...Conflicts Within "Watchmen"...

Another day, another post.

In my reading of the Watchmen, I have noticed specific conflicts. Conflicts such as Laurie Juspeczyk and her continuous struggle within as to who she loves. Is it Jon aka Mr. Manhattan to whom she has lived with for a long period of time, or is it Dan aka Nite Owl to whom she has been sleeping with as a result of a dispute between herself and Jon.

Another would be with Jon vs. himself. As we find him a few chapters down the line living isolated on the red barren grounds of the planet Mars, he seems to be torn between whether or not the human race is worth his time. Apparently, his previous life as a human has no weight within his carefully calculated plans. But maybe there's a slight hesitation with this because this also brings up another conflict within himself. Seeing how he cares for Laurie, he would gladly protect the world from destruction if it meant that she'd be safe.

The conflict of Walter vs. mankind. Walter, aka Rorschach, shows signs of unresolved moral issues. Moral issues as portrayed by society as having no place within their confines. This side story has a lot to do with the meaning of this particular book, at least I believe. Rorschach vs. society can be interpreted as the heroes vs. society, as well. Rorschach says in the book that he does the things cops don't want to do, that they don't even want to think about, or maybe that was from a Spider-Man comic, either way I believe with it. As part of the struggle with society, Rorschach was arrested and sent to a prison. Even though he was set aside from the present public society, he found himself in the spotlight of the criminal society located there within the prison's concrete block cells.

Another prominent conflict that exhibits itself as the Man vs. Man conflict, would be that of the nations of America and the Communists known as "Reds." After the situation leading up to the absence of Mr. Manhattan (Jon), America's apparently only weapon holding the Reds at bay, rumors of WWIII spread as news reports feed in from the Middle East of tanks and troops of the Reds invading countries. This may have been prevented if another conflict had not happened earlier between Mr. Manhattan and society. This conflict was do to the noticeable direct attack on Mr. Manhattan when reporters accused him of infecting people he had came in contact with cancer.

To list all the conflicts within this book, would be close to having to write a whole other book just dealing with them all. I recommend you read Watchmen.