establishes a story of superheroes during the cold war period. The superheroes consist a group of people aiming to tackle the task of saving humanity from potential war caused by tensions in the powers of the government. Moore and Gibbons’ Watchmen has a tale of a hero’s response to the unrest of government powers that intends to cause infirmities of humankind. Moore and Gibbons focus on several characters, but one character is the most influential to the plot of the graphics model. Rorschach is the main hero in Watchmen
as he has heroic codes who sounds to save the world. Moore and Gibbons’ narration features Rorschach, a comedian who manipulates matters at a subatomic level. Moore and Gibbons’ Watchmen subordinately uses the character Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach to demonstrate his extraordinary abilities, might and aberrations of dignity to save the city.
Saving Humanity
Moore and Gibbons illustrate a complicated story with human characters facing life-altering decisions. The decisions involve making sense of the world and understanding hope through the problems. Adrian Veidt understands humanity and manages to prevent an attack from aliens who had caused the death of millions of people in New York. The prevention of the attack brought out temporary peace. Rorschach displays the concept of heroism by being part of the real world that aimed at saving humanity. Regardless all the corruption in the country, Rorschach is portrayed as the actual figure who could save humanity. Rorschach realizes the existence of blackness and whiteness and opposes Veidt ideas because according to him the world composed of grays. The attitudes towards humans deteriorated, and Rorschach chose to be a protagonist who struggled with the contempt of people. Rorschach was morbid, had a borderline fascist, and killed in cold blood to save humanity from the problems encountered. Rorschach operated on a pure code of objectives of understanding what is wrong or right and did not compromise anyone. Rorschach managed a corporate structure of saving humanity by sticking to never compromising as he says “No, not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise,” (Moore and Gibbon 8). Rorschach sacrificed for the whole world by pushing actions through the complexity to simplify the world.
Nature versus Nurture
Rorschach embraces the surrounding cruelty of the world in each moment of his life. The surrounding makes Rorschach distinguish himself from the rest of the world at no cost. Rorschach lived as a progeny of an abusive prostitute and developed a personality that focused on standing out from the rest of the people. Moore and Gibbons 1, states that Rorschach sees the world as "standing on the brink, staring down into bloody hell" because of the witness of his mother. The world drives Rorschach to development of the idea of distinguishing right from wrong as he is over the brink of sanity and nihilism. Psychologically, Rorschach is not without morals as he chooses to fight crime. The environment does not shape the heroism act of Rorschach but his ego to suppress the conflicts of childhood portrays him as a hero. The issues of childhood rationalized Rorschach, and he had to deal with them by focusing on fighting the darkness of the society. Rorschach hid behind a costume and a mask to fight crime and attack those who were perceived as evil in the community. The approach shows that the idea to fight for humanity relied on his judgment as he decided who lived or died.
Notions of Decency
Rorschach chooses to wear a mask and avoid disturbance when seeing his reflection of the past. As a result, Rorschach lives by trying to forget the cruelty introduced to the world by humanity. Moore and Gibbons state that Rorschach became a member of the New York police department because of the “basic notions of decency that were passed down directly from his grandfather” (Moore and Gibbons 30). The ethical revulsion of Rorschach resulted from the years Rorschach had lived in the New York. Rorschach chose to maintain law and order with ideologies different from the other people in the society. The act of becoming a superhero resulted from personal motives to serve the society. With the negative representation, Rorschach ironically continued to terrorize the city and committed countless crimes. Rorschach developed a unique point of view by rebelling against Ozymandias’s plan. Rorschach believed in numerous glimpses beyond principles imparted to as he states, “Existence is random, has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose” (Moore and Gibbons 201). The world lacks a set of moral standards influenced individuals to “serve their interests” (Moore and Gibbons 206). As a result, Rorschach fills the anguish of his childhood and lives with a sole purpose of punishing the guilty in ways that do not matter the moral codes of the society. The decency indicates his heroism as he fights to get over the past and become a helpful member of the society.
Lack of Morality
Society admires heroes as they help reduce immorality and fight for the oppressed. Rorschach however, is a superhero who lacks morality, and people hate him despite living under a mask. Rorschach has a personality that toll his figure as a superhero designated to save the city. The actions of Rorschach are not a vigilante, as he does not compromise humanity. Rorschach shows an ultimate act of supremacy over humankind as he deploys lack of moral codes. He wholly relies on his personality developed from his childhood on determining who lives or dies. Rorschach serves the brand of justice to any criminal acts he comes in contact. Despite his consciousness, Rorschach personal journal expresses shows the anguish developed after learning that Ozymandias’s plan led to the death of a fellow hero, the comedian. Without proper decision-making, Rorschach shows the real insight of his motives through actions as Moore and Gibbons about Rorschach writes' "the future is bearing down like an express train" (68). The scene unfolds the background that the United States faces destruction and requires heroes to save it from the impending doom. Rorschach lacks morality and sticks to the ideals of not compromising but selfless fights to end evil in the society. The blank moral state shows that idea of blackness to deliver justice to the community.
Heroism
Heroism requires selfless, pro-social mission and extraordinary abilities, which distinguishes an individual from the rest of the group. Rorschach courage reflects in his ability to investigate several crimes and take action that would restore humanity. Rorschach concern on humanity starts when he says, “Who killed Edward Blake?” (Moore and Gibbon 4). Rorschach first investigation reveals his potential of aggression to interrogate the audience. Rorschach does not hesitate to use violence and instills fear to the community to prevent people from committing crimes. The conception of heroism result from Rorschach’s ability to demonstrate his power and superiority. The attitude developed by Rorschach shows that he believes in consequences from his actions that justify the preservation of humanity in the community. From the early stages, the actions of Rorschach discloses him as an anti-moral hero he possesses the will to do good for the society. Rorschach warns other masked killers of the city and arrest perpetrators. Rorschach distinguishes evil and good with reliance on dichotomous thinking. As a result, Rorschach highlights the failures of having intrinsic values as an individual and develops the inability to change stance. Rorschach is, therefore, a hero whose sole purpose is staying in a world full of good things, where those who violate the laws and regulation are punished. The slip into power and masculinity demonstrate Rorschach’s focus on the well-being of the society with preserved law and order but contradicts to the notion of unselfishness and altruistic (Moore and Gibbons 26). As a result, Rorschach is a hero who displays the necessity of law enforcement and not exorbitant resistance that would destroy humanity.
The Act of Heroism because of Ethics
Moore and Gibbons indications of Rorschach ego is communal and more than just because of his personality. People perceive Rorschach as the hero of the society despite lacking morality. Rorschach fits in the society, as his usual sense of crime-busting by discovering humanity resembles his ability to confront the past as he says “if you’d cared from the start, none of this would’ve happened” (Moore and Gibbons 402). Addressing reality as well as life possibilities emphasizes on encountering an ethical life. Moore and Gibbons’ narration shows that people are susceptible to harm and superheroes aim at engaging in contemplation and actions that address the fragilities in the society. Vulnerability results from physical and emotional nature of an individual and Rorschach utilized this dimension to attain ethical ideals that focused on reducing the susceptibility of people to harm. In the case of Rorschach, war and nuclear annihilation permeate foregrounds of violence and acting well in such situation leads to lots of bloodsheds. Moore and Gibbons explore the medium of the setting and uses Rorschach as a character who shows excellent control of saving humanity from a problematic situation (Moore and Gibbon 95). Rorschach groups his past and lays a causal impact that aims at reducing criminal acts in the society. As a result, the extraordinary lengths to save humanity and show the capacity of action with justice and love indicates the act of heroism portrayed by Rorschach. Despite the insecurity because of Rorschach personality, he has extraordinary abilities that identify and defeat the evil of the society.
In conclusion, Moore and Gibbons’ Watchmen’s establishes a story of superheroes during the cold war period with characters who act as superheroes by aiming to tackle the task of saving humanity from potential war caused by tensions in the powers of the government. Through the character Rorschach, the Watchmen
demonstrates the issue of heroism and morality. Moore and Gibbons bring out the extraordinary heroic abilities that Rorschach uses to confront his dark past and thus saving humanity. The surrounding rationalizes the ego to solve the conflicts of his childhood by hiding behind a costume and a mask. Rorschach differentiates right from wrong and utilizes the notion of decency to punish criminals. However, Rorschach lacks morality, and his intrinsic personality influences his decision-making as he punishes criminals to determine who lived and died to save humanity. Rorschach’s ego reflects on his vulnerability to engaging in actions that separated him from the other people at no cost. Rorschach is a hero in Moore and Gibbons’ narrative but lacks morality compared to the other superheroes portrayed as crime busters.
Works Cited
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: Warner Books, 1987. Print.
