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Watchmen: World War Ii and Dr. Manhattan

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Watchmen: World War Ii and Dr. Manhattan
Luis Canett
Instructor: Andrew Rempt
English 116
June 30, 2013
Watchmen (You need your own title)
In the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore (Don’t forget Dave Gibbons!), there are several characters that fit in the description of a hero. Nonetheless, they all have flaws. There is one particular character that does feel that he is entitled a hero but (Comma) again, he has imperfections. That is Dr. Manhattan or Jon Osterman. He was pushed to enroll at Princeton University in 1948 by his father and by 1958 he graduated with a PH.D. in Atomic Physics. A few years later, he started working for Gila Flats where he would fall in love with Janey Slater. One day when he was going to go back to the lab to retrieve a watch that he was going to give back to Slater, he accidentally gets trapped in one of the test chambers. After days of not seeing him around the lab, scientists around the company saw that Osterman had become a blue man. His relationship with Slater failed and he quickly got together with Laurie. He then joined a group of other super heroes that would fight crime until the Keene Act that restricted them from fighting crime. He was the only character that had super powers. Yet (Combine) he did not want to interfere in any problems that the world was having. At the same time, he became a spectator as he saw everyone that was dying from the pregnant lady to millions of people in New York City and did not even lift a hand to help innocent people from dying. (Okay, but this seems like a summary. What’s the argument?)
A real hero uses his powers to save the world. Even though Dr. Manhattan has a lot of powers that could easily make him a hero, he decides to be a spectator. (Okay, but combine these for a stronger assertion) He does not intervene in any situation that may endanger the lives of people. Instead, he lets destiny take its course. For example, the comedian or Edward Blake meets with Dr. Manhattan in Saigon to end the Vietnam War. They meet at a



Cited: Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. Book club ed. New York: DC Comics Inc., 19871986. Print.

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