V for Vendetta

In the not too distant future, Britain is filled with torture cells, unfair punishments, and prejudice against minorities. However in the mist of all this chaos, one man known only by the name V dares to stand up to the government and is labeled as a terrorist. One night V rescues a young woman called Evey Hammond and an unlikely bond between the two emerges which results with Evey becoming Vs ally. But though V may be charismatic and have a passion for justice he also is bitter and has his own personal hatred of the government for something they did to him long ago. As November the 5th, the day V says he and those who will follow him will stand up to the government once and for all approaches, this movie is called V for Vendetta.

V for Vendetta is a movie loaded to the top with messages, symbolism, underlying themes and inspiration placed through imagery. V’s mask represents a few things. On one level, it represents the concept of identity vs. the ideal. We never see V’s true face, and he instead adopts the mask as his true identity, abandoning the flesh and blood person underneath and becoming something bigger. V’s true identity is never revealed because it doesn’t matter who he turned out to be - he represents a greater ideal, and abandoning his individual identity underneath the mask is the embodiment of that. The mask also represents opposition and revolt, due to the origins of its design. The mask is modeled after Guy Fawkes, who is known for attempting to blow up the British Parliament on November 5th, 1606. This also ties back to abandoning the individual behind a greater ideal - Guy Fawkes comes to represent revolt in a larger sense, and the mask comes to represent Guy Fawkes. Finally, it represents becoming accountable for oneself and personal growth. Evey’s transformation culminates when she dons the mask, transforming into the embodiment of something greater than herself. The letter “V” appears extensively throughout the narrative and can be