The best fiction is a mirror of the times. If you ever want to know what was going on in a society that has disappeared, try to find some record of their arts.
When writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins sat down to create "The Watchmen", they probably did not realize they were creating a graphic novel that would earn a place on Time Magazine's list of greatest novels of the twentieth century. * (Don't believe me? Follow the link at the bottom of this page.)
They did this by constructing a dense story that takes place in an alternate reality where Richard Nixon is a five-term president and the government employs freelance masked heroes to help the United States win The Vietnam War.
In the story, the United States is drifting dangerously close to a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union. The ultimate destruction of mankind is manifested in the film's opening as one of its greatest heroes is found murdered.
A closer look at why this happened reveals the darker side of the public's perception of fame and the idea of what makes a person a hero.
"As the mystery unraveled, we would be led deeper and deeper into the real heart of this super-hero's world, and show a reality that was very different to the general public image of the super-hero." - Alan Moore
We all know that there are no super-heroes in the conventional sense of the word. But, there are super-powers. There are forces, created by man, that could destroy us.
In 1952, Albert Einstein broke his silence about his part in the development of the atomic bomb. He said:
"My part in producing the atomic bomb consisted in a single act: I signed a letter to President Roosevelt, pressing the need for experiments on a larger scale in order to explore the possibilities for the production of an atomic bomb.
I was fully aware of the terrible danger to mankind in case this attempts succeeded. But the likelihood that the Germans were working on the same problem with a chance of succeeding forced me to this step. I could do nothing else although I have always been a convinced pacifist. To my mind, to kill in war is not a whit better than to commit ordinary murder."
Einstein's statement is an eerie reminder that man often uses his power to create things that are only meant to destroy. In "The Watchmen", magical realism is used to create a cautionary tale about man's need to seize power and the depths he will sink to in order to claim it.
In your journals, write about something that should have never been invented.
Are there any good uses for this thing? If so, what are they?
Could any argument be made to the contrary?
* http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/0,24459,watchmen,00.html
