Isolation In Alan Moore's The Watchmen

What would one expect to be the personality of man who was caught in a radioactive particle test, which transformed him into a god-like being. Dr. Manhattan is that man in the comic book “The Watchmen” by Alan Moore. A character analysis of Dr. Manhattan revels that he no longer feels human and has no connection to humanity. This can also be said for another superhero by the name of Captain Atom. Looking at these characters closely one could see that they share the same feelings of isolation and loneliness throughout their stories.

How these characters got their powers play a big part in why they are both so disconnected from society. Nathaniel Christopher Adam participated in a project called “Project Atom.” The experiment involved testing

Both Dr. Manhattan and Captain Atom have developed this sense of loneliness because they no longer see the world as they once did. Both were once human and have been changed on a molecular level into heroic figures. Neither of them asked for these powers but they are both expected to use them to benefit someone other than themselves. Society only wants them when they need them, but otherwise don’t accept them. It’s hard for them to really connect with anyone else because of the way they view the world. Dr. Manhattan has a drastically altered perspective of life and views almost all human concerns as pointless. Captain Atom is detached from those around because of the very nature of his powers. The speed at which he experiences the world never really allows him to slow down and become a part of it. They are both are living in world that they no longer know anymore. Both are isolated from society, people believe that Dr. Manhattan gives people cancer, and scope of his power makes people uneasy. For Captain Atom, the very nature of his abilities are unsettling to people, many view him as the world 's greatest powder keg, a walking nuclear bomb. This judgement from society carries over to the heroes themselves. It weighs on them to point where both Dr. Manhattan and Captain Atom have questioned their own stability. Dr. Manhattan and Captain Atom share many similarities. They were both created by accident and given powers of incredible magnitude. They both lost the life