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Eddie Michael Villanueva

Professor Jackie
English 113B
September 27, 2015
Structure to Heroism
Morals and ethics in todays world are well define and easily influence by our
surrounding, though one can easily loose what morals are supposed to be. Morals are what
sustain an individual to tell what is right from wrong, good and evil, and nice and bad. Then
again, morals are strongly based on events from past life, along with heavy influence of your
environment. As for heroes in Watchmen, Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan in particular show a
difficult understanding of any morals they present in the novel. Which ultimately questions the
fact if they are true hero or not. Although the understanding these characters can be an enigma
for which they stand, they do show features of being a true hero, from their actions, ideal view
on society, and there sense of righteousness.
Rorschach, one of the masked heroes, in Watchmen seems to have a sense of justice, but
in a twisted, dark approach. It seems most of Rorschachs actions tend to be very extreme to the
point where his own partners such as Night Owl finds his actions too much. Though Rorschach
may breaks bones and kill people, its all in the name of justice. One can even say that his
methods are very effective base on the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave
Gibbons, where Rorschach investigates the death of the Comedian. The resulting analyzes ends
with compelling evidence on Rorschach nature to protect the good. A simple investigation on the
Comedian is still not enough to establish Rorschach a true hero yet. Now to further understand

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Rorschach characteristics, one must know that he derives from a dark past of abuse, neglect, and
sacrilege. Now the result of the matter is that Rorschach was surrounded in an awful
environment, in which he found himself punishing the wicked for wrong doing. In the events
such as Rorschach, an individual is place with two scenarios or path to derive. One path is the
path of right righteousness and to purge all that is wrong. The other though is succumbing into
the abyss of ones demise. In the article Moral Courage, Digital Distrust: Ethics in a Troubled
World by Rushworth M. Kidder states that people die for those kinds of ideas, for good ideas
and for bad ideas, and so the idea relates to the hero Rorschach. He made a decision to rid evil
in a way he finds fitting. Almost in a way of Hammurabis law. Now Hammurabis law is pretty
much with every action there is a consequence. So hence the eye for and eye, a tooth for a tooth,
is a matter of equivalent exchange. Jacob Held the author of Can We Steer This Rudderless
World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor really exposes Rorschach by analyzing the
mind of Rorschach is a dark place, yet its ruled by a simple principle with a long and venerable
heritage: evil must be punished. And it must be punished not because doing so makes the world a
better place, but simply because it is evil and thus is deserving of punishment,(Held). This
establishes how Jacob came up with a theory of Rorschach punishments. So in response
Rorschach is categorized as a true hero for his sense of justice, plus society has a relation to
Rorschach behavior. Humans tend to show similarities of Rorschachs behavior in cases where a
life is lost, due to an evil action. So, in a situation where a family comes face to face with a
murderer of a loved one, the family would want justice. The family can have a negative outcome
due to the judicial system favoring the murderer. Reason for this situation occurring is if there is
not enough compelling evidence against the murderer. As a result the family is left with
disappointment and the murder is free to do his bidding. Rorschach on the other hand makes the

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initiative to enforce justice on evil. In addition Rorschach is one to continue his action of being a
masked hero regardless of the Keenes act which forbid vigilantes. Rorschach really reflects of
what a true hero is, aside the fact of killing and breaking bones for justice and answers. Then
again it seems morally disturbing in many points of views. Now one can argue that Rorschach
doesnt seem to be the hero type, for the fact that he doesnt comply well with other vigilantes.
Rorschach indeed has a friendly side to his tough exterior. In the event where Dan discovered
that Hollis was murder, Rorschach manages to comfort Dan by offering revenge. He may have a
negative concept of human society, but that doesnt mean that he entirely lost hope on humanity
unlike Dr. Manhattan.
Unlike Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan is more than an average human. The fact the he glows
blue, can see all time period of which he is in, break matter to its basic form, and alter his shape
gives the general idea that he is a super hero. But rest assured that Dr. Manhattan may seem all
wonders and heroic, it seems he doesnt think highly on society. In the graphic novel Dr.
Manhattan speaks with Adria Veidt of being the world smartest man and compares him to being
as the worlds smartest termite (Moore and Gibbon 7:18). Which in terms finds humans as any
species on earth. In a way one can interpret that Manhattan refers us to animals. Though he is not
wrong since many can argue that we are animals but highly developed. The issue is that
Manhattan doesnt see human society to be of any important. Even in the face of nuclear
holocaust, Manhattan abandons society and flees to mars. What seems to be more irrational is the
fact is that Manhattan once used to be human. Either the fact that when he received his abilities
did he began to find society as savages. It seems that Manhattan poses that destiny has a much
bigger role as than acting as hero in his terms. Which means that no matter how heroic he can be
destiny will find a way to bend society to a negative downward spiral. With such power can

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really shape the future for the better, yet it seems that human action will never change no matter
how much he alters or changes fate. With the aid of Laurie Juspeczyk, another hero in the
graphic novel proves to Manhattan of how human society isnt a lowly species. That humanity
deserves recognition and thus be saved. Even with his ability of future sight, Laurie manages to
change Manhattan perspective (Moore and Gibbon 9:23-28). One can say Manhattan does seem
to care for humanity since he has Laurie and offers Laurie salvations from the nuclear hell. It
seem possible, until Laurie assume that Jon (aka Manhattan) doesnt take their relation seriously.
Reason for this is that Jon is able to duplicate himself which helps to nail task very quickly. By
doing so he pulled the same stunt with Laurie while making sweet tender love. Now it doesnt
seem much but it can create tension between lovers. It simply states that Jon has better important
task and she is something of a task. Now Jon before the accident was a son of a watchmaker. So
he had the ideas of human till the accident. Christopher Robichaud the author of The Superman
Exists, and He's American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power gives analyzes that if Dr.
Manhattan lacks moral emotions, he no longer possesses the things needed to properly form
beliefs about what's morally right and wrong Which can be very confusing for the fact he finds
human beings lowly. Overall Jon is just a man between the line of true hero and a regular
character. He finds society to be too much to handle and a waste of his time. The fact that he has
super human abilities may make the ideal hero but then again he doesnt fit the role to be a hero.
A hero is some one that does right, in exchange for nothing
After many reviews on Jon and Rorschach, it seems that Rorschach fits the criteria of a
true hero for his righteous action to punish evil, and even though he wear his mask and doesnt
seem show any form of emotions, one can find that he is a caring man. Jon may have the

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advantage of being a hero, but his own flaw of knowing outcome and letting little minor setback
of human society hold him down to becoming a true hero.

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Works Cited Page

Held, Jacob. Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and
Honor Academia 28 Sept. 2015 (WEB)
KIDDER, R. M, Moral Courage, Digital Distrust: Ethics in a Troubled World. Business and
Society Review, 110: 485505. 2 NOV 2005, 9 SEP 2015.Web.
Moore, Alan. Gibbons, Dave. Watchmen. DC Comics. Sept. 1986.Print
Robichaud, Christopher. The Superman Exists, and He's American: Morality in the Face of
Absolute Power Pg. 9. Cybermadsen. Pub. NA. 3 Oct 2015.Web