Scientific God

“Well, me, I think it’s astrological.  Halley’s Comet is coming back around now.  That’s an omen of doom.” (Chapter 5, Page 7, Panel 5).

Halley’s comet is an astrological body that orbits through the solar system.  Halley’s comet passes by earth once approximately every 75 years.  Many events throughout history have been blamed on the passing of Halley’s comet, such as the fire that destroyed part of New York City in 1835.  Watchmen has a space motif throughout then novel, and this mention of Halley’s comet adds to the motif. Moor uses Watchmen to pose the idea of a scientific god as opposed to a religious god and challenges readers with the idea of a scientific god in the form of Dr. Manhattan.  The space motif helps to portray Dr. Manhattan as the scientific godlike figure.

Works Cited:  Kronk, Gary W. "Comet Hysteria and the Millennium." Cometography. 22 Feb. 2009 <http://cometography.com/hysteria.html>.

Image Credit:  http://www.unmuseum.org/halleycomet.htm

Archie the Owl

“Oh, uh, well, it’s short for Archimedes, Merlin’s pet owl in ‘The Sword in the Stone’.  I saw the Disney version once and…well.  You know.  It’s just a stupid nickname” (Chapter 7, Page 7, Panel 5).

The Sword in the Stone is a novel written by T.H. White in 1938 and produced as an animated movie in 1963.  In the novel and the book, Archimedes is a talking owl who helps Merlin teach his student, Arthur, life lessons.  Dreiberg has a fascination with owls, and the fact that he named his ship after one of the most famous owls in history shows his respect for the creatures. Society tends to give fictional superheroes special powers and qualities that many do not possess, making them inhuman characters. Moore gives his characters human qualities, like Dreiberg’s interest in owls, to help readers realize that the superheroes in Watchmen do not possess and special powers and are exceedingly human.

Works Cited:  White, R.J. "The Annotated Watchmen." Capnwacky.com. 23 Feb. 2009 http://www.capnwacky.com/rj/watchmen/chapter7.html.

Image Credit:   http://trevdenton.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

Nostalgia

Chapter 8, Page 1, Panel 2

Panel 2 centers on a bottle of Nostalgia perfume, an item in the Veidt cosmetics line.  Throughout Watchmen, bottles of Nostalgia perfume appear in many characters’ homes, in newspaper advertisements, and in television commercials.  The ubiquitous presence of Nostalgia perfume, a Veidt product, shows the overwhelming and obscure control the Veidt has over society, which he uses to his advantage as much as possible.  Moore uses the image of the Nostalgia perfume as a simple motif, but the importance of the motif is not noticed until later in the novel when Veidt admits to being the person behind the mysterious murders and disappearances and the attack on New York City.

Image Credit:  http://www.fasthack.com/posts/1977/

The Day New York City was Attacked

Chapter 8, Page 3, Panel 3

This panel shows and advertisement for a movie playing at the Utopia theater.  The movie playing is “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, which foreshadows the events that occur at the end of the novel.  “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is a 1951 sci-fi movie about an alien invasion.  At the end of the novel, New York City is attacked by what survivors describe as an alien life form.  Every image or piece of dialogue that Moore includes in Watchmen is there for a specific reason, and in the case of the movie advertisement, it is to foreshadow the attack on New York City.

Image Credit:  http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/09/27/original-day-the-earth-stood-still-gets-special-edition/

The Shadow of the Valley

“You’re alone in the valley of the shadow, Rorschach, where your past has a long reach, and in between you and it there’s one crummy lock.” (Chapter 8, Page 7, Panel 6).

The “valley of the shadow” refers to verse 4 of the famous 23rd Psalm:

      ⁴ Even though I walk
       through the valley of the shadow of death,
       I will fear no evil,
       for you are with me;
       your rod and your staff,
       they comfort me.     (NIV)

One of Rorschach’s enemies , Big Figure, tries using the Bible verse to intimidate and scare Rorschach by telling him that he is alone in the valley of the shadow, meaning that he does not have God’s guidance.  One of  the themes of Watchmen is a debate between having a god of science and having a god of religion.  Here, Moore uses a reference to the Bible to keep the god of religion in the argument.

Image Credit:  http://www.landofmysojourn.net/2007/08/valley-of-shadow-i-was-sent-article.html

Works Cited:  "Psalm 23:4." BibleGateway. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=23&verse=4&version=31&context=verse>.

Sweet Sugar

“Hey… ‘Sweet Chariot’ sugar cubes!  Only come in catering packs, right?”  (Chapter 8, Page 8, Panel 8).

Detective Fine uses the sugar cubes found in Rorschach’s pocket and in Dreiberg’s kitchen to connect the two characters.  By connecting Dreiberg to Rorschach, Fine believes he can uncover more of the plot behind Blake’s murder.  The sugar cube image appears throughout the novel, but Moore keeps the importance from becoming clear until this interaction between Detective Fine and Dreiberg. Moore uses this style of placing images abundantly throughout the novel and only explaining them later on.

Image Credit":  http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2168

DEFCON

Chapter 10, Page 1, Panel 2

On the instrument panel of the military plane shown in this panel, a indicator light shows that the nation is in DEFCON 2.  DEFCON stands for DEFense CONdition, and contains 5 different levels which vary the military severity according to the dangers the nation faces.  The lower the number, the higher the military severity.  At this point in the novel, the United States is on the brink of a war because Dr. Manhattan has left the planet.  Moore uses military references that actually exist to keep readers feeling familiar with part of the text.  Then, when they encounter something that they find hard to believe, they can recall that parts of the novel are plausible and familiar to them, and then they won’t doubt everything they’re reading.

Image Credit:  http://www.watchmenfansite.com/comic-book/chapter-summaries/chapter-10/