Only Us

On page 26 of chapter 6 in Watchmen, we see the dress-makers warehouse consumed in flames and smoke over the course of three panels. Over these panels, the clearly identifiable mannequin is distorted and then lost completely in the fire and smoke. The lines are blurred and leveled until there is no evidence that a mannequin once stood there. While this is going on, Rorschach is explaining how "God was not there. The cold suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone."He continues these nihilist ideas on the fourth panel of the page when he says, "Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring too long." Also on this fourth panel is a Rorschach blot that looks like the smoke we just saw, or does it? If we had not just saw the horrific scene we had, would anyone have looked at that ink blot and seen fire and smoke? I doubt it. I believe that this panel explains Rorschach's outlook on life. We project our previous experiences and beliefs onto blank, vague, or random things. Before we know someone, before we recognize their face, that face is a blank slate. Rorschach believes that people are evil because he does not know most people, so when he looks at them, he can only project the villains and delinquents that he sees every day. I am not trying to argue that this view is right or even justifiable, but I am arguing that given rorschach's past, his views are understandable