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comment by briandmyers
briandmyers  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Book Club: Watchmen Discussion Part 1 [final discussion March 1st]

I think Doctor Manhattan, in some ways, represents nuclear weaponry. A new thing in the world, with more power than we really know what to do with.

I've always wondered why Jon chose to make his body so un-human - surely he could have done it differently if he wished? Maybe just a literary device.





kleinbl00  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. They definitely talk about having Dr. Manhattan the same way we talked about having "The Bomb" prior to 1949. However, there's no "balance of power" involved in Dr. Manhattan to shape history from 1949 until 1986, and most of the World's history was shaped by that. With only one Dr. Manhattan, he means a lot more than nuclear weaponry.

I don't think Dr. Manhattan chose to make his body un-human - after all, he spent months painstakingly reassembling it from the aether. I think he got "close enough" and stopped. Dr. Manhattan, after all, drifts further and further away from humanity. "Brilliant blue skin and no pupils in his eyes" is only foreshadowing.

briandmyers  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The blue skin and marked forehead also clearly suggest godhood, making it a good literary device as well as being a superhero-y appearance.

kleinbl00  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

user-inactivated  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

In some ways quite explicitly!

    I've always wondered why Jon chose to make his body so un-human - surely he could have done it differently if he wished? Maybe just a literary device.

I think ... why would he make it human? He's not human anymore and doesn't attach any special significance to the word human. If anything I think the fact that his body is still recognizably that of man is a literary device that Moore needed to have him interacting with other people semi-normally.

briandmyers  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

His distancing of himself from the rest of humanity is also shown through his shedding of his costume bit by bit over time.

user-inactivated  ·  3693 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Definitely. Foreshadowing.