MM Nov 19

Assigned November 19 Class Notes: Christine Boyer Class Summary Essay November 19, 2010 Watchmen By: Christine Boyer We began our class with a quiz, as there is a lot of material in Watchmen and therefore a lot of material that we can be quizzed on. Then we were divided into five groups and each group given a question to discuss. I was in Group 4 and our questions mainly dealt with Dan and how he relates to Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach and the Comedian. We concluded that Dr. Manhattan was more concerned and focused on the scientific aspect of their world. Dan is more focused on the natural part of their world. Dr. Manhattan researching subatomic particles and Dan researching birds and nature, they seem to be the perfect contrast to each other. Another contrast between is the whole aspect of superpowers. Dr. Manhattan has real superpowers, whereas Dan does not have any actual superpowers. This is also a contrast between Dr. Manhattan and all of the MinuteMen and the Crimebusters. Group 4: 7.1-8; 16-21; Why does Dan join the Crimebusters and what is his attitude towards his superhero persona? What are some of the differences between his approach to his past and Rorschach’s Does he provide some sort of honest moral center in the narrative or is he just too cowardly to take a stand? What are we to make of Dan’s admiration for the Comedian in 7.8? How might his interest in birds and in nature serve as a contrast with Dr. Manhattan’s approach to life (VII.1)? The second aspect we examined was why Dan admires the Comedian so greatly. Our group decided that the Comedian was more impulsive than Dan could ever wish to be and this is the main aspect that Dan admires. Dan is more shy and quiet, especially without his costume on, but the Comedian is the same person with or without his costume on. Dan admires that the Comedian has the ability to be the same person, whereas Dan is a completely different person with his costume on, than without. We also examined Dan’s superhero persona and how this is seen as his alter-ego. Dan realizes that this belief of superheroes, tinkering on a ship, and saving people seems a little childish, but he enjoys it too much to give it up. He ultimately tells the reader that he wanted to join the Crimebusters in order to carry on the name of the Nite Owl. He longed to be part of a team, to be part of a brotherhood, and the Crimebusters allowed him to do that. Dan can be compared to Laurie in this aspect because they both have extensive excuses as to why they are part of the Crimebusters, but ultimately at the end book seven we discover that they both enjoy saving people and being the people that they are in their superhero costumes. Rorschach and Dan were compared and thus discovered that their childhood’s seemed completely different. Rorschach had a very terrible, rough childhood and Dan had a very imaginative and explorative childhood. Dan grew up in a typical household and enjoyed the typical boy lifestyle of reading comic books and fantasizing about their favorite superhero. Rorschach grew up in a terrible environment and was exposed to whole other world. He missed out on the typical childhood boy environment. Our final discussion was deciding whether or not Dan was a coward. Our group decided that he in fact was a coward because he had no self-confidence without his costume. He enjoys being the Nite Owl but he does not stand up and fight for it. Group 1: 6.1; 11-13; 26-27: What clues do Rorschach’s encounters with Dr. Malcolm Long who tries to “help’ him provide as to his motives for becoming a costumed vigilante? Do his sessions with the analyst suggest that he is beyond help or do they indicate that Dr. Long is misguided in his attempt to solve Rorschach’s problems? How does the encounter change Dr. Long? Does the text support mainstream society’s perception of Rorschach or Rorschach’s view of the world? The other groups then shared their discussion questions. Beginning with Group 1 mainly discussing Rorschach encounters with Dr. Long, ultimately they decided that it was not a good technique to be used on Rorschach because he is too smart. He knows what Dr. Long wants to hear and what is expected as his answer and that’s what he answers. Also Dr. Long’s proposal of how to break Rorschach just seems to bring to the surface a lot of really bad memories and the terrible society that he grew up in. (page 28 Chapter 6) Dr. Long is attempting to understand the mindless acts that Rorschach committed. This view changes the way in which the doctor himself views the world, and views it as Rorschach does. Group 2: 6.1-8; VI.2-4: The text presents Walter Kovacs’ transformation into Rorschach as rooted in his relationship with his mother and in the story of Kitty Genovese (6.10-11). To what extent do these stories help explain Rorschach’s actions? Given that he is frequently described as punishing rapists, is Rorschach somehow acting as a savior of women or do his actions reveal deep-seated hatred for women? How might Rorschach’s relationship with his mother be connected to the Comedian’s encounter with Sally Jupiter in Book 2? Group 2 focused primarily on Walter Kovacs and what prompted him to turn into Rorschach. Talking about whether Rorschach could be viewed as one person or as two separate people. This group mainly discussed the view of women in this story and how they were presented as prostitutes, and how these were the only women that Rorschach was exposed to. He therefore as a skewed view of women and sexuality in general, because of his exposure to mother’s prostitution. Rorschach essential has no sexuality and cannot look at women in a positive view and feels anxious towards his own and towards female sexuality. There was also a heated discussion over whether the women in Watchmen were mistreated because they don’t find fault in the sexual acts they commit and they aren’t shy about them as well. The opposing view being that the women enjoy the attention they receive from the acts and are not ashamed of them. This being because of the same reason that they don’t find fault in what they do and they aren’t shy about their acts. Group 3: 6.14-15; 17-26: Why does Walter Kovacs take on Rorschah’s persona? What do the designs on the Rorschach test and the map symbolize for him? Is his behavior depicted as that of a psychotic vigilante or as a legitimate response to social authority? Does the text support Rorschach’s view of humanity as expressed in 6.26? What do you make of Rorschach’s admiration of the Comedian, which is described in 6.15? IF the Comedian seems like one of the most dangerous figures in the text, why does Rorschach support his view of the world? Group 3 focused on the personality of Rorschach and how and why he became the person he is today. This being because he saw so much violence as a child that it lead him to become violent, psychotic, rude and temperamental, citing that the inkblots reminded him of his past. Comparing Rorschach’s view of the world with that of the Comedian and comparing them as the same. Also stating that Walter became emotional numb, unable to sympathize and ‘feel’ the pain of others, he therefore can relate to the comedian because they similar views of the world. Group 5: 7.13-15; 23-28: On pages 13-15, why does the text juxtapose the scenes with Dan and Laurie, on the one hand, and the televised images of Adrian Veidt, on the other? What is the text trying to suggest about each of these characters by putting these images beside each other? Compare Dana and Laurie in 13-15 and 23-18. How have they changed over the course of Book 7 and why have they changed? The final group, Group 5, compared Dan and Laurie with Ozymandius and their parallels. Ozymandius seems to milk the role as a superhero. He seems to take advantage of the persona and markets it. It is almost like Ozymandius is no longer a part of society and only exists as a ‘crowd pleaser’. Dan and Laurie are more real life people and have not marketed their superhero abilities as much as Ozymandius.

Class notes 11/19/2010- Group Work

Group 1 How the technique that was used with Rorschach wasn’t probably the best technique that the doctor could have used. Rorschach was too smart for the tests, and knew the answers that the doctor wanted to here. Going back to the memories from his past, helped the doctor realize where Rorschach is coming from. It gives the doctor a new perspective on things going on in life. It greatly affects how the doctor acts outside of his work. Society reacts with Rorschach in a way the is perceived as being mindless acts of vigilantism. Much of this is due to his upbringing and past events that have affected his current state of mind.

Group 2 The women from the text have a great effect on his life. One great example of this was the 6 year old girl who was kidnapped and then murdered. His mother was involved in prostitution and that too had a large impact on his life. Rorschach almost has a perverted mindset just because of the events that he had to experience during his childhood. His mother leads him to foster the hostility and lack of trust that he shows throughout the text during his interactions with women.

Group 3 The violence from his childhood (i.e. the older boys picking on him, his mother’s lifestyle etc.) caused his persona to represent the temperamental side that he has. This is evident from the inkblot design test that links him back to his past. The past events have made him numb to the current events, he also doesn’t feel the pain and sympathy that many would feel in his situation. He thinks of himself as being soft if he were to show sympathy towards criminals etc.

Group 4 The group agreed upon the fact that Dan is a coward. He needs the mask to fulfill the true hero persona. In order to react to certain situations he needs to be “The night owl”. Dan is looking to relive his past; he can do this by resurrecting his masked vigilante persona. Dan is more about nature and society etc. While on the other hand Dr. Manhattan represents the science etc.

Group 5 Perhaps the only way to be normal or “great” is to be the masked vigilante figure as seen with Ozymandias. Laurie and Dan are having a hard time “fitting” in and adjusting to their lives. The two paralleled scenes are possibly two different ways of portraying the ways that each ex-masked vigilante has coped with being secluded from society. Adriane Veidt takes the fame and fortune approach while Dan and Laurie seem to “cling” on to each other and whatever they can keep hold of during their time alone.

Notes November 19th 2010, Aradhika Shrestha

We started the class with quiz 11 on the chapter’s 6 and 7 of the watchmen. Then Dr Mathur divided us into 5 groups and handed us a sheet of questions. I was in group 3 and we talked about Rorschach’s personality, his experiences during childhood and his view on humanity. Rorschach went through a lot during his childhood and his past experiences have definitely affected his present. He has seen violence throughout his life, from his mother beating him up, two boys harassing him to a little girl being kidnapped and murdered.

After the little girl was raped and murdered, he went and killed the murderer and decided to take on the Rorschach’s persona. The designs and the tests symbolize the events in his past. Every time he looked at the inkblot design test, he had flashbacks of his childhood. The first one reminded him of walking in when his mother was having sex with a stranger and then his mother beating him up. The second one reminded him of two kids harassing and taunting Rorschach about his mother being a prostitute. His present actions can be attributed to the violence and cruelty he faced during his childhood. He seems to be rude and temperamental, which is evident when he throws the hot food in one of the prisoner’s face. His experience at the foster home and his relationship with his mother has made him lose the emotional connection with humanity. One of our group members pointed out that, Rorschach is not violent, but it’s just that he has lost the ability to feel pain and sympathize with other people. Rorschach’s view on humanity is the same as the Comedian. Both of them believe that the world is dark and evil and god does not exist here. All the killings and the violence happening in the text supports Rorschach’s view on humanity.

Extra Notes November 19, 2010 by Michelle H.

In group 3, we discussed some of the major impacts on Rorschach’s life and how he relates to others in the text. We determined that the majority of his nature is a result of poor nurture from Rorschach’s mother due to the amount of neglect she inflicted upon him as a child. As a child, Rorschach was subjected to the cruel and harsh environment of prostitution which resulted around his mother. She was extremely neglectful to her child (IV. 4). While Rorschach was in need of a mother, who was constantly prostituting, his father was absent in his life. Therefore Rorschach’s only guide in life was this perverse maternal figure who created a false image for him based around women. Not once in the story does he regard women as loving beings. He is always describing them as “prostitutes” or “whores”. Rorschach even describes Sally Jupiter in the same way. Because of Rorschach’s mother neglecting him as a child, we do not necessarily get the idea that he even establishes his own sexuality. Although he does wear a woman’s dress over his face there is no implication that this dress was used to fulfill some sexual desire or fantasy. In the text there is no attraction that Rorschach has for women or for men. His sexuality is undetermined, or to be literal, sterol. Due to his isolation we can compare it to the alienated feeling that Dr. Manhattan feels. Both of these characters remain the only true vigilantes left in the text. Both are completely alienated from society. On one hand you have Dr. Manhattan’s accident which left him with unfathomable powers and then you have Rorschach who has never revealed his true identity and still works the streets to continue to bust law breakers.