Watchmen Themes

Some might say this theme’s a cheater, that the subject of every novel ever written since the dawn of time is, well, time. To those people, we say, “hmm, that’s a large blanket statement you�...

Remember that time everybody got sick of plot twists? Nope, neither do we. Whether it’s in a book or on the big screen, we crave those jaw-dropping moments when a character we thought was good tu...

We are not Cold War kids. We don’t do duck and cover drills to prepare us for nuclear war. We don’t keep gas masks hidden in the basement. Okay, maybe at Shmoop we do, but we’re just weird li...

If our flaws make us human, then the “heroes” of Watchmen are as human as it gets. In some ways, the whole book is a meditation on identity. As for us, we may not be superheroes with fancy cost...

The first rule of Shmoop Club—do not talk about Shmoop Club. The second rule of Shmoop Club is— oh no, the police. Like the TV show that’s been around longer than Watchmen, America loves its...

How are we supposed to explain freedom and confinement in less than 150 words? Oh man, that’s a lot of pressure, isn’t it? Jeez, it’s getting hot in here. We’re already 30 words in, and hav...

With apologies to director Michael Bay, there are no super-transforming-robot-cars in the pages of Watchmen. No Optimist-Grimes or MegaTurds. Clearly, we haven’t seen a certain trilogy that shall...

Can’t you just google the answer and save us the effort? What, no can do? Fine, we’ll do this the old-fashioned way, on a typewriter. Still too new-school? How about clay tablets? Egads, you’...