Point of View, Diction, and Syntax

Watchmen is defiantly unique in comparison to other comic books, especially when in comes to diction and the different points of view. The story is told from a few perspectives, and the words uses are much more complex than the ordinary comic book. Overall, the story contains many abstract ideas which are voiced through it's diction.

The point of view in Watchmen shifts every chapter to a different character's perspective, though the main narrator of the story is Rorschach. He narrates and reflects on the plot through his journal entries, scattered throughout the story. Also, at the end of every chapter there is a newspaper clipping of some sort, sometimes it is the meta story Under The Hood by Hollis Mason. Other times it is various newspapers and essays about the world the story takes place in.

When either Rorschach or Dr. Manhattan narrate the story, they have a very specific way of speaking. Rorschach speaks in messy distorted half sentences. Dr. Manhattan on the other hand speaks in monotone concrete sentences, which have a sense of emotional disconnection to them. This reflects the characters psychology. Rorschach being unstable mentally, Dr. Manhattan being cold and all knowing. Also, Rorschach's journal bubbles are coloured yellow to suggest crudeness in his tone, while Dr. Manhattan's dialogue bubbles are coloured blue to suggest calmness and coldness in his tone.

Many details of the characters can even be found in the structure of the book. Laurie is another main character, who's personality is reflected in the technical aspects of the dialogue. Many of the words in her dialogue bubbles are in bold, to show that Laurie has a very edgy way of speaking. For example she says, “Rape is a moral lapse? You know he broke her ribs?” Her emphasized words show her anger and her tell it as it is personality. Dan on the other hand has almost no emphasize to his words, suggesting the passivity of his character. Adrian's dialogue is often verbose and long, taking up most of the page, this shows both the love for himself and his superior intellect.

All in all, the many different types of vocabulary and points of view in Watchmen adds to the complexity of the story and to the many subplots.