One of the most interesting metaphors in Watchmen is that of Doctor Manhattan as “The Bomb”
By providing a personification of the concept of the nuclear bomb we are able to explore how he bomb changed the world around it and created the existential dread of the 20th century (1/4)
By providing a personification of the concept of the nuclear bomb we are able to explore how he bomb changed the world around it and created the existential dread of the 20th century (1/4)
Taking the symbol for hyrdrogen as his own Doctor Manhattan marks himself as our stand in for the nuclear bomb. His advent ended the world as it was known before and ushered in a new age of scientific progress and sociological decline. (2/4)
One of Moore’s most interesting alternate takes on the world within the pages of watchmen is his America’s decision to use Doctor Manhattan in Vietnam being a sharp departure from America’s approach to Vietnam in the real world. (3/4)
The final nail in the coffin is this set of panels from issue 4, where the metaphor is once again spelled out. Time stopped moving how it had before when the bomb was detonated and just like the watch that was frozen in Hiroshima, the world is frozen in place by the bomb (4/4)
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