Adrian and "Marooned": Meta-Textualism and Parallelism in Watchmen Anonymous 12th Grade

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is a neo-noir graphic novel that deals with complex issues of moral ambiguity and authority. Published as a twelve-part comic through 1986 and 1987, it has since come to redefine the genre of comics through its use of narrative structure and its deconstruction of the flawed nature of superheroes. Amongst the many literary devices that add to the depth and breadth to the narrative, one that particularly stands out is the pirate comic “Marooned”. For a reader of the narrative as a whole, Marooned is extremely relevant to understanding Watchmen as it exposes critical aspects of the narrative by creating parallels and ensuring that these parallels direct the reader’s attention towards the issues that convey Watchmen’s message.

At various points in the novel, Marooned through its narrative serves as an allegory for characters like Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan and even Silk Spectre and the Nite Owl. However, in its entirety, Marooned’s primary function is to reflect the character of Ozymandias. As Graeme McMillan points out, the narrator’s journey “…mirrors that of Ozymandias in the main story.” [3] There exist many parallels between the narrator and the supposed villain of the novel, Adrian...