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Transcript

V for Vendetta

Chapter Analysis

By Mathieu Bieri

Chapter 1: The Villain

Events:

- Evey is solicitating men for money.

- Works in Munitions but the money isn't enough.

- Clearly is something new to her. Clumsy.

- The men are "Fingermen". She is clearly frightened by them.

- V arrives and saves the day!

Chapter 1: The Villain

- V blows up the parliament and fireworks draw a V in the sky.

- V asks Evey to come with him.

- Meanwhile, we see the reaction

from the government...

Analysis

- We are introduced to both V and Evey as they are getting ready. Notice how both seem to be putting on a "costume" or "disguise".

- When we hear V speak for the first time, we can see that he is interested in the arts. The first thing he says is from the Shakespeare play Macbeth. Also, the posters in his home represent old movies.

- The government is divided into divisions that represent a human body. The Eye, The Ear, The Nose, etc. This gives the image of one solidified unit working together.

Chapter 2: The Voice

- We see what is happenning in the offices of The Voice (a radio broadcast).

- The Voice (Lewis Prothero) is going to give the news without mentionning the explosion of the parliament.

- Meanwhile, V and Evey are in the Shadow Gallery. A room with many works of art and books. This is likely the home of V.

- They listen to music and V explains that

the government has got rid of these things.

Chapter 2: The Voice

- Prothero is in a train with some of his colleagues. He loudly brags about having fought in the military, collecting dolls, and having sex with many women. (Something that his colleagues seem to have heard before)

- While Prothero is telling his story, his colleagues notice a man jumping on the train. V takes out the guards and Prothero is nowhere to be found.

Analysis

- They do not mention Lewis Prothero on the radio. They simply call him Fate. This is clearly propaganda to make citizens believe that it truly is Fate speaking.

- Great contrast between the strict censorship of the Voice and the Shadow Gallery.

- Even though Lewis' voice commands authority, the content seems silly and childish A trend of dictatorships and totalitarian states is that fools and bullies rise to positions of great power, while the intelligent are persecuted and suppressed.

- We are introduced to Mr. Finch, a talented detective working at the Nose

Chapter 3: Victims

- We understand that V has probably kidnapped Lewis Prothero

- Back in the Shadow Gallery, both characters introduce themselves.

Chapter 3: Victims

- When Evey tells her story, we understand that the war was started by Kennedy and the Russians. Africa has been bombed and this caused the weather to change in London.

- We learn how Norsefire came to be through Evey's story.

- Meanwhile, Lewis Prothero wakes up in a strange place in a uniform.

- Finch visits the Leader to tell him about V and how dangerous he is. The Leader is not pleased and threatens Finch.

Analysis

- There is some more contrast in this scene. On one hand, V is described as a brutal murderer, on the other hand, he loves symbols and beauty (the roses).

Mr. Finch makes explicit what we’d already recognized: V has disturbed the strength of the Norsefire state by kidnapping Prothero. The irony is that Norsefire is a victim of its own success: because it’s been successful in deluding Londoners into believing that Fate itself reads the news, it’s comically easy for V to expose the weakness of this lie.

- Evey tells V that she’s lost her father, and then embraces V. The message is clear: Evey turns to V because she needs a father figure.

Questions

1- What is Evey doing when V saves her? Why?

2- What is the name of V's hideout? Describe it.

3- What do each of the following government divisions do? The Eyes, The Nose, The Ears, The Fingers & The Head?

4- What happened to Evey's family?

5- What are your first impressions of V and Evey?

6- Explain the significance of chapter 3's title.

Chapter 4: Vaudeville

- Prothero sees V and explains that he

had nothing to do with the concentration camps of Larkhill Prison

- Suddenly, V points out a huge pile of dolls: Prothero’s prized doll collection.

- V continues with his torture of Prothero. He drags him to a model of “Room V.” Prothero seems to understand what this means: V is “the man from Room V,” He then burns the dolls.

Chapter 4: Vaudeville

- Prothero is later found by some officers outside of a government building. They lead him into the room: his face has been painted white, like a doll’s, and he can only say, “Mama.”

- The broadcasters have no choice but to put a different man in charge of reading the “Voice of Fate.” Prothero’s replacement is clumsy, and slurs his words—and the people of London listen with great skepticism.

Analysis

Instead of punishing Prothero physically, V harms Prothero’s most prized possession: his doll collection. V is exploiting a horrible irony—that Prothero cares greatly about dolls, but not at all about human beings.

Here, we see the full scope of V’s attack on Lewis Prothero. Although V seems to have kidnapped Prothero for personal reasons, his revenge also has a broader political impact: the people of London begin to distrust the Voice of Fate, and, by extension, the entire Norsefire government.

It’s a mystery why V wanted to kidnap Prothero in the first place: was he aiming to enact revenge, dismantle Norsefire, or both?

Chapter 5: Versions

- We learn some information about the

Leader (Adam Susan). He is openly

fascist and believes it unites a country.

- Susan walks to a surveillance room in the Old Bailey, where the “Fate Computer” monitors the activities of millions of Londoners. Susan thinks that he is in love, even though he’s never taken a lover. It is as though he was in love with the computer.

Chapter 5: Versions

- Later, V has a mock-discussion with "Lady Justice". In this discussion he admits to her that he doesn't believe in her anymore and that his new mistress was Anarchy.

- Lewis Prothero is in a mental hospital and mentions to Mr. Finch that V was in room 5. (The roman numeral for 5.)

Analysis

There is great contrast between both V and Susan's power.V is superhuman in his strength, his anonymity, and his intelligence, and Susan also seems to aspire to a kind of super-humanity (or inhumanity), as we see in his love for a computer.

The chapter ends with a clue—we’re meant to assume that Finch will be able to trace “Room Five” to V, based on V’s fondness for the number five and the letter V (the Roman numeral for five).

V distrusts institutions of any kind. While justice itself may be a thing worth loving, justice as its been manipulated and co-opted by government is not. V prefers to worship a new, more individual form of justice. V might just be acting again, and pretending to talk to a statue— but he also seems to have the tendency to treat objects like people, and people like objects.

Chapter 6: Visions

- In the Shadow Gallery, Evey surveys a staircase, which is emblazoned with “V.V.V.V.V.” V explains that it’s means, “by the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.”

- Evey asks if she can help V with one of his "Projects". V assures Evey that she’s under no obligation to help him, but Evey insists that she wants to “make a deal.”

Chapter 6: Visions

- At Westminster Abbey, in December 20th, a large congregation assembles to listen to a bishop’s sermon. The bishop, Anthony Lilliman, praises God for sparing England from his punishment, and prays that God will keep the people safe from the “evil one.”

- Bishop Lilliman is in his room and he asks his assistant, Dennis, if the young lady has arrived.

Dennis replies that there was a mix-up with the agency and that this girl was "a little older.

Analysis

V seems to think that Evey is taking a great leap forward by making a deal with him—but he acknowledges that she might regret her decision. At least it seems that Evey is trying to take more control over her own life, even if for now she is merely fascinated by the glamorous figure who saved her life.

We see the hypocrisy of Lilliman—and of Norsefire society—very clearly. While preaching about the value of chastity and morality, Lilliman indulges in his own horrible impulses—his pedophilic lust for children—and seemingly feels no remorse and faces no consequences.

We see how Norsefire has co-opted Christianity to fit its racist, Fascist agenda. This is a state-sponsored religion that unites the people of England together—partly by treating the English as “one race.” Underneath the bland slogans of the sermon lie justifications for bigotry and genocide.

- Inside Westminster Abbey, “His Grace” Anthony Lilliman is trying to seduce Evey on his bed. Evey asks if she can open a window, and Lilliman allows her to do so.

Chapter 7: Virtue Victorious

- Evey asks him to read her “something religious,” and Lilliman obliges, going to the next room to read from the sermon he delivered that morning. As he does so, V attacks the group of bodyguards, easily disarming them with his daggers.

Chapter 7: Virtue Victorious

- As Lilliman finishes his sermon reading for Evey, he asks her to remove her dress. When he leans in to do so himself, Evey hits him with a heavy lamp and runs away. The Bishop yells and calls Evey a “filthy whore.”

- Suddenly, V is standing in front of him. He quotes from the Rolling Stones song “Sympathy for the Devil” as he drags Lilliman out of the room.

Analysis

Here Lilliman receives an ironic, brutal comeuppance. V quotes from the Rolling Stones—presumably another banned musical group—and takes on the form of an ironic “devil,” attacking and delivering justice to the supposedly just and moral Bishop.

We see that Lilliman’s sexual hypocrisy is equally the hypocrisy of the entire Norsefire society: everyone seems to know that Lilliman is a pedophile, and yet nobody does anything about it.

In this transitional section, we see Evey assisting V with his attack on Bishop Lilliman. It’s not clear exactly what V has told Evey to do—or if he’s told her what he’s going to do to Lilliman. Nevertheless, Evey has “made a deal” with V: presumably to assist him in any way he says.

Questions 2

1- Why do you think Evey wants to help V?

2- On pages 45-46, look at the conversations between the government employees and analyse what they are saying. What is the role of women in this society?

3- Explain the role of religion in this Dystopia.

4- Do you think that V needs Evey? Why or why not?

5- What links can we make between Adam Susan and V?

- At the “Ear”, some men listen to recordings of Bishop Lilliman’s room. They quickly realize that Lilliman is in danger, and alert Finch and Almond to send men.

Chapter 8:

The Valley

- When Finch and his men arrive at Bishop Lilliman’s home, they find another “V” carved onto the walls. Finch notices a rose, identical to the one left for Lewis Prothero.

Chapter 8:

The Valley

- V gave Bishop Lilliman a communion “wafer,” which turned out to be cyanide and killed him instantly. Finch takes V’s rose—another Violet Carson—to his assistant, Delia, and asks her to research where it could have come from.

Analysis

Finch begins to get a sense for V’s style of murder. He’s theatrical, and loves to leave clues behind: Beethoven’s music, roses, etc. It’s as if V is trying to tell Finch who he is, without actually giving away anything about himself—and also to remind him of the kind of culture and beauty suppressed by the regime.

The manner of Lilliman’s death is ironically appropriate. V gives Lilliman a poisoned wafer—an apt symbol of Lilliman’s brand of Christian hypocrisy. Although Christianity teaches that the wafer will transform into the body of Christ, V’s poisoned wafer “remains” cyanide, killing Lilliman instead of filling him with religious ecstasy.

Based on V’s clues, and the recordings from Etheridge, Finch is able to deduce that V had an accomplice (whom we know to be Evey), and that he disarmed Dennis easily.

- In the Shadow Gallery, Evey is arguing with V, claiming that killing Bishop Lilliman was “wrong.” V points out that Evey was the one who wanted to “make a deal”—V didn’t force her to involve her.

Chapter 9:

Violence

- Evey enters V's room and apologizes for lashing out at him. She admits that she’s been feeling guilty for her role in killing Bishop Lilliman, and says once more that she won’t kill another person—not even for V.

Chapter 9:

Violence

- At the Nose, Dominic and Mr. Finch stay up late, working and discussing the V Case. Dominic has invented a clever theory: Lewis Prothero worked in Larkhill Camp as a young man, and, after going insane, kept talking about “Room Five.” From this, Dominic hypothesizes that V was a prisoner in Room Five of the camp.

- In Plaiston, the mysterious woman is sleeping in her bed, when suddenly she wakes up. Addressing a shadowy figure, she asks if she’s going to be killed. The figure (V) answers that she is. The woman buries her head in her hands and whispers, “Thank God.”

Analysis

Even at the end of the chapter, we don’t know anything about the woman whom V is planning to kill, other than the fact that she’s clearly feeling guilty for whatever she did (presumably at Larkhill Camp). Somehow, this is all we need to know about her: her guilt tells us that she’s notably different from Prothero and Lilliman.

Evey objects to V’s violent methods. This is a common debate in the anarchist community: is violence justified in enacting meaningful change? V clearly thinks that violence is justified by its ends—killing those who kill and persecute. Evey doesn’t agree, and she feels personally responsible for Lilliman’s death.

For the time being, Evey finds ways to convince herself that she’ll always do the right thing—she still wants to see things in black and white, because the alternative is much scarier.

- On December 23, 1997, Derek Almond enters his wife’s bedroom carrying a gun. Rosemary wakes up and finds Derek pointing a gun at her—she begs him to stop. Derek pulls the trigger and says “bang”—it’s not loaded. He smirks and leaves the room.

Chapter 10:

Venom

- At the Nose, Dominic and Finch are still researching the guards at Larkhill. The vast majority are dead. Finch remembers giving one of V’s roses to Delia—a colleague of his who worked as a doctor at Larkhill. Panicked, he goes to call Delia immediately. Finding the line engaged, he sends Derek Almond to Delia’s house in Plaiston.

Chapter 10:

Venom

- In Plaiston, V is standing over Delia’s bed. V asks Delia if she’s afraid of death, and she replies that she isn’t. She mentions a famous psychological experiment, where subjects were asked to shock patients who got the wrong answers on a test. Delia has long since concluded that there is something evil and horrible about the human race—she’s ashamed to be a member of it, and welcomes death.

- Finch calls Almond and tells him to get to Delia's house immediately.

- Delia warns V that Eric Finch is trying to track him down. V says he already killed Delia “ten minutes ago,” while she was sleeping. Delia asks to see V’s face one more time before her death. V removes his mask. Delia stares at V’s face, unafraid, and whispers, “It’s beautiful.” With these words, she dies.

- V leaves Delia's appartment but is greeted by Almond who tries to fire, but has an unloaded gun. V takes him out and flees.

- Finch takes Delia's diary.

Analysis

Delia’s death is strange and oddly moving: unlike the other victims of V’s aggression, Delia isn’t afraid of V, and even welcomes his presence as “beautiful.” V, for his part, seems to recognize that Delia regrets what she’s done to V, and has already punished herself enough with her own guilt and self-hatred. So, he lets her die in peace.

We learn that the woman whom V has come to kill is Delia, a former doctor at Larkhill Camp. We’re also reminded of the strange incompetence of the Norsefire surveillance—somehow, a criminal has been eliminating Larkhill guards for four years without anyone batting an eye.

The experiment Delia mentions is real—it was conducted in California in the 1970s. Moore likes to allude to real-life examples of man’s inhumanity to man in his graphic novels. Delia seems to have come to a conclusion about humanity that doesn’t fit with Norsefire’s Fascist perfectionism at all: there is no “perfect race,” because humanity itself is evil.

Derek Almond—much like Prothero and Lilliman—is a victim of his own evil. Just as Lilliman dies by poisoned communion, Almond gets his ironic comeuppance when his sadistic prank on his wife backfires.

We end with the possibility that Delia’s diary will answer some of our questions about Larkhill, V, and the Norsefire state. This section is also important because Eric Finch shows genuine sympathy for one of V’s victims for the first time—it’s as if he despised Prothero and Lilliman as much as V did.

- Finch offers to read some parts of Delia's diary to the Leader. Delia has come to Larkhill to conduct hormone research on human beings. She believes that her research will benefit the human race.

Chapter 11:

Vortex

- As time goes by, most of her prisoners die except for

the blacks and the women.

- By July, there are only five patients left for Delia to study. One of them—the man in room five—hasn’t experienced any mutations at all.

Chapter 11:

Vortex

- The man in room five, asks to work as a gardener for the Larkhill camp. Lewis Prothero reluctantly agrees, since there’s been a food shortage recently. The man turns out to be a brilliant gardener, producing a great deal of food. The man from room five also grows beautiful roses.

- The next entry is from December 24, 1993. Delia explains that there was an explosion at Larkhill camp. The man in room five had been using ammonia to make other products, such as mustard gas and napalm.

- Finch notes that V wanted the police to find Delia’s diary. Strangely, there are entire pages that have been removed. V didn’t want the police knowing anything about his identity.

Analysis

- Although V is shown to be cold and capable of murder, he’s also sensitive and emotional. We don’t know why V is weeping, but we also sense that there’s a side to his personality that Finch has yet to understand.

There is a famous notion that “when one stares into the abyss, the abyss stares back.” Delia stares at her patients with disgust, and here, her mysterious patient returns her stare, judging Delia for her blind participation in murder.

Delia’s awareness of V’s gaze suggests her awareness of her own guilt—her involvement in a horrible, genocidal experiment.

Questions 3

1- Why do you think V leaves so many clues, but doesn't want

to reveal anything about his identity?

2- What does Delia's death reveal to us about V's personality ?

3- Now that we are at the end of the first book, which do you think is more important to V: His vendetta or his revolution?

4- What is your opinion on the Anarchist problem? Is killing justified by its ends, or is killing never an answer?

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