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Freedom and Choices in V for Vendetta

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I never read V for Vendetta before, but I did watch the movie (Natalie Portman is my girl crush, after all.) After reading through V for Vendetta, I can understand the difference between the movie and the graphic novel. Obviously, they have their differences: the movie is based in America in 2020 while the graphic novel is in England during 1997. However, they do have similarities with the overlying theme being freedom. For the most part, people assume that the theme is anarchy and radicalism, but you can't have those things without freedom or the lack of it. Since this post is about the graphic novel, I'll only be discussing it in the novel - but if you have only seen the movie, give the book a chance. You won't regret it.

This was first shown towards the very beginning of the graphic novel. V is showing Evey Hammond, the 16-year-old impressionable girl that V has saved, his secret lair filled with books, movies, and music that the government has attempted to destroy in order to fulfill their own agendas. She is overcome with all the culture that she is missing out on because she isn't given the choice to partake in it or not. The government has made that choice for her - and the rest of England. The following panel from V for Vendetta shows how the government has taken away the idea of choices and given their 'subjects' what they deem is appropriate for their consumption.

Image: Gallifreyan


This also ties into a theory from Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. Throughout chapter 3 in McCloud's book, he discusses a theory that there is meaning in between the white blank parts of the panels. While artists do their best to depict everything going on visually in their stories, there's a lot to be said in what is not shown: "All I ask of you is a little faith -- -- and a world of imagination." (McCloud, 93.) With faith and imagination, the story comes alive; without it, there is no story to begin with. By using this theory, the world of V for Vendetta is applicable to anyone and everyone, in America and England alike. By using this theory, the theme of freedom is applicable to anyone and everyone.

With too much freedom, there is anarchy. This is shown in the graphic novel when the government is shut down and total and utter chaos comes out. With all the freedom, there's no one to govern them and the worst comes out. The end of V for Vendetta leaves a lot to be thought about, a lot to be questioned, and a lot of non-answers. With all the chaos and anarchy, is there such a thing as too much freedom? Should we have a leader to guide us in our freedom? Or would that leader end up as a governing symbol and end up just like a sort of government, ending up in the exact same predicament as before? With "a little faith -- -- and a world of imagination" (McCloud, 93) we are allowed to exist in this world and have the freedom to make these choices for ourselves.

Gallifreyan, and Gallifreyan♦Gallifreyan. “Does V Reference Stanislaw Lem's ‘His Master's Voice’, and If so, Why?” Literature Stack Exchange, 1 Aug. 1967, https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/2122/does-v-reference-stanislaw-lems-his-masters-voice-and-if-so-why.
McCloud, Scott. The Invisible Art Understanding Comics. HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.

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