V--- for Vendetta

[Wolverine]

The series is set in an alternate-future Britain where nuclear weapons had been removed from the country following a victory for Labour in 1983, sparing it from nuclear attack in a limited nuclear war that left the country mostly physically intact. A fascist single-party state has arisen, using its control on food during the nuclear winter, with government-controlled media, secret police, a planned economy and concentration camps for racial and sexual minorities with an emphasis on technology, especially closed-circuit television monitoring in the mode of George Orwell's 1984. (Closed-circuit television had not yet become common in the UK at the time Moore wrote the series. Today, London has the world's highest concentration of CCTV.) When the series begins, political conflict has ended, the death camps have finished their work and been closed, and the public is largely complacent, until "V" — a terrorist and self-proclaimed anarchist dressed as Guy Fawkes, mask and all, with an improbable array of abilities and resources — begins an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government.

[Wolverine]

V himself is something of an enigma, whose history is only hinted at; it is strongly suggested that he is physically and mentally abnormal. The bulk of the story is told from the viewpoints of other characters: V's admirer and apprentice Evey, a sixteen-year old match factory worker; Eric Finch, a world-weary and pragmatic policeman who is hunting V; and several contenders for power within the fascist party. V's destructive acts are morally ambiguous, and a central theme of the series is the rationalisation of atrocities in the name of a higher goal, whether it is stability or freedom. The character is a mixture of an actual advocate of anarchism and the traditional stereotype of the anarchist as a terrorist and advocate of anarchy in the sense of chaos.

There are many references to the letter V and number 5 (which is V in Roman numerals). For example, the character V is seen reading and quoting from Thomas Pynchon's novel, V. and listening to Beethoven's fifth symphony (the first four notes can be represented as the letter V in Morse code.) V always introduces himself with a five-syllable phrase: "You can call me V." The phrase, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November (fifth of November is another 5 syllables)" is also referenced; it is the first line of a nursery rhyme detailing the exploits of Guy Fawkes.

[Wolverine]

Also following the theme of numbers comes Evey, V's protégé whose name has 4 letters. Her name also contains the name EVE who is the mother of God's new civilization. At the end of the series, Evey finishes V's final terrorist act, she destroys all forms of British authority leaving the future uncertain. Like Eve of the Bible, she gives way to a new society.

The series was Moore's first use of the densely detailed narrative and multiple plot lines that would feature heavily in Watchmen(which is an amazing read). The backgrounds of panels are often crammed with clues and red herrings; literary allusions and wordplay are prominent in the chapter titles and in V's speech (which almost always takes the form of iambic pentameter).

The structure of the book has several direct parallels with Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera: the Shadow Gallery doubles for the Phantom's Lair, and Evey's abduction and re-education mirrors that of Christine Daae's.

[minks]

I went to see this flick this weekend and I really liked it.

[jhwty42]

great movie. strong message against dictatorship. natalie is gorgeous!