It is the eve of the revolution, the air is pregnant with the thick scent of resistance and suddenly a voice is blared through the speakers strategically placed on every street lamp and every building for as long as the eye can see. “This is the voice of Fate”, speaker screeches, the harsh echo fills the empty streets and announces the usual procession of nightly news for the day. Queue V: the mastermind that ignites the spark under the citizens of this cruel and twisted government and inspires individuals to find their own freedom, the masked stranger that defends the meek. Alan Moore and David Lloyd, authors of the graphic novel V for Vendetta, could not have picked a more perfect way to portray the ideas of resistance and revolution than through the poignant comic book style images prevalent in the graphic novel.
In the society portrayed in the novel and in history, resistance and revolution have been some of the best ways to achieve change in the government. The French Revolution and the American Revolution are just two examples of this type of reform. In the French Revolution, the peasants rose up against the monarchy and achieved, through violence, a better governing system. Americans of the British colonies revolted and through violence achieved their own nation. Not only is violence and resistance realistic, it is the quickest way to gain independence from any government, and unfortunately, the quickest way to ensure it stays independent. In light of past examples of gaining independence, V’s actions and methods are understandable. Although it is hard to believe that one person could inspire such a strong resistance to the government, turning to history again provides a few examples of people who inspired and organized revolution, such as Robespierre during the French Revolution who later became victim to his idea of anarchy. And although V does not necessarily inspire an entire revolution, he gives the citizens of England a chance to question the motives of the current form of government. He blows up the House of Parliament, calling citizens to unite and rethink their government. By getting rid of the current method of governing the public, V calls for reformation, whether the public is ready for it or not.
V for Vendetta benefits from being written in the graphic novel style because it allows for scenes that traditionally would be written as thick imagery as ‘silent scenes’, where only images could truly capture the sequence of events. Many times throughout the book, there are these ‘silent scenes’, portrayed only through images. One such scene is when V goes to confront Delia, one of the scientists of the concentration camp that experimented on him. Her final request is to see his face, and then the panel shown is one without words, where it is evident that he has removed his mask for her before she dies. The next panel she calls him beautiful, and then the final panel on the page shows her grasp on a rose he gave her unclench and fall to her side. The beauty of this sequence of panels is captured in the few words used to describe it. Because the gentle scientist dies peacefully, silence is truly the only way for the scene to progress. The addition of pictures allows the reader to really analyze the different scenes to get a different feel for the information presented throughout the novel.
A familiar Chinese proverb says that one picture is worth ten thousand words, and that principle is truly captured in the idea of the graphic novel. V for Vendetta’s impact would have slightly been lost had it been just written word.
In the society portrayed in the novel and in history, resistance and revolution have been some of the best ways to achieve change in the government. The French Revolution and the American Revolution are just two examples of this type of reform. In the French Revolution, the peasants rose up against the monarchy and achieved, through violence, a better governing system. Americans of the British colonies revolted and through violence achieved their own nation. Not only is violence and resistance realistic, it is the quickest way to gain independence from any government, and unfortunately, the quickest way to ensure it stays independent. In light of past examples of gaining independence, V’s actions and methods are understandable. Although it is hard to believe that one person could inspire such a strong resistance to the government, turning to history again provides a few examples of people who inspired and organized revolution, such as Robespierre during the French Revolution who later became victim to his idea of anarchy. And although V does not necessarily inspire an entire revolution, he gives the citizens of England a chance to question the motives of the current form of government. He blows up the House of Parliament, calling citizens to unite and rethink their government. By getting rid of the current method of governing the public, V calls for reformation, whether the public is ready for it or not.
V for Vendetta benefits from being written in the graphic novel style because it allows for scenes that traditionally would be written as thick imagery as ‘silent scenes’, where only images could truly capture the sequence of events. Many times throughout the book, there are these ‘silent scenes’, portrayed only through images. One such scene is when V goes to confront Delia, one of the scientists of the concentration camp that experimented on him. Her final request is to see his face, and then the panel shown is one without words, where it is evident that he has removed his mask for her before she dies. The next panel she calls him beautiful, and then the final panel on the page shows her grasp on a rose he gave her unclench and fall to her side. The beauty of this sequence of panels is captured in the few words used to describe it. Because the gentle scientist dies peacefully, silence is truly the only way for the scene to progress. The addition of pictures allows the reader to really analyze the different scenes to get a different feel for the information presented throughout the novel.
A familiar Chinese proverb says that one picture is worth ten thousand words, and that principle is truly captured in the idea of the graphic novel. V for Vendetta’s impact would have slightly been lost had it been just written word.
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