60 pages • 2 hours read
Alan MooreV for Vendetta
Alan MooreFiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Norsefire’s “Body”
Norsefire uses body parts to symbolize the function of various parts of their government. These parts need each other for the entire “body” to work. The Eye operates visual surveillance; the Ear operates audio surveillance; the Mouth is the state’s media propaganda; the Nose is the investigative unit; the Finger is the military police; the Head is the group of leaders from each branch plus the Leader. Each branch functions according to its name. For instance, the Ear and the Eye hear and see everything done by the British people.
All parts of the Norsefire “body” work in unison to oversee and operate their fascist regime. These departments invoke “the body politic,” a metaphor that imagines a polity as a physical body, which emerged in Ancient Greek philosophy as early as the 6th century BCE.
“England Prevails”
“England Prevails” is a verbal motif that has ties to both The Interconnected Tools of Fascism and The True Nature of Anarchy. It begins as a salute used by the Norsefire government. The Leader, in particular, closes his interactions with these words and demands that his subordinates do the same. Characters rarely, if ever, utter the slogan when not in conversation with the Leader. This indicates that within its context as a tool of Norsefire’s fascist regime, the phrase is performative, said for show in the presence of those higher up in Norsefire’s strict hierarchy. Since Norsefire’s view of England’s populace is restricted to white conservative Christians, especially men, “England Prevails” indicates their belief that their version of England will prevail. This resonates with other phrases put out by Norsefire, such as when the Voice of Fate tells the men of England their duty is to “make Britain great again” (10). This refrain echoes real-life slogans from authoritarian regimes throughout Western history.
As the novel progresses and Norsefire’s fragile structure begins to crumble, it is clear that their version of England will not prevail. The phrase takes on secondary meaning as the people of England are given a chance to forge ahead on their own terms: To self-govern as anarchy dictates they must. When Evey takes up V’s mantle and lays the first V’s body in the train car that will blow up Downing Street, she says that the people of England now have a choice between leaving their prison or re-subjecting themselves to it. While this question is ultimately open-ended, Finch’s decision to leave what he has known and instead walk into the dark unknown on the last page of the novel seems to indicate that the people of England will, in fact, prevail.
The Letter V
Diverse iterations of the letter “V” operate as either symbols or motifs depending on the context in which they show up. When it appears as the name of the central character, “V” serves as a symbolic reminder of what V experienced at Larkhill in “Room V,” which consequently fuels his anarchic rebellion. The name “V” also symbolizes the character’s eponymous vendetta, which was incited at Larkhill but now strives to take down the entire government.
V leaves a painted “V” encased in a circle at the scene of his crimes. As a visual motif, this image notifies Norsefire that the actions are V’s, which in turn fuels questions about the True Nature of Anarchy. Alternatively, it serves as a symbol for anarchy itself, based on its resemblance to an upside-down anarchy symbol.
Finally, V himself is a symbol of the promise of rebirth that anarchist revolution brings. When Finch shoots him, V says, “There’s no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There’s only an idea. Ideas are bullet-proof” (236). After V dies, Evey resolves not to take off his mask to see his face, as doing so would diminish the idea of him and what he symbolizes. Instead, she dons V’s mask herself to become the new symbol of hope for Britain.
The Land of Do-As-You-Please
The Land of Do-As-You-Please is a reference to Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree series; within V for Vendetta, it symbolizes anarchy. One of the most overwhelming characteristics of Norsefire’s regime is that the citizens cannot do as they please. The Leader says that he will not allow freedom and individual liberty because they are “luxuries.” V, on the other hand, sees them as necessities. When he is talking to the statue of Justice, he says that Justice is meaningless without freedom—that is, the ability to do as you please.
In Book 2, when V sings “The Vicious Cabaret,” he says, “Though [Evey] doubts her host’s moralities she decides that she is more at ease in the land of doing-as-you-please, than outside in the cold” (91). Evey has begun her ideological shift toward anarchism and realizes the restrictions of living under Norsefire’s reign.
Book 3 is titled “The Land of Do-As-You-Please”; this indicates that V’s anarchy-led plans will finally bring down the Norsefire government, leaving England free to choose its own future. In this book, when Evey’s ideological reorientation is nearing completion, she asks V a question that firmly establishes the symbolic relationship between anarchy and the Land of Do-As-You-Please. While the city is in chaos, she asks, “All this riot and uproar, V…Is this anarchy? Is this the Land of Do-As-You-Please?” (195) This allows V to further define anarchy, drawing important distinctions between doing-as-you-please and taking-what-you-want.
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