First of all I would like to say that reading a graphic novel is not as easy as it first appears. I thought it would be a simple task to skim through the text and get it done in an hour or so; I was wrong. Looking at the pictures along with reading the text makes for very slow going, not to mention those terrible scenes in which the boy on the street corner was reading the pirate comic. When I first encountered one of those scenes I stopped attempting to skim.
Meanwhile, What was with the ending of the novel? The whole time there is a huge build up of something terrible about to happen. When it does finally take place only one person objects and then allows himself to be killed very easily. Then quickly, following the destruction and murder of most of New York suddenly everyone bans together and stops the feeling of impending doom everywhere because something terrible has already happened so nothing worse could come after that, right? I'm not so sure. Even though the theme of this week is exceptions, how much is being accepted here? These masked men are just people like the rest of us but training to fight crime in a way that the police cant / wont / don't. That one of them suddenly finds a way to stop social degradation is implausible at best for me. We can see that terrible events do not stop other terrible events from taking place. Somalia and Cambodia are excellent examples that no one apparently learned anything from. I do not think that a creature invented in someones mind would have a greater effect upon the world. Instead I think that encountering the other might make human kind more divisive, and less inclined to change their nature simply because something entirely new appears on the scene. Perhaps the character John is the best example of people not changing because of encountering the other... or perhaps he is not other enough to use here. Just some thoughts...
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I do wonder if Veidt's "alien" would have really sufficed to unite humanity... Honestly, I would guess "yes". Contrary to Somalia and Cambodia, Veidt's creature seemed to be a threat from outside. And just as national dissent is often subdued in the face of international conflict (in the US, wartime presidents are nearly always reelected), international conflict might die down in the face of an apparent intergalactic threat.
"Terrible scenes in which the boy on the street corner was reading the pirate comic"? Are you willfully blind? Those scenes are full of subtext to the main story, and indeed the action currently going on AROUND the person reading the comic (in the form of conversation by the news vendor and customers) and are absolutely BRILLIANT.
The fact that you admit you were trying to skim a novel that is so layered leads me to believe you missed the point entirely. Read it again, pay attention to every detail of the panels and then come back to comment.
Also.. did you not see the very end of the novel? It's ambiguous, but one can assume everything is undone, that is why Doc Manhattan said "nothing ever ends" to Adrian. So the buildup does pay off, IMO.
Responding to Vance, id argue that John doesnt know what happens. It is very possible. The things coming from Antarctica are messing with him and he no longer seems to see into the future. It always seemed to me he could only see so far ahead in the future, which is why even when he ATTEMPTS to change it, he cant.
If he truly felt that the world would change soon after, why would he kill Rorschach?
Even if he doesn't know what happens, he's a very wise and intelligent man/being. I think that even if he can't see into the future, he knows that nothing ever ends. Besides that, it could have just been a literary tool used by Moore rather than something John actually knew.
I think that is fair. I still can't get past the fact that Rorschach is killed by him. If the world is going to revert soon after, why would John kill him?
That is a bit of a hole and which is why I think John DOESNT know if it will or wont end. And, IF it ends, what happens then? Our ties might have been so well forged by that time that we remain peaceful with Russia.
cablebfg, the conundrum of why Jon acts like he does even though he knows what's going to happen is illustrated in the chapter where Laurie hits up Mars. We're all puppets, the only difference is he can see the strings.
I understand that, but it's not a complete answer to that complex situation.
It doesn't answer alot of questions. Then again, fantasy requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.
Essentially, i have to take what im given and go with it.
However, it still doesnt get past the fact that Jon kills Rorschach. Why?
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