Yes, the
graphic novel series V for
Vendetta by Alan Moore is very much like the
novel
by .
- Both works are Juvenalian
satires
against totalitarian governments, namely the controlling parties (the
Norsefire party vs. the
Inner Party). - Both works focus
on the cruelties perpetrated by the secret
police. - Both
works focus on the fear spread by a leader's intimidating,
ubiquitous face:
(Adam Susan vs. Big Brother) - Both works focus on the
spread of state terrorism against the common public. - Both works
focus on
Great Britain as a country in the crossfire of terrorism from within
and outside. - Both works focus on a common man () and
woman (Evey) who become victims of the state's
cruelties. - Both works focus on the invasion of privacy by the state against
the individual ("Eye" the agency that controls the country's CCTV system in
V; the telescreens in 1984.) - Both
works focus on rhymes as links to the past:
In
V,
it's: "Remember, remember / The fifth of November / The gunpowder
treason
and plot. / I know of no reason / Why the gunpowder treason / Should
ever be
forgot."In
1984,
it's: "Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clement's, You owe me
three
farthings, say the bells of St Martin's."
- Both works focus on the torture of
their protagonists by an experienced
terrorist (V, ). - The main difference is that in V for
Vendetta
is revenge fantasy. In it, we have a hero, V, who guides Evey to defeat the
state. - V tortures Evey as an initiation into the underground, and
it makes
her stronger. O'Brien uses the imaginary underground (Goldstein) as
a lure to torture Winston,
and it defeats him. - 1984 ends with Winston becoming an
unperson:
he has no mentor or guide. In fact, who he thinks is his guide, O'Brien, turns out
to
be his torturer.
No comments:
Post a Comment