Sympathizing with a Terrorist
The initial reaction of an American reading Alan Moores V for Vendetta may not be hmm their fascist government seems immensely similar to our own government. Why is this? Is it because the American government has directed its public away from this thought? After all, the United States is the self-proclaimed greatest democracy on Earth. The government in V for Vendetta can be seen as more than just a criticism of the British government at the time; it can also be seen as a counter part to the modern American government. The similarities between the United States war on terrorism and the fascist regimes fight against Vs Anarchism are quite significant but why does the reader have opposing views towards the terrorists the US is fighting but sympathize with the character V? Perhaps Moore has done such a good job of setting up a government that is easy to hate, and therefore the reader is convinced that V is fighting for justified means. Or maybe Sigmund Freuds psychological theory that [government bureaucracies] systematically censor information that is embarrassing to the state and state officials, while they make available information that flatters the state explains why Americans feel the way they do (Gibbs 5). Accordingly, the American government has set up a system to disclose only information that flatters the state resulting in the public putting its faith in the government whole-heartedly. One must keep in mind that these comparisons are not meant to be weighed the same; the American government and the Fascist government are run by very different ideologies.
V for Vendetta is set in a dystopic Britain ruled by a Fascist government who calls itself the Norsefire. The overly-controlling authority associated with the Norsefire is presented in the first scene as the voice of Fate announces, The Weather will be fine until 12:07 A.M. when a shower will commence, lasting until 1:30 A.M The temperature will vary between 13 AND 14 degrees centigrade throughout the night (9). The excessively detailed forecast sounds unnatural therefore leading the reader to be put under the impression that the government has a perverse amount of power including control over the weather. Soon after, the reader comes to the realization that not only does this government have extensive control over Britain, but it is also corrupt. In order to make extra money, young Evey decides to prostitute herself. During her first attempt she happens to choose the wrong target; Evey finds herself face to face with a Fingerman, a cop-like authority figure, who tells her, You know the laws on prostitution. Thats a class-H offence. That means we get to decide what happens to you. Thats our prerogative Youll do anything we want and then well kill you (11). Luckily for Evey, during the Fingermans attempt to rape her, the protagonist of the story, V, comes to the rescue and kills the Fingerman and his fellow comrades. Due to his act of kindness, V becomes the hero of the story and the reader automatically sympathizes with him. Moore conveys a sense of antipathy directed towards the Norsefire by having its authority figures commit dishonorable actions.
Contrary to Vs initial introduction as the hero, he is actually the terrorist of the story. After saving Eveys life, V allows Evey to watch as he blows up the old House of Parliament building. Eveys reaction is: But thatthats against the law! Theyll kill you TheyllDid you really do that? showing she does not really understand what is happening and is very surprised (14). The reason why this event does not register in the readers mind as an act of terror is because it was not introduced or expounded before hand. It is as much a shock to the reader as it is to Evey. The reasons for why V decides to blow up the building are not yet clear. The confusion and lack of clarity makes it hard to judge V and point him out as a terrorist. The reader is still contemplating on the previous scene that introduces the corrupt government who were attempting to rape the young girl. Even if V has just murdered three men and blew up a building, there is no resentment built up against him due to what he is put up against. Moore furthers his criticism on the fascist government by portraying them as deceiving liars. Rather than telling the truth about the attack, the government tells its citizens it was a scheduled demolition undertaken at night to avoid traffic congestion and even went as far as describing the fireworks as a freak effect of the blast (16-17). The dishonesty of the government causes the reader to feel bitterness and disapproval towards its actions.
The irony is the United States have done similar things: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks [] have led to heightened levels of secrecy as well as corresponding increases in state deception and propaganda (Gibbs 6). It is hard to say what the American government has disclosed to the public, but it is no secret that they have control over what we get to know. Recently, the United States military has killed the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the people of the United States are celebrating his death; the American government has set the public up to hate the enemy to the extent that celebrating bin Ladens death is normal and socially acceptable. Nonetheless, celebrating death is not supposed to be a righteous matter. Aside from his role in the September 11th attacks and other terrorist plots, if one were to survey the American public on why they hate Osama bin Laden, most of the public does not know much about him. Has the American government used propaganda to provoke feelings of opposition and hate towards al-Qaeda? The Norsefires actions thus far cannot be used as justification for terrorism and Anarchy. Though the American government does the same, the acts of terror inflicted on the US still outweigh its actions towards its citizens because al-Qaeda kills thousands of people while V blows up an empty building that represents the state. Vs actions are more symbolic than harmful; he blows up a building that represents a structure of idealism and law.
The reader begins to understand more of what Vs ideologies are as he goes to destroy more symbolic structures. For example, during the scene in which he blows up the statue of Lady Justice the reader learns of the reason why V chooses anarchy. He speaks to Lady Justice as though the two are romantically involved and tells her, Frankly, I wasnt surprised when I found out. You always did have an eye for a man in uniformVery well. So you stand revealed at last. You are no longer my justice. You are his justice now, you have bedded another and goes on to saying he has also found another lover, and her name is Anarchy. And she has taught me more as a mistress than you ever did! (41). The man in uniform represents the government and justice means governing powers ability to decide what is righteous. V believes justice is meaningless without freedom, therefore his fight for freedom consequently leads to anarchist ideologiesa state without government or law (41).
After showing Evey the destruction of the House of Parliament, V brings Evey back to his home, the shadow gallery, which gives an even clearer explanation of Vs incentive for bringing down the existing government. Evey is mesmerized by all the wonderful things in Vs home and exclaims: It Its unbelievable! All of these paintings and booksI didnt even know there were things like this, and V replies, You couldnt be expected to know. They have eradicated culture tossed it away like a fistful of dead rosesall the books, all the filmsall the music (18). The fascist government is extremely oppressive; they act by radical means, they completely eradicated culture and killed everyone that protests its ways. As a young child, Evey was also affected; she tells V her take on the Norsefire history, It was all the fascist groups, the right wingers. Theyd all got together with some of the big corporations that had survivedI thought they were scary. They soon got things under control. But then they started taking people awayall the black people and the Pakistanis. White people, too. All the radicals and the men who, you know, liked other men. The homosexuals, I dont know what they did with them all (28). Her father had been part of a socialist group when he was younger and was also taken. Evey was taken to a factory with other children to work. Her story shows that V is not only fighting for a personal vendetta, but he is fighting for the nations freedom. V has all those books, movie posters and music in his shadow gallery because V believes the ability to have culture symbolizes liberty and freedom. He is fighting to bring back culture, to bring back the freedom of expression and knowledge that the government has taken away from them.
To achieve his fight for freedom, V chooses to use violent means. V is particularly fond of torture and this is when one should begin questioning whether Vs fight is truly justified. His first torture victim is Lewis Prothero, the voice of Fate. On page 29 the narrator states [h]is nightmare is only just beginning! as Prothero is standing in front of the gates of Larkhill Resettlement Camp. V has gone through a traumatizing experience in a resettlement camp and wants to inflict the pain he felt upon Prothero. When Prothero denies his association with these camps, V shows no mercy: Larkhill 1993. I was there, Commander Prothero (32). Prothero has a strange and intense fetish for dolls and V uses this fetish against him by making these dolls the prisoners of his reenactment of the camp. Prothero freaks out, saying, My god, if youve damaged any of them theyre priceless! Hardly any of the big collections survived the war. If youve damaged them and this only angers V, causing him to reply, Its deuced odd, isnt it? How you can show so much concern for porcelain and plasticand show so little for flesh and blood (33). It is not hard to sense Vs anger and resentment in the tone conveyed. Prothero is traumatized after V burns all of his dolls. Though Vs actions were violent, it is hard to feel any sympathy for Protherothe reader is still on Vs side.
Prothero is not Vs only torture victim, as V seeks vengeance towards all that were associated with the Larkhill Resettlement Camp in which he was a prisoner. Vs experience is explicated through Delias journal entries: Well, we did it, all four dozen of them got a shot of batch 5, which is the pituarin/pinearin mixture. This drug not only altered the patients physically, the lesbian, died at tea-time. During the autopsy we found four tiny vestigial fingers forming within the calf of her leg, but it also killed the patients, June the ninth. Of the original four dozen, over seventy are dead now. V was a special case since [p]hysically, there doesnt seem to be anything wrong with him. No cellular anomalies, nothing (80). Moore justifies Vs vendetta by presenting the idea that the government is not only oppressive but they also have afflicted appalling, horrid experiments on its citizens.
If the reason why Vs actions are justified is that the government is evil then the public must rethink their whole-hearted faith towards the American government. The United States is not the all-good country it is put out to be. The United States also did experiments on subjects without their permission; these practices were very similar to the experience through which V was put. Throughout the United States, unsuspecting patients at health clinics were sometimes injected with these isotopes and then were tracked over periods of time to determine the effects of radiation exposure on their health (Gibbs 11). The American government is aware that disclosure of this information would cause much protest and disapproval and therefore keeps it a secretofficials frankly acknowledge their self interested motives in concealing their actions. A 1947 document directed government employees as follows: It is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments with humans and might have adverse effects on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents covering such work fields should be classified secret (Gibbs 11). Disclosing information that is embarrassing to the state is unfavorable because it leads to the loss of trust and faith in the government. Governments know power lies in the hands of the people and without followers they are no longer the leader. The American governments amazing ability to conceal such information is reminiscent of the overly-controlling authority that the Norsefire have. How would Americans feel if one of these victims of the isotope experiments turns into a terrorist and uses the experiments as the reason for his vendetta?
The flaw in the justification for Vs terrorism appears when he tortures Evey. Vs motive for hurting people is supposed to be because they had hurt him. Evey has done nothing to hurt V, yet he puts her through the most traumatizing experience of the book. The reason for this seems to be Eveys opposition towards Vs violent methods. After V kills Bishop Anthony, the pedophile, Evey gets angry with him and argues against his methods, Its wrong, VV, I didnt know you were going to kill him! Killings wrong. Isnt it? (64). Evey decides to leave the shadow gallery because she did not want to be involved in anymore killing. After Evey leaves and lives a happy life in the real world, she gets brown-bagged and thrown into Vs remake of Larkhill Resettlement Camp. V tortures her through interrogation, beating, downing, solitary confinement, and shaving her hair (143-165). She learns how to stay alive through reading an autobiography written on toilet paper of a lady named Valerie, who taught her to retain her last inch of integrity. When Evey comes out of the torture chambers, she is traumatizeda valid response to torture. Evey shouts at V, I hate you because you just talk junk and you think youre so good that you dont have to make any sense You say you want to set me free and you put me in a prison, to which V responds You were already in a prison. Youve been in a prison all your life (168). V then convinces her that what he had done was necessary for her to reach enlightenment and that happiness is the most insidious prison of all. From a different viewpoint, one could say that V was brainwashing Evey to take his side. According to Talamante, torture is a very personal concept [s]ince most people have never been tortured, it tends to be an abstract concept (120). Can torture be justified if the patient is enlightened in the end? How can one still sympathize with V? Talamante stated, My main concern is that the methodology of torture is far removed from the principles of a democratic society and respect for human rights, as a victim of torture she finds it completely immoral (120). The torture inflicted on Talamante was meant to terrorize the entire population so deeply and completely that one would consider it very carefully before even thinking of opposing the government (121). Could it be that Vs intentions were to terrorize Evey so deeply that she was no longer opposed to his views? How many of those people who were tortured, especially victims of indiscriminate or wrongful arrests, leave prison as friends of their captors? Eveys quick change of mind seems unreasonable and hard to believe.
A torture victim, Olga Talamante, strongly believes that there is no way torture can be justified. She speaks her thoughts on torture: On what premises can its use be defended? At the time of my release from prison in the 1976 public discourse on torture in the U.S. depicted it as being the provenance of brutal, unsophisticated despots, what fascistic leaders and military dictators did to their people to quell dissent, [] not acceptable under any circumstances (Talamante 120). Torture is associated with fascism; V is supposed to be fighting against fascism yet uses its methods. Is using torture methods appropriate? Similarly to V, the American government has its ways of justifying the bending of rules. Is the reason why Americans accept Vs reasons for torture as justified because if they do not then they are hypocrites for accepting justifications for torture by their government?
In order to convince the public to side with him, V takes over the television station and announces to the public, Weve had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars and lunatics making a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars, and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions (116). The line is directed towards right-wingers, cruel socialists; however when V asks the public, But who elected them? It was you! You who appointed these people! You who gave them the power to make your decisions for you! it was a reminder of the United States democratic government (116-117). The people are the ones that give power to the governing. How can the citizens of the United States view themselves so far from Vs fascist government when they let go of so many things that their government does that are similar to Vs fascist government? On the surface level they identify with V because they like his philosophy. Living in a democratic government, Americans like the right to choose, and that is what V is fighting for. He fights against the government that instituted countless concentration camps for the sole purpose of exterminating entire cultures and ethnicities. Though the American governments ideologies are not entirely removed from the ideologies of the Fascist Government in V for Vendetta, the public still stands by its greatest democracy on earth. President Eisenhower once stated, There are no rules Hitherto acceptable norms do not apply. If the United States is to survive, longstanding American concepts of fair play must be reconsidered [we] must learn to subvert, sabotage, and destroy our enemies (Gibbs 12). It is easy to sympathize with V as a terrorist because he fights for what Americans stand for: freedom.
Works Cited:
Gibbs, David N. Sigmund Freud as a Theorist of Government Secrecy. Research in Social Problems and Public Policy. 19 (2011): 5-22. Print.
Talamante, Olga. Dirty Wars: On the Unacceptability of TortureA Conversation with Olga Talamente. Social Justice. 33.1 (2006): 106-31. Print.
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