Writing and Rhetoric
Amy Bertken
20 February 2012
Short Essay Two: V for Vendetta Every person has his or her own unique story. The series of events that occur in an individual’s life help shape the person they are and help them figure out who they want to become in the future. In the graphic novel, V For Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, the character, V, recognizes the importance of overcoming one’s past in order to make positive changes and accomplish what they truly desire in the future. In the novel, the character Evey experiences extreme adversities that ultimately demonstrate the importance of overcoming past fears. As a child, Evey struggled with her mother’s death and father’s arrest, causing her to grow up with much uncertainty. Later in her life, a masked man, V, whom she grows very close too, rescues her from a group of “fingermen.” Unfortunately, he ends up abandoning her on the street. Luckily, a man named Gordon offers to take care of her, but just as Evey becomes very close with him, he is murdered. After enduring so many horrific events, Evey gains possession of a gun and sets out to get revenge for all of her losses. This course of action is based upon impulse, without planning and without realization of what she hopes to accomplish. She must let go of the resentment and fear that she has been holding on for so long to in order to make progress in her life. Under the close watch of V, Evey is able to learn that while many people are living in their own prison created by their past, they are all capable of setting themselves free. After what Evey thought was V torturing her for no reason, she soon feels empowered by fact that she freed herself from the prison V was keeping her in. she begins to show signs that she is letting go of earlier events and is ready to move on when she says, “ V? Here are some things that I moved out of my room. I don’t need them anymore” (Page 183). By removing many objects from her