Alan Moore is the kind of writer who dares to cover in his novel themes that are considered 'taboo', or simply not appropriate for most people. One of these themes is Anarchy, and how people should see it and use it to benefit from. Not only does he propose Anarchy as a perfectly plausible option to fight against the system, but he also justifies that option based on the fact that people have the right to strike back.
This will be considered unthinkable by many, but for Alan Moore this is the only possible response, provoked by the system in which we are all immersed, that is pushing the people to fight back, to take a radical position, to stand against corruption and injustice.
Alan Moore is the kind of writer who dares to cover in his novel themes that are considered 'taboo', or simply not appropriate for most people. One of these themes is Anarchy, and how people should see it and use it to benefit from. Not only does he propose Anarchy as a perfectly plausible option to fight against the system, but he also justifies that option based on the fact that people have the right to strike back.
This will be considered unthinkable by many, but for Alan Moore this is the only possible response, provoked by the system in which we are all immersed, that is pushing the people to fight back, to take a radical position, to stand against corruption and injustice.
In 'V for Vendetta', there are many signs of this sense of anarchy and the need for it. Some of them are quite explicit and straightforward, but the strongest ones are hidden in subliminal messages, perhaps intentioned by the author, but interesting to discover after all. That is the case of the symbol used by V, the main character and the hero of the graphic novel. It seems like a letter 'V' inside a circle, but it is actually pretty similar to the symbol used commonly to refer to anarchy, just upside down.
If you think of this as a mere coincidence, you probably did not read the novel. Anarchy is the biggest and strongest weapon that the hero has to fight against the oppression. V knows that he cannot do it alone, and therefore he needs the people to rise and take control of the situation, using chaos to succeed.
If you think of this as a mere coincidence, you probably did not read the novel. Anarchy is the biggest and strongest weapon that the hero has to fight against the oppression. V knows that he cannot do it alone, and therefore he needs the people to rise and take control of the situation, using chaos to succeed.
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| V for Vendetta & Anarchy |
Another symbol that is sometimes associated with everything that surrounds anarchy, is the use of a mask or the simple idea of covering your face: Anonymity. This is not about protecting your identity, but it is mainly related to abandoning the individual behind the greater ideal. It is also highly associated with opposition and revolt, a sense of unity that goes around those who fight the government in the novel, understood and applied by those who fight against governments in real life.
"The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government"
-Henry Ward Beecher
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| Movie: "The Purge: Anarchy" |
I find the last quote in your entry very intriguing. One would think that governments are established to maintain things peaceful for the people, and to prevent things getting out of control, but V for vendetta really gets into you in that sense, making you feel like our leaders are a conspiracy force united to take advantage of the people, instead of letting people make their own decisions or choose their pathway in life. Laws and policies seem now so intentioned to make us do as they want to, raising the prices of everything, and so on. You even get to think that there is no way out of the system, feeling like Winston Smith in 1984, trapped and manipulated by the authorities. It truly seems like the only way out of this madness is chaos, anarchy and rebellion.
ResponderEliminarPerhaps that is the whole point, and one day, we are all going to realize that this is not how it should be, and we will unite to finish the oppression. Or perhaps, that is just science fiction...