They talked about years ago, they used to “save” the world. One of them quit.
The next image is when Rorschach is asking if anyone knows about the killing in a bar, he the starts a list on the
watchmen to star asking them. 1st he went to Ozymandias and then to Dr Manhattan, both of them think that
he exaggerates. When he leaves, Laurie calls Jon to have dinner and they talked about ancient times.

Analysis

Community: Starts with the differences between the watchmen and the citizens, with one of them being
killed.
History: They talked about years ago “those years were great times”. The same happened when Laurie and Jon
(nite owl)
Body: The very first appearance of the dc Manhattan is in very big size, trying to show the power of the
character. He has this kind of Michael Angelo body and blue which highlights the inhumanity of doctor
Manhattan and that he has real superpowers. He has nothing of clothing and its underlines this godish
presence of the character.
Security: Private quarters at Rockefeller military research center. Rorschach has some difficulties to enter in
the centre because of the agents and security of the place. (?)
Chapter 2
The first images are in the cemetery mixed with Laurie and his mother. Once introduced the superficially the
protagonist of the story, the funeral of Blake begins (The Comedian). During the mixing of these images, we
are shown the rape of the mother of Laurie by the Comedian.
Then the new watchmen are in a reunion, they are talking about being crime busters. The Comedian doesn’t
believe in the community, so he believes they can’t be saved (being the comedian if the only thing that makes
sense to overcome life, that for him is just a joke)
After that Manhattan shows us the vision he has about the Comedian, he killed a pregnant woman while Dr
Manhattan watches.
The we can see how the comedian doesn’t care about human life, in a riot he starts killing people as willing.
The funeral ends, Rorschach gets to Moloch’s house, he explains to Rorschach that once the comedian comes
to tell him that he is really sad about in what has the society become.
Rorschach ends in the cemetery remembering the Pagliacci’s joke.

Analysis

Community: Fight in the riot. Super heroes and humans.

History: The first watchmen.
Trauma: Rape of Laurie’s mother. Laurie is traumatised by the rape.
Exposure: In the riot the watchmen are exposed when “Who watches the watchmen”
Body: In the comic of Laurie’s mother, she is flattered because of that. Moreover, when he is making love with
Lory, she got surprised because there are two of them, showing that even with the perfect body that he has he
is unable to use it. Maybe he no longer understanding how human relations are working, showing maybe he is
forgetting his human part. He reminds us to Sheldon Cooper, he is unable to feel empathy to another people
(Asperger thingy), that puts him somehow away of human relationships. It interesting having the perfect body
he is unable to take profit of it. It is a body that its only present would win a battle, like in Vietnam.
Risk: The watchmen could avoid the evilness, but they never did it. Moloch’s cancer (?)
Chapter 3
The scene starts with a kid reading the newspaper.
After Dr Manhattan is having sex with Laurie and he duplicates himself two of them with her and on working.
She gets mad and start an argument ending in her leaving. She leaves for Dan’s house., they talked and she
realise her anger with him while Manhattan is getting ready to the interview.
The interview begins, they asked him about people getting cancer because of his proximity and he get in
shocked when he knows about Slater’ cancer. Manhattan leaves to Mars, where he remembers a bar and picks
a photo.
Then tests of cancer begin around Manhattan’s friends.
Nite Owl is sleeping, Rorschach wakes him up and gives a newspaper that says that Manhattan has left for
Mars. “Russians invade Afghanistan”
While Dr Manhattan is at Mars, the government start getting alarms of attacking.

Analysis

Community: Heroes vs Humans. Interview, people attacking Manhattan.

Memory: Manhattan remembering the bar and the photo.
Risk: Cancer and the risk of a new nuclear war after Manhattan disappearance.
Exposure: Manhattan in the interview
Biopolitics: Manipulating of false information about Manhattan to avoid people believing in him. Plot.
Chapter 4
Dr Manhattan is in mars and he has deliriums with the photograph he got. Here he know the history of
Manhattan. The history of Manhattan’s father, he is a watch maker. We can see the bombs of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki is newspaper.
We are told the story of Jane Slater and Manhattan, they met each other and Jane’s clock broke and he
promises her to fix it. Once he fix the watch he leaves in a radioactive chamber and he gets back to pick it, the
chamber closes and he suffers an accident becoming the Dr Manhattan, first a circulatory system, then
muscles, bones and finally body.
After a while they try to commercialised Dr Manhattan, he makes him own “brand” drawing a circle in her
forehead.
The minute men reunited and start talking about Dr Manhattan. He met Laurie and left Jane Slater for Laurie.
Jane and he argue about how he has changed her for a younger one “I know I’m aging”, but he doesn’t age.
Manhattan meets the Comedian and he knows “he is different”. After that Manhattan is recruited for the army
and he is sent to the war that they are having with Vietnam.
Laurie and he are invited by Ozymandias to his house.
He is now in Mars and he is thinking about time and how people are not worthy to fight for. He is tired of
people and that’s why he decided to go to Mars.

Analysis
Community: Jon becoming super hero. Manhattan fighting against Vietnam.
Memory: Every memory he is remembering.
Body: Aging of Jane Slater, the time doesn’t pass through Manhattan life and he doesn’t age, immortality. Fear
of death because of the lack immortality.
Biopolitics: By changing the name of Jon for Dr Manhattan he become a lethal weapon and the fear increased
among the citizens and with that controlling the population.
Chapter 5
At the beginning of this chapter, Rorschach goes to Moloch’s house to interrogate him about Eduard Blake’s
death. Rorschach really thinks that Moloch (his real name is Jacobi) was the person who killed Blake so he
stuffs him in the fridge to make him suffer and confess. He asks about the cancer list again but without any
result. He left his house and we take a look through Rorschach’s journal (October 21st, 1985).
The next thing happening is the two detectives talking about a new case (guy worried about nuclear war,
which had murdered his two daughters).
The next scenes are about people on the street talking about war on the news; and also the comic stories: tale.
Laurie Jupiter and Dan Dreiberg are eating together, and Dan invites her to stay with him.
We are going back again to Rorschach’s journal (21st October 1985) → boys on the street, nobody knew who
has Rorschach, he met a landlady with children, a couple kissing each other, …
People on the street are worried about World War III.
We are in Adrian Veidt’s office. Adrian is talking about death for ancient Egyptians, when a gunman tries to
assassinate him. Adrian tries to stop him but the man swallows a cyanide pill before Adrian interrogate him.
We come back to the Tales, and then, to Rorschach journal: same date. Moloch has sent a note to Rorschach,
saying they need to meet urgently.
Laurie goes to Dan’s house for sleeping but they sleep alone. Tale again.
At the police station, an anonymous calls to set up Rorschach for the crime of Moloch.
Rorschach enters in Moloch’s apartment, but Moloch is dead. He has a bullet hole in his forehead. Someone
wanted to incriminate Rorschach in this murder. He tries to escape but the police catch him, take out his mask
and put him in prison.

Analysis
Community: people on the streets together against World War III. Police vs Moloch.
Body: Rorschach’s mask → “nobody knows who I am” (p.155). Moloch’s hole in his forehead → shot. In the
last page of the chapter, people put out Rorschach’s mask and we can see perfectly his face.
Memory: Rorschach’s journal (21st October 1985)
Risk: Rorschach takes the risk when interrogating Moloch and putting him in the fridge.
The gunman vs Adrian → gunman dies because of a cyanide pill.
Rorschach takes the risk when going to visit Moloch but it is a trap – he can be caught – he is caught.

Chapter 6
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This chapter start with Roschard’s investigation. They made an kind of test so as to discover the spot on his
mask as well as a possible psychological problem. (identification of cards)
questions about mother and father: Sylvia Joanna but his father’s name is unknown.
Moreover, he remembers his childhood: his mother is making love with an unknown man but when they
discover his presence, they went mad and hit him. → his mother make reference to him as an unwanted child.
(I should had the abortion).

After this traumatic experience, he is mocked by some men in the streets who called his mother: hooer. they
insult him, smashed some food on his face...Since that moment he became a kind of animal: rabid dog so as to
protect himself.
Then, he is questioned again but this time, we will discover who Roscard is: IN THIS CHAPTER IS IMPORTANT
TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN KOVACS AND ROSCHARD. We discover that his mask came from a black and white
dress made my him. the woman who ordered the dress didnt like it so Ros decided to make a mask of him.
Soon after, this woman was raped but the people who were witness did not anything. From now on, Ros was
ashamed of humankind (human kind is rotten) and he made a face that could bear to look in the mirror.
After his mother’s homicide, he was not Roschard; he was Kovacs pretending to be Ros. Who did turn him into
Ros? detrimental elements in society.

The splot on his mask was a dog’s head divided into two. He killed dog so as to to take vengeance on a man
who had commited rape.

Analysis:
Trauma: trauma about mother + trauma about society + trauma about being mocked.
Being vs appearing