A for Anarchy

Nothing is new under the sun – everything that is happening has happened before. This cannot be truer when evidenced by humanity’s need for revolution – for change. Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta presents us the futuristic dystopia that England has become, and how a man behind a mask goes to extreme lengths to show the fascist government of England that, “governments should be afraid of their people,” not the other way around.

Throughout the course of the novel, V becomes the symbol of revolution in England. V for Vendetta begins with a series of murders that connect to V’s past. Why V had murdered the retention camp workers – out of vengeance or a stepping stone for his revolution – is unknown in the first book of the novel. What becomes clear from these first murders, though, is that history has shown is that almost all revolutions, a true change in the status quo, can only be achieved through force and violence. This is a harsh reality that is evident in all of the revolutions of this world and is presented to us in V for Vendetta. V shows no remorse for his murderous actions, and continues to relentlessly fight for the collapse of the fascist English government. The novel also presents us the notion that it only takes the courage of one man to stand up and say that enough is enough. While you need more people to join your cause to gain traction, all you need is that one man who will be the symbol of the revolution, much like V.

I feel that V for Vendetta benefits a lot from being a graphic novel instead of a standard book. For example, the scenes where V goes to The Old Bailey and has a “conversation” with Lady Justice and V’s murder of the Bishop would have been harder to follow or would not have had the same impact if the pictures were not there. There are instances when a character narrates a past event, and that would be much harder to translate to book. All in all, V for Vendetta benefits from having been written as a graphic novel, because we are given a much clearer picture of the events of the book.