V For Vendetta And Animal Farm Essay

Power is a concept that has existed for all of human history. The battle and struggle to maintain power creates stories that have come to shape our literary world today, and help us understand governement and its intended purpose. In V for Vendetta, we are introduced to a society where the government uses survelence, fear, and physical violence to ensure the country’s stability. What lies benaeth this surface however, is an entirely different world of rebels, terrorists that stand for justice, and innocent people being oppressed. In animal farm, readers are shown a similar type of society. In both novels there is a struggle for power, good and bad. The bad form of power is already in place, and the people want to reinstill justice and equality
into their society. V, a terrorist that stands for justice is a very complex, and difficult character to understand at face value. At first glance, he is nothing more than a terrorist. One who wears a mask to hide his identity. When we look deeper, we see a much more complex, and human version of V, one where he is for the people, not against them. His mask helps him portray this message further, because he could be anyone. I think its this fact that gives him the power he ends up having over this government. Not the fact that he is plotting to tear down the current system, but because this mask means he could be anyone, and he stands for everyone. It also helps ground him, and he never really loses sight of what is most important. The good will of the people. And the mask I think helps people trust him, it provides a sense of super human-ness, and makes him appear far less vulnerable. And trust continues to add on to this power that he holds over the Government.
But with this great sense of trust, and power, comes greed. And there are times when V’s intentions can become blurred, and people lose faith in him, this is we are shown Evey. Evey who is oppressed and violated and treated terribly multiple times throughout this book, and V again stands for a greater power, one who came and saved her in a time of need. Evey is the poeple of the enitre country, and V is the one who is supposed to save it from the evil it currently exists with. This saving doesn’t come easy though, not at all. And when V is killed it truly shows the power struggle between the two forces of power, his death is intended to be a reminder of who is charge. But then, Evey becomes V, and it symbolizes the people of the country realizing something must be done, and its up to them to do it. Evey becoming V is when the pople of the country finally have had enough, and are ready to do something. It’s because of her, that the people stand up and fight. It is in Evey that the message of the book becomes clear: change cannot happen without the will of the people, so we must stay informed, and be ready to stand up for what is right..
In animal farm we see something similar, but entirely different too.
The animals had already thrown out their oppresive government but, in doing so they created an even worse form of it. The animals revolt, and take over to create a new and more pure form, but not without the death of a few key characters along the way. Death and power are more cloesly related that we might originally think. Many people fear death, because when you are dead you have no power, voice, or emotion. But quite the opposite is true. Governments use death to inflict fear, and to keep people in line, like snowball does with the chickens. But the oppressed use death as something to inspire. When boxer dies, the animals use his dearth as a reason to fight back, to regain the power they lost. When people are fighting for someone who has died, and justice for the future, they are more passionate, and more likely to succeed. In Ferguson, the community rallied behind Michael Brown’s family and friends and spoke out for justice. And even though their message may have sometimes gotten lost because of violence, the point was made to the Government; we will not stand for such an injustice, a change needs to be made. This struggle with the government took a long time, but the fight never stopped, and today we know that what they fought for was just, and
right.
Power is a tricky thing, and people often struggle to find a balance, or a just reason to fight for it. But when the people of a community rally together, and fight for a cause, they will be successful. And idealistic as that may sound, its true. Throughout our history, progress is only made when people rally together, and fight against the existing power. I think that’s how it will always be, too. Change is scary, and it makes people feel powerless, but when done correctly it empowers people, and creates something better, for all people. I think thats what these books are all about, questioning the power we encounter daily, and making sure our government is working for us, not for themselves. And it is up to us as a people to stop them if they are in it for themselves.