V for Vendetta (graphic novel)

Graphic novel written by Alan Moore, with artwork by David Lloyd.

First appeared as a comic series in the Warrior magazine from 1982 on and was not yet completed when the magazine ceased to be published (Moore 6). From 1988 to 1989, DC Comics published the completed series in ten single magazines, later followed by a publication in book format.

Setting

The story is set in a dystopian version of London in the years 1997 and 1998, nine years after the beginning of a global nuclear war that destroyed large parts of Europe and Africa and triggered a world-wide climate catastrophe, resulting in devastating floods, food shortage and a collapse of the British economy. In 1992, the fascist movement "Norsefire", a coalition of different ultra right-wing groups supported by the remaining big companies, took advantage of the prevailing climate of anxiety and anarchy and established a totalitarian regime. They managed to restore order and consolidated their control over the country by persecuting their political opponents, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities and all other kinds of deviants, following their motto "Strength Through Purity, Purity Through Faith" (Moore 11).

Plot

The graphic novel sets in on Guy Fawkes Night in 1997. Evey Hammond, a 16-year-old orphan, gets into trouble with some "Fingermen", members of the brutal secret police. A mysterious figure in a black cloak and a Guy Fawkes mask appears and takes out the men easily. Her rescuer takes Evey to a rooftop from where they watch the Houses of Parliament explode. He then brings Evey to his secret hideout and introduces himself as "V".

Later, V is revealed to have been an inmate of one of the government’s concentration camps, where medical experiments gave him superhuman physical and mental abilities. He managed to escape the camp and has been on a personal vendetta ever since, taking revenge on the former staff of the concentration camp as well as on the whole regime.

V abducts the top broadcaster Lewis Prothero and drives him insane and (with the help of Evey) forces the Bishop of Westminster to commit suicide, thereby eliminating two key figures of the regime who used to work at the concentration camp.

V also breaks into the government's broadcasting station and airs a speech calling for resistance against the regime.

One day, Evey is suddenly abducted and imprisoned. She is tortured by the police and interrogated about her connection to V. After some time, Evey learns that her imprisonment and torture were in fact just staged by V who thereby wanted to set her free from the prison that her former life had been to her: "I didn't put you in a prison, Evey. I just showed you the bars" (Moore 170).

On the following Guy Fawkes Day, V blows up several important government buildings, planning to end the Norsefire regime once and for all. In a fight with the police chief Eric Finch, V is mortally wounded and soon dies in Evey's arms. Evey then puts on one of V's Guy Fawkes costumes, taking on his identity and resolving to finish what he started.

In the meantime, the Leader makes a rare public appearance, during which he is shot by Rose Almond, the widow of a former government official killed by V. The following power struggle between the remaining leaders of the regime results in ultimate chaos. Dressed like V, Evey makes a public appearance and tells the people that "tonight you must choose what comes next - lives of your own, or a return to chains" (Moore 258).

Historical and Political Background

Moore claims that the political climate in Britain during Margaret Thatcher’s first term as Prime Minister was one of his main inspirations when starting to write V for Vendetta in 1981:

“Margaret Thatcher had been in power for two or three years. She was facing the first crisis of her, by then, very unpopular government. There were riots all over Britain in places that hadn't seen riots for hundreds of years. There were fascists groups, the National Front, the British National party, who were flexing their muscles and sort of trying to make political capital out of what were fairly depressed and jobless times. It seemed to me that with the kind of Reagan/Thatcher axis that existed across the Atlantic, it looked like Western society was taking somewhat a turn for the worse.” (MacDonald)

References

MacDonald, Heidi. “A for Alan, Pt. 1. The Alan Moore Interview”. The Beat, 15 March 2006, https://web.archive.org/web/20060404210249/http://www.comicon.com/thebeat/2006/03/a_for_alan_pt_1_the_alan_moore.html. Accessed 11 July 2017.

Moore, Alan, and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. Vertigo, 2005.