“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
Now, who was the Archimedes behind the owl?
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