http://www.reason.com/news/show/132100.html
Rorschach Doesn’t Shrug
The Watchmen’s hero as Objectivist saint
I found an article that demonstraits a connection between Watchmen to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; the article opens by discussing how initially the characters of Watchmen were going to be Charlton Comic characters. Rorschach’s character would have been The Question, who was created by Steve Ditko. Ditko was hevially influenced by the writing of Ayn Rand. Rorschach is Moore’s vision of an objectivist superhero influenced by Rand. Rorschach is an objectivist because he sees sittuations in black and white. The article views Rorschach as an “objectivist saint” because he is willing to kill “in the name of a higher good” and he sacrifices himself to save millions. I found this article very interesting because I noticed how other literary refrences were used throughout Watchmen and I thought this related well; it also provides some insightful character analysis of Rorschach.
-Alexa Romano
Very interesting article though I think the author totally misses how Moore is criticizing objectivism.
Another connection between Watchmen and Ayn Rand is the trope of having artists and scientists disappear from the morally degraded society around them (this happens in Atlas Shrugged). Again, Moore takes an objectivist idea and subverts it — even perverts it to its logical, awful conclusion.