Nehorayan 1

Kayla Nehorayan
February 5, 2015
Professor Jackie Hymes
English 114B
Unclear Morals
Many view a hero as someone who saves or rescues others with doing the least
amount of harm. There was also the definition a child gave that stated that a hero is a
person who always puts others ahead of their own life, but he also added that they do not
always choose the right decision, but they try their hardest to. There are many heroes
throughout the graphic novel Watchmen, by Alan Moore and David Gibbsons, whose
morals are unclear and a bit hazy. Although these characters try to do the right thing or
believe that they are doing the right thing, many can say otherwise. Rorschach with
punishing the evil with death, The Comedian and his ways of saving America while
hurting women in it, Ozymandias while he kills many to save the world from war, and
Doctor Manhattan with killing to keep a secret that he believes would destroy the world are
the main examples of these morally unclear superheroes.
Rorschach is the first hero we meet and right off the back we see his insanity as a
hero. At the same time, he is the only one who cares about the deaths of his fellow masked
avengers. Although Rorschach murders many, people may still believe that since those
who he kills are in some way evil, it is ok. He does not kill the innocent and believes that
he is doing the world justice by riding of these vermin. It is said by Peter de Jager that
ethics is about choosing whether something someone did is good or bad and what someone

Nehorayan 2
would do if it were bad. Here Rorschach can easily make that call and although many
believe that these bad people should be punished, he takes it to an extreme. Should he
have murdered that kidnapper/killer, or should that evil man been put away for the rest of
his life and suffer in prison? Although many believe that it is difficult to face unethical and
evil people, but Rorschach shows otherwise. Many can say that it is heroic and amazing
that he can stand up to those evildoers, punish them, and put them down for what they did.
His mask is black and white, but his morals, values, and ethics are very grey and unclear.
This is ironic because he thinks he is his mask, he thinks his morals are black and white.
The Comedian is a ruthless man that kills anyone and sexually assaults any woman
that passes him eyes. He calls himself a hero and many see him that way for fighting in the
war and working for the government. Many can say it is wrong of him to rape these
women, but he is also saving millions of lives by fighting for America. He is not only
considered a hero, but a soldier. Many do not think soldiers could do harm to their own
people, but he has. During a riot he has killed without even thinking about it, but many can
argue that they were on the verge of killing one another. This is where his morals and
ethics become uncertain. Does he believe he is doing the right thing, or does he just do
whatever he wants? His costume is another example of the confusion between what he
represents and what he does. The Comedian has a costume that represents America with
the strips on one shoulder and stars on the other. Although he is representing America, he
does not follow its morals, he only follows his own.
Ozymandias is known as the smartest man ever. He is covered in gold like a god
and definitely acts as if he is one. He is portrayed to the readers as the nice guy that is just

Nehorayan 3
trying to make a living off his and his friends careers as a superhero. Although he comes
off that way, his morals are also skewed. He kills The Comedian to keep his secret plan,
gives many innocent people cancer to cast off Doctor Manhattan, and kills many innocent
lives just on a hunch that he could bring world peace. His whole scheme of bringing peace
to the world is what lead him to killing The Comedian to keep his secret and casting off
Doctor Manhattan so he could not get in the way. He felt that his plan that may or may not
work was worth innocent lives and that is where we see the unclearness morally. Even
though his plan did work in the end, was it really worth all those lives? His costume fits
how he feels. He is god like in it and therefor foreshadows how he feels about his role in
saving the world from destruction, gives many a different look about him physically, and
strays us away from the idea of him being somewhat morally, ethically, and virtuously
blurred.
Doctor Manhattan tried his hardest to love humanity for what it was and to be apart
of it. After being accused of giving the ones that have had a close relationship to him in
one way or another, he left. Many were afraid of a World War III now that he was gone
because there was no one to protect them. Him leaving could show a lack of morals
because even though he was different now, he used to be one of them, a human with
emotions and a heart full of love and kindness. Where it gets confusing is that he does not
understand mankind, emotions, and how humans function, so therefore viewers feel pity
for him. Then, once Ozymandias saves the Earth, everyone except Rorschach decides to
keep the secret of Ozymandiass plan. This is another instance where Doctor Manhattans
morals are unclear and blurry. He goes and kills Rorschach just so that the secret could be

Nehorayan 4
kept. Although Rorschach was going to tell everyone what happened, was it right for
Doctor Manhattan to kill him? Would the war have continued once everyone knew the
truth, or would everyone still be at peace? Some would say Doctor Manhattan did the right
thing and that would have been the only way to keep peace while others would disagree.
Although many heroes are known as knowing right from wrong and saving people
rather than killing them, these heroes, The Watchmen, have some complications with how
they live morally. People could say Rorschach only hurt or killed the guilty, while others
could say they should have went to prison and let the justice system take care of them.
With The Comedian people could either argue that he can be forgiven for the bad things he
does because he is with the government and fought for America or he is wrong for raping
and killing. Then we have Ozymandias and although he saved the world, one cold argue
that murdering many innocent lives was not worth that because one would never know if it
was actually the end of the world. Lastly, Doctor Manhattan could be seen as either
helping us with everything he did, or being unfair and not human. Though there are many
heroes throughout the graphic novel and real life, one young boy from a high school in
Florida gave the Northwest Florida Daily News an amazing definition of what a hero is to
him. He said that heroes may not always do the right thing morally, even though to them it
may seem like it is, but as long as they put others ahead of themselves, they are still
considered heroes.

Nehorayan 5
Work Cited
Tammen, Katie. "What Makes a Hero?" Northwest Florida Daily News Sep 09
2011. ProQuest. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.
de Jager, Peter. "Ethics: Good, Evil, and Moral Duty." Information Management
Journal 36.5 (2002): 82-5. ProQuest. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.