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The Masked Masked Heroes

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Glad1395
Words 1373
Pages 6
Krystal Gladden
Professor deLauney
ENG 102
05/10/16
The Masked Mask Heroes
A costume is meant to mask the true identity of a hero"(2009). But what if the mask is their true identity. In the graphic novel "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Moore and Gibbons show how that a few of the vigilantes have a problem with juggling their masked persona and their every day persona. We can see a constant tug of war between who the vigilantes truly see themselves as and what is accepted in their society. We see the pull or hold that each vigilante masked persona has on them on a daily. So, we constantly see how Rorschach and Dan are battling within themselves about who they truly are. Rorschach is one of the first masked heroes we get to meet. We meet Rorschach after the death of another masked hero Edward Blake aka The Comedian. We go throughout most of the graphic novel without knowing the identity of Rorschach or his "real name". We quickly learn that Rorschach is a very black or white type of person, there is no in between with this guy. Rorschach is unapologetic too; he doesn't go by what society sees as bad or good, but off of his own judgment of right or wrong. He is also the only masked hero still fighting crime even though the Keene Act made it illegal to do so. It is not until the end of chapter 5, we get to actually see the human face behind the mask. Rorschach happens to be "The End Is Nigh" guy from earlier chapters, whom "real" name is Walter Joseph Kovacs. We learn this after Rorschach is framed for killing Moloch (a villian) and is in prison talking with Dr. Malcolm Long. Rorschach believes that his true identity is Rorschach and that Walter is his disguise. On page 162, Rorschach says " I abandoned my disguise and became myself... my coat, my shoes, my spotless gloves... my face". Rorschach calls his human face a disguise to let readers know that he is Rorschach and doesn't associate himself with Walter. It puts emphasize on how Walter is dead and that Rorschach is alive. Also , on page 172, when Rorschach's "face" is being taken off his hollers for the police officers to give him back his face. We can see from his facial expression of pure anger that he is furious that they would ever deface him. A critical point to show how connected his really is to this mask or his face. We can see in the panels in chapter 6 when Walter is talking to Dr. Long; there is no life in his face to symbolize that Walter is a dead man. According to Michael Kelly (2014), the mask gives him something to make evident, to stand out, to show show the world his ideals and not just be powerless Walter. Rorschach says " You keep calling me Walter. I don't like you" (Moore, Gibbons 187). Rorschach is slowly starting to make an appearance to tell Dr.Long how annoyed he is addressing with te wrong name. It even becomes a struggle for Dr.Long to not believe that Rorschach is Walter true identity and not vice versa. He says "Alright Ror.." (Moore, Gibbons 192), when addressing him at the beginning of their session. He immediately corrects himself but we can see how even others could get confused by the situation. At the end of the novel, Rorschach is face with either living with an injustice or death. He chooses death, he lifts up his face and allows Dr. Manhattan to kill Walter. This shows how famous quote "even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise", which shows that Rorschach knew that the Rorschach persona would never allow him to give up, so he had to become worthless Walter to make this compromise. Dan Dreiberg is the next person we meet after Rorschach. He is Rorschach's old crime fighting buddy. When Dan was younger he was very interested in electronic, inventing things, and he was obsessed with Hollis Mason (Nite Owl 1). He was so obsessed that Dan decided to bug Mason's owl car and follow him to his owl cave and leave a note for him. They talked and became good friends and when Mason retired Dan took on the name and became Nite Owl 2. Dan just like Rorschach struggles with his two personas. The first scenario we see this happen in is when Dan returns home from hanging with Hollis Mason and realizes his locked has been broken. On page 18, we see Dan's silhouette and it resembles an owl. His silhouette shows how he has transitioned from Dan to Nite Owl. This is ironic because later on page 33 panel 7, he agrees with Laurie that the Keene Act was the best thing that could have happen to the vigilantes. Also, Dan silhouette symbolizes the strength that the Nite Owl persona gives Dan. The next time we see Dan is at The Comedian's funeral and he has a flashback to when they were trying to contain the riots. In the panels on page 58-60, we constantly see Nite Owl behind The Comedian; this shows he is Dan in that moment and feels inferior to a stronger and more powerful guy. On page 88, Moore uses the owl silhouette once again to symbolize Dan switches gears to become Nite Owl. While in an alley surrounded by the Top Knot Gang, Dan instantly get into Nite Owl mood and began to fight off these people; instead of being regular Dan and calling the cops like regular people would do. We get to see how Dan can go from being a timid guy to having a great amount of courage. We get to how unafraid he is in this moment, he charges at the guy, he hits him so hard in the nose the guy bleeds, and one guy's face is looking as if he has saw a ghost. In chapter 7, this is where we see how connected to Nite Owl Dan still is. On page 218, Dan is looking gleeful when telling Laurie about his costumes,equipment, and gadgets. This further proves that Dan is more comfortable being Nite Owl but doesn't know how incorporate that into the life of Dan. The most powerful display of Dan struggling with his identity is the dream his has on page 228 of the novel. He is running towards a woman, his clothes began to come off and he is Dan, and then we begin to see him transform into Nite Owl. These wordless panels speak volumes to the identity that Dan truly makes him feel confident and manly. When Dan and Laurie hear about the fire, the first thing Dan does is get dressed up in his Nite Owl suit. According to Chris Beckett (2012), this is where Dan gives up the shame of being an vigilante instead of a "normal person". After they rescue all the people, while still in costume Dan and Laurie have sex. When they are finished Laurie asks "Did the costumes make it good?' (Moore, Gibbons 240). Dan replies yes, which shows that he really desires to be Nite Owl every day. In conclusion, we can see that the person you may see in the mirror is not the person you truly are. Rorschach and Dan were having problems with their identity. Rorschach problem was that he believed the mask was his true face and Dan believed that the persona of his maske hero was his true identity. It is not until we accept ourselves for who we truly arere that we become the person we always were deep inside.

Work Cited:
Beckett, Chris. "Reading Watchmen." : Watchmen: Chapter VII. N.p., 31 July 2012. Web. 12 May 2016.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: DC Comics, 1987. Print.
Kelly, Michael. "Character Spotlight: Rorschach From Watchmen." The Bible Of Zack Snyder. The Bible Of Zack Snyder, 15 July 2014. Web. 12 May 2016.
The Masked and Unmasked in Watchmen." The Eccentric Eclectics Blogs About Everything and Anything. N.p., 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 12 May 2016.

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