(no subject)
When I came here to post on Look to Windward, I noticed that I had forgotten to put down my thoughts on Watchmen. I'll do those first, since they sort of lead into what I felt about Look to Windward.
In the discussion about whose morality, if anyone's, was preferable in Watchmen, I definitely found myself coming down on the side of Rohrschach as opposed to Veight. I wasn't initially sure why, however; on the face of it, both men were insane. Furthermore, mere scope of the atrocity does not necessarily make Veight worse than Rohrschach, merely more powerful. Then I realized what the key difference was: that of sacrifice.
Both Veight and Rohrschach were able to see that their world was crumbling, and would quite possibly kill itself within their lifetimes. In response, Rohrschach sacrificed himself, turning into a monster in order to fight that which he saw as monstrous. Veight, on the other hand, sacrificed the population of New York City, and was setting himself up to be the savior of the changed world. In terms of personal preference, if I had to choose one way to live, I would much rather throw myself into the abyss and try to swim to the other side than murder three million people and cross the abyss by walking on their corpses.
In the discussion about whose morality, if anyone's, was preferable in Watchmen, I definitely found myself coming down on the side of Rohrschach as opposed to Veight. I wasn't initially sure why, however; on the face of it, both men were insane. Furthermore, mere scope of the atrocity does not necessarily make Veight worse than Rohrschach, merely more powerful. Then I realized what the key difference was: that of sacrifice.
Both Veight and Rohrschach were able to see that their world was crumbling, and would quite possibly kill itself within their lifetimes. In response, Rohrschach sacrificed himself, turning into a monster in order to fight that which he saw as monstrous. Veight, on the other hand, sacrificed the population of New York City, and was setting himself up to be the savior of the changed world. In terms of personal preference, if I had to choose one way to live, I would much rather throw myself into the abyss and try to swim to the other side than murder three million people and cross the abyss by walking on their corpses.