As it has been discussed in class, Alan Moore & David Lloyd's
graphic novel V for Vendetta first chapter begins with the presentation of Evey and V
putting on make-up and mask respectively, which immediately triggers in
the mind of the reader that this is a novel about hidden identities, especially
V’s identity that remains unknown. Why so? As to battle against oppression from
political forces, as to take “justice” into his/her own hands. In my opinion,
is just to fight violence with violence and remain anonymous, which is a
representation of a true coward.
There are ways and ways of rebelling against people or system,
however V demonstrates violence as it can be used for good in the sense that
its outcome will allegedly lead freedom (“V for Vendetta: Violence and
Freedom”, 2013).
I strongly disagree with this idea of violence as a mean of
liberation through anonymity. It is just a way of acting out without taking responsibility
for their actions, hiding behind a mask as to avoid being your own person, standing up holding your head up high, and being a coward playing terrorist.
I would like to make reference to our Chilean society in regards
to all those people who decide to hoodie-up (put on their masks) and behave as
terrorist by destroying public property and attacking other people when there
is an uprising or manifestation to fight for a good cause, such as better
quality education or healthcare improvement. The presence of these “encapuchados”,
as we called them, does not solve anything, on the contrary, it makes it even
worse. They are driven by the feeling of injustice and discontent due to their resent
towards governing forces; “they see in violent revolts, in disobedience, a call
for attention to this unjust country (Cumplido, 2013).” Similarly to V, they
believe that violence is the answer to achieve the great good, when actually
violence can only lead to more violence that will eventually end up in unjust
deaths and wounded people.
All in all, it is time to stop being a coward, to leave the masks aside and to stand up for what you believe in showing your face through non-violent manifestations against the governing forces that are oppressing your rights. Do not succumb to the fear of what could happen to you if they know who you are; if anything happens to you at least you will be proud of knowing that you didn't go down without a clean fight as well as you will not be remembered as another anti-social terrorist. So, LEAVE OUT THE MASK!
References:
Cumplido, M. J. (2013). Los encapuchados
¿delincuentes, estudiantes o desobedientes? El Quinto Poder: Opinión es Acción.
http://www.elquintopoder.cl/ciudadania/los-encapuchados-delincuentes-estudiantes-o-desobedientes/
Moore, A.; Lloyd, D. (1988).
V for Vendetta. DC Comics.
V for Vendetta:
Violence and Freedom. (2013). I Speak Comics. WordPress. http://ispeakcomics.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/v-for-vendetta-violence-and-freedom/
I have mixed feelings about this idea of anonymity as cowardice. I strongly disagree with what happens in the marches here in Chile. Kids and teenager destroying everything without no reason. Nobody should support that. However, wearing a mask is not necessarily bad when there is a powerful reason behind it. In "V for vendetta", V wears a mask not because it is a coward; V wants to become a symbol of anarchy and chaos. Society was so contaminated that it was necessary to destroy everything in order to create something new.
ResponderEliminarMasks can represent a symbol, something powerful for people. In the graphic novel, V hides an ideology behind its mask, where everybody can reflect itself in it. Masks without an ideology and responsibility are cowardice. Al least in "V for vendetta", the mask is not a shield, it is a symbol of change.
I believe that wearing a mask does not necessarily mean that you are a coward. For example, the “encapuchados” that you mentioned in your post, not all of them are set to destroy public property or create riots, you have to remember that most of the “encapuchados” nowadays, are people who take advantage of the strikes situation and go out there to fulfill their own anarchic fantasies. Now, you have to think back to when it all started, when these people who covered their faces did it for that purpose only, to cover their faces in order to protect themselves of the chemicals police forces threw on them so they would clear the streets. Later, they became violent, I am not going to deny that, but it was only after having tried to fight violence with words and realizing they would not succeed. As for V, I believe it is a similar case, he/she got tired of waiting around for things to change and decided to take justice into his/her own hands, because if he/she does not do it, who will? Besides, I believe that V’s hiding behind a mask is even more justified, as he/she is only one person fighting the system, and needs some sort of protection from this abusive regime.
ResponderEliminarFirst of all, I want to say that I think your analysis is very interesting as you made a comparison between V and our own context with the “encapuchados”. But in second place I have to say that I agree with you up to a point.
ResponderEliminarIn our context, the “encapuchados” generally are the ones that destroy everything in front of them, while the innocents have to pay for them. But in V’s case is different, as Mario said, “the mask is not a shield, it is a symbol of change”. And that is something that we can compare to other countries’ different protests in which people use V’s mask; usually they do not act violently and in those cases the protests turn into a performance and the mask gives a dramatic feeling. Moreover, the mask give protestants a sense of equality, they all look the same and at the end that is all about; we are all equals.
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ResponderEliminarThere is not such a thing as a "pacific" opposition against a system that has institutionalized its violence against whoever opposes them. I do not support "encapuchados", but I understand them. As it occurs in "V for Vendetta", their mask goes beyond the importance of who they actually are, because what really matters is the idea they are trying to deliver. There are some delinquents among them and, it has also been demonstrated that there are even cops that start these riots, but as the means of des-information point out they will never be something else than criminals because regular people living in their comfort zone won't use their precious time to inform a little on the topic, they will just prefer to sit down and des-inform themselves through the news. This is why I believe that V's identity is not important. What really matters is the idea behind his acts and the justification to do such things, which are the traumatic experiences he had to go through and the apathetic nature of London's population towards a totalitarian system.
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