Watchmen's Rorschach-Objectivist "Saint"?

[CapitalistSwine]

Rorschach Doesn't Shrug

The Watchmen's hero as Objectivist saint

Found this posted by someone else on my facebook homepage:

http://reason.com/archives/2009/03/06/rorschach-doesnt-shrug

I have never seen the movie, I never had heard of it until the movie in fact.

[underattack86]

The movie's a waste of good light and sound, it's the graphic novel which really tells the story.

Long before I knew anything about objectivism, I knew I loved Rorschach. His single-minded commitment to principle over all else makes him one of my favourite fictional characters. I doubt that any character has produced an equivalent amount of philosophical discussion online.

Here's a short clip of an interview with the authorAlan Moore on Rorschach and objectivism.

Spoilers for the end of the novel:

The one bone I'd pick with that article is the use of the word 'sacrifice', mostly because that's not what happens. Rorschach makes every effort to fight and survive until the appearance of Dr Manhattan makes it absolutely clear that he has no chance to survive. He never consents to die, he just gives up trying to fight. If Manhattan hadn't appeared, Rorschach would've found a way back to America and undoubtedly worked on a way to reveal the truth about the crisis and to kill the villain who masterminded it. I dislike it when people character Rorschach's end as him 'knowing he has to die' when he spends the entire novel demonstrating his total lack of an ability to compromise on any moral principle.