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The Keene Act of 1977
Rorschach’s Mask
Rorschach’s mask symbolizes his view of ethics and morality, as well as his use of a constructed identity to hide his vulnerable true self, Walter Kovacs. Rorschach’s mask is white with shifting black shapes…
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Smiley-Face Badge
The Comedian’s smiley-face badge symbolizes Watchmen’s critique of traditional comic book heroes. In the first scene of the novel, when Edward Blake is assaulted and thrown through his own window, a drop of…
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Clocks
Clocks represent the ordered universe, meticulously governed by laws of physics. When Jon Osterman goes to Mars, he looks at the marvelously ordered universe and wonders if that means that someone designed it. He reinforces…
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Perfume Bottle
In Chapter IX, the globe-shaped perfume bottle represents Laurie’s understanding of her world and who she is. When Jon takes Laurie to Mars, the chapter opens with the image of a perfume bottle falling…
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The Pirate Comic
The pirate comic is a comic within the novel, which an incidental character—whose name is eventually revealed to be Bernard—reads throughout the course of the main story. The pirate comic symbolizes how someone who initially…
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Get the entire Watchmen LitChart as a printable PDF.
