V for Vendetta, was published in 1990 by Alan Moore, is a graphicnovel set in a future version of Englandtaken over by fascism. The fascism in the book is similar to Nazi Germany inWorld War II, with the dictator, Adam Susan, using all of his power to oppress everyonein the country, such as building concentration camps for those homosexual orliving with diseases. It takes for one individual, called V, to rebel andcommit terrorist acts against the government for the sake of freedom andanarchy; having control over one’s own decisions without a government telling themotherwise. V commits serious acts of terror against the fascist government soeveryone can live free of an oppressive rule. The novel, V for Vendettasuggests that freedom is having full individuality and can only be achievedwhen order is abolished.
Chapterfive of the first third of the book introduces the reader to the one of themain themes of the book, individual freedom. The theme is addressed by twosides, by both V and the Norsefire party. V talks to the statue of liberty, orMadam Justice as V calls it, and essentially talks to himself.
Within this talk,V states that he does not believe in liberty, and decides to follow anarchy ashe utters this quote in his talk to the statue of liberty: “She hastaught me that justice is meaningless without freedom. She is honest, she makesno promises and breaks none.” (Moore, 1990, 41).
The message this quoteis trying to convey is that politicians often make promises in their politicalcampaigns, often pertaining to giving their citizens more rights, more freedom andjustice. So when they get elected, they forget what they say during theirpolitical campaign and thus no progress for freedom happens. Anarchy means thelack of a government, which means there is no one to lie and make promises forthe sake of anarchy. On the other hand, when the reader gets formallyintroduced to the dictator, Adam Susan, Susan gives a full speech of his goalsand ideals.
Susan states multiple times within this speech that he does notbelieve in individual freedom or liberty, such as in this quote: “The onlyfreedom left to my people is the freedom to starve, the freedom to die, thefreedom to live in a world of chaos. Should I allow them that freedom? I thinknot. I think not.” (Moore, 1990, 38). This quote in particular shows howrestrictive and how much of his totalitarian power Adam Susan will be for thesake of his people, Eric Finchis a recurring character within the novel, being a police officer for theNorsefire government who often investigates terrorist acts V has committedthroughout the book.
In the last third of the book, Finch drives off to aconcentration camp and decides to intake LSD. After taking in the drug, he startshallucinating and then realizes how much he doesn’t like his job, and starts questioninghis life. “We treated you so badly, all the hateful things he printed, did, andsaid…but please. Please don’t despise us” (Moore, 1990, 213). Finchstarts hallucinating about the friends he had, and he realizes how badly theNorsefire party and the police treated them just cause of their sexuality andtakes the blame for it. Finch starts questioning even more, and says: “Whoimprisoned me here? Who keeps me here? Who can release me? Who’s controlling andconstraining my life, except…me? I…I’m free.
FREEEEEE!” (Moore, 1990, 215). Thisis when Finch starts to abandon the police force after realizing how badly theytreat the people in the country and now only works for himself, free to dowhatever he wants. This moment signifies the freedom found when there is no lawto constrict an individual’s actions.
