The document discusses how silhouettes are used throughout the graphic novel Watchmen. Silhouettes of people's shadows being burned onto walls from the heat and light of nuclear bombs represent the inevitable death and disaster of nuclear war. They also remind characters like Rorschach of traumatic past events and create tension. However, silhouettes also represent humanity's desire to overcome isolation and unite in the face of an imminent threat like nuclear war. Overall, silhouettes are a common motif that evoke emotions while commenting on themes of fear, unity, love, and the relationship between past and future.

1. Silhouettes in Watchmen
By Jordan Berka

2. Hiroshima Lovers

3. Hiroshima Lovers
Common graffiti in New York during the actual the Cold
War in 1985
Commonly appears throughout the novel
Sprayed by Knot Tops
New York City gang
Similar to skin heads
Top Knot hairstyle
Anti-nuclear war
Many characters are put at unease due to this graffiti

4. Rorschach

5. Malcolm Long

6. Terror of Nuclear War
The heat and light from
a nuclear bomb burns
the skin and shadows of
people affect onto
nearby walls
Inevitable disaster and
death
Foreshadowing the end
of the comic
Common theme
throughout entire novel

7. Unity
The imminent threat of a
nuclear bomb causes
characters to realize
that the fear of nuclear
war has caused them to
become isolated.
Forces them to come
together!

8. Coalescence

9. Love and Compassion

10. Rorschach's Past
Rorschach had a
troubling past
Silhouettes remind him
of the time he walked in
on his mother having
sex
Silhouettes are a source
of tension in
Rorschach’s life

11. Rorschach’s Mask

12. Conclusion
Silhouettes are used commonly throughout the entire
comic.
They are used to evoke certain emotions from
characters such as Rorschach and Dr. Malcolm Long
Emotions of fear and anxiety.
They are used to show humanities attempt to come
together during the final moments and find some
consolation and comfort.
They are used to project the hopeful future through the
loving relationship between Dreiberg and Laurie.
They are used to show the tension between past and
future