MM Dec 1

By: Zarar Ahmed

We started off class with the course evaluations forms, and proceeded to fill those out.

Professor Mathur reminds us that the final exam will be given out on Friday, and is due Monday morning, 8:30 to 11 am.

We proceed to get into Discussion about the end of Watchmen, and the topic is about Ozymandias: "11.24, 12.19, XI.8: Adrian Veidt fits most easily into the traditional definition of a superhero. He is a skilled warrior and political strategist; he wishes to fight poverty and injustice, and create a better world. At the same time, he proposes a nuclear holocaust as a solution to current world conflict and seems to have succeeded in ushering in a new age of enlightenment." The main question asked here was: "How do you respond to Veidt and his ideas? Does Watchmen justify the strategic use of violence or not?

Since he succeeds in his schemes and since no one plans to reveal his secret, are we supposed to believe that his actions will enable the creation of a better world. Is Veidt a villain or hero in the narrative?" Students began to discuss various aspects of Adrian Veidt's nature. He cannot be seen as a villain or hero, as he has good intentions but the belief that such utter violence suggest parts of humanity may need to be eradicated is unnecessary and therefore he cannot be a hero. Veidt is able to fit the "mad scientist/villain" mold, but his killing can also be rationalized, because he seems to be killing thousands to save millions. One student believed Veidt was a superhero, because of his background, reborn rags to riches story, and his strive for the greater good.

At the same time, the class believed Veidt's assumption that nuclear war was inevitable and his actions to complement his theory was too big of a judgment to make, and it wasn't absolutely necessary for him to do what he did. It not as if someone forced him to do it. We shift the focus to Jon /Dr. Manhattan for a bit, and compare him to the element of fate in the plot, especially towards the end, where his problems seeing the future represent the unclear future of mankind, and the dawn of World War III. He isn't immaterial in his view of the future.

We talk about Rorschach's death, and how his attitude towards revealing the secret of Veidt's action were not out of character, based on what we have seen from him. Dan and Laurie take on new lives after the fiasco, and it is as if they are "living a lie", and we mention how in the end, Dan and the character of NiteOwl didn't bring much to the table in the plot of Watchmen. We summarized the end of the story, Tales of the Black Freighter, and how the main character ends up going back to the ship he was trying to save people from, the ship of death. The story is parallel to Veidt's actions, and may in fact be "the story of Adrian Veidt". We end class there, and will review and prepare for the Final Exam on Friday.