Dissecting Chapter 12

The Watchmen has a lot of suggestive and thematic imagery. I would like to use this blog to dissect the first pages of the last chapter in the Watchmen. When first opening these few pages you are bombarded by the colors and death. Millions of people are dead and bloodied in every angle and space on the page. One's natural reaction is shock but this, for some and myself, quickly became interest. I began to study the pages for clues that may have been revealed or were continuiously shown throughout the novel. On the very first page we see the clock, which hasnt been a stranger to us. We have seen this clock counting down to what we now difinitively know to be the end of days. Death and destruction were its ultimate ending. Something also to note is the very familiar droplet of blood that we see on the cover of the book. It looks to be pointing upwards as if to say "time is up" and now you're all dead. Eyes have always been an important note in this novel and the eye contact of the victims is very erie. Glass too is shown sticking through people and very prevalent in this scene. As you turn to page 2 you will notice the broken glass everywhere. The death and destruction is overwhelming. There are dead bodies that make eye contact in this scene as well, if you'll notice the man dead in the bottom left. There is a small dead dog in the middle of the street which could be representational for the talk of dead animals at the very beginning. As you shift your eye to the 3rd page we notice more images like the broken "UTOPIA" sign. This is an obvious symbol for the horror that happened here. The newspapers read "WAR?" on them, which we see now more honestly translates as massacre. That is what occurred. The largest sign reads "THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL," which is representative of the death and destruction thats happened. Moving on to other images. A dead man is at the bottom of the page. He is grasping his watch. Time has been a theme since the beginnging of the novel and this shows time completely off. This is a symbol of the distopia that we are witnessing in the frame. It relates to all the other symbols. The eyes of the man are very disturbing. He seems to be staring right through the page at the reader. Lastly the OneWay street sign. This symbolizes the only way this was going to end. These people had to die to save the rest, it was the only way the world could be saved. This is the ultimate understanding, for the main characters and readers, of why these events took place. They had too. The last 3 pages are very similar to the first with exception of a few things. In pages 4 and 5 the smoke seems to cut right through the page. On page 5 there are hints of atomic power. There is also the business sign that says its "bringing light to the world," which is representative of the salvation the world has witnessed. Everyone else will survive because these people have saved your lives. On page 6 the most important symbol on the page is the newspaper. The paper says it "will give you bodies beyond your wildest dreams". I love that. If thats not an in your face comment, I dont know what is. On all three pages, 4, 5, and 6, there are elements of Rorschauc. The ink-blot papers can be seen everywhere.
The size of these panels allow the reader to understand the gravity of the situation. If they were small like most of the other panels then we wouldnt see as much and pass it by quickly. These large images make the reader stop and pay attention. Overall i love this last chapter, no matter how disturbing it may be. It answers the big question, should some innocent die to save the rest?