Discovering V, the revolutionary leader in V for Vendetta

V is the emblematic protagonist of the comic v for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. Although, he is probably most recognized for his eponymous film work from 2005. The comic began to be published during the 80s in the British magazine Warrior and, later, it was distributed by the well-known North American publisher DC

This change in its distribution and its subsequent film adaptation made the work reach a mass audience, despite the fact that, originally, it was not a work mainstreambut outsider“not for everyone”. The passage into the hands of one of the titans of Hollywood, Warner Bros., made the work adapt, soften and become more “digestible.” This fact angered Alan Moore so much that he asked that his name be removed from the credits.

v for Vendetta It is conceived at a time when the United Kingdom is under the government of Margaret Thatcher, whose conservative ideas and policies contrast deeply with the anarchist ideals of Alan Moore and the anti-conformism of David Lloyd. Both authors have been strongly influenced by their own contemporary reality, by the social and political problems of their country. What would the world be like if, finally, the most totalitarian governments triumphed?

The dystopian future of V for Vendetta

v for Vendetta presents a dystopian future in which the most dominant and conservative fascism has come to power. After a war, fear spread through British society, causing citizens to support the leader Susan. In exchange for protection and stability, they gave him all their culture and all their freedom.

Works of art, books disappeared… all traces of past history were eliminated along with those who died in the resettlement camps. Because a town that has no history has no references and, consequently, can be manipulated.

This reminds us of works like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury or 1984 by George Orwell. Futures without freedom, futures without history in which the population seems to be asleep despite having lost the most fundamental rights.. In the face of all this oppression, V is exalted as the hero/villain who will lead the United Kingdom to awakening.

The similarities with our society are not few: control and manipulation of the mass media, conformism, fear of change, wealth and privileges accumulated by power, etc. Why fight for our rights if we can buy a car? That is the society shown in v for Vendettaa society that no longer remembers its pastwho has lost ideals and ignores equality.

V is a character whose past we do not know, we do not know who he was before his stay in the Larkhill resettlement camp. In exchange, we know that he survived all the experiments they did with him and that, unlike the rest of the population, he still remembers his ideals, the history, the art… And He has come to save them, to make the people react, to leave fear aside and fight for what is right..

V behind the mask

It is impossible to “unmask” V without doing some spoiler of the plot of both the comic and the movie, although we will focus more on the former because it is the original work. Moore usually demystifies heroes and villains, as we see with the Joker in The Killing Joke. V is seen as a terrorist, as a villain at the beginning of the play, he defines himself as “the black sheep.” But is V really a villain?
It is for the government, it is for false security and it is for all those who see how the foundations of their power are shaking.; This is what happens to the bishop or to the leader Susan himself. The media, totally at the service of power, will try to spread fear in the population, the same fear that led the fascists to conquer the United Kingdom. V will be branded a terrorist and, in a way, we can see it this way considering that he uses violence to achieve his goal; What Moore intends to show us is that those who had always been the good guys, perhaps, are not so good.

And if we think about political or social revolutions, about those changes that brutally broke with the previous, such as the French Revolution, we will see that, in the face of the figure of the oppressor, a revolutionary path that is peaceful rarely triumphs. V wants peace, equality, but to achieve it he needs violence. Laws and justice are at the service of power, in this way, V has no alternative but to take justice into his own hands and disobey.

AS Cohan has a study of political theory called Introduction to revolutionary ideas. In this work, he collects a series of issues that affect the revolution and shows us how, In most cases, revolution is necessarily linked to violence.

Despite this, other scholars, such as Hannah Arendt, point out that the revolution can be a problem when it comes to establishing a model that allows the revolutionary ideal to triumph. v for Vendetta It presents us with the steps of the revolution, but not its culmination. The ideal is so perfect that it is never drawn in the Moore and Lloyd comic.

V, the legacy

Who is hiding behind the mask? Or, better yet, who owns it? The famous V mask is none other than the mask of Guy Fawkes, a historical figure who tried to blow up the British Parliament in 1605.. Fawkes was Catholic and, faced with the oppression of the Protestants, he decided, unsuccessfully, to take justice into his own hands. Moore and Lloyd rescued this character, his nonconformity and his desire to achieve equality, giving V his face.

The Guy Fawkes mask has become a contemporary myth, a myth created by mass society itself, as Roland Barthes explained in his work mythologies. Today we see it in demonstrations, on social networks and it serves as a tool to express nonconformity. That mask invites us to overcome fear, to fight for what we consider fair..

Evey is the other side of the coin, Evey is like us. She is afraid, but V will take it away from her so she can be free.. Fear is one of the keys to the work, of that government that has used it to manipulate the population. To keep his legacy alive, so that the revolution belongs to everyone and for everyone, V makes sure that Evey overcomes the barrier of fear and she is the one who, after her death, frees us all.

Evey’s own name has certain biblical reminiscences, it reminds us of Eve, the first woman, the mother of all. She will put on the mask upon V’s death and become the new leader, in V. Evey is the future of the United Kingdom.

The mass media evades us from reality; However, its impact is so great that, if used well, we can send a different message. V takes control of television to send a message to the population, in this way, he takes possession of a symbol of power and oppression, makes it his own and his message is strengthened.. The film version is a sweetened version of the comic, but its diffusion is so great that it has generated an impact on mass society, creating a myth, a symbol of awakening.

v for Vendetta It invites us to leave our comfort zone, to not allow ourselves to be manipulated, to overcome barriers and achieve a fairer, more egalitarian world.

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