The Villain

The revolution against fascist English is led by an antihero by the name of V. In Book 1, he and Evey are the only citizens resisting against the government. As heroes their methods of being leaders and setting examples for others to following in their paths are unorthodox of the archetypal hero. The author presents the only way to start a revolution is to first exterminate important figures of the government to frighten the leader and establish that they are a force to reckon with. However, there might be an alternate motive behind V’s actions. His actions may be selfish acts of revenge. His intensions though leading to a revolution may only be to overthrow the government because they imprisoned him in Larkhill Concentration Camp. We he talks to Lady Justice, his conversation is personal, which implies that he feels Lady Liberty has betrayed him and only him. He makes no mention of the people nor does he address what England has become with all the oppressed people. He revolts out of anger, stirring up the public to destroy his enemies instead of preaching for freedom.

A graphic novelist can do much more with imagery since a picture is worth a thousand words. Disturbing feelings and the look of insanity on Lewis Prothero’s face after he is rediscovered by the The Nose is extremely heighted pictures. His face and the face of his dolls are so grotesque it is impossible not to look at. Also making the dolls and Prothero’s face look like clowns is similar to how the government sugar coats fear. The pictures of V’s Shadow Gallery also add a lot to V’s character without the author having to fill four pages of description. One picture of his library collection tells us that he is well read and values the arts that the government will purge. Instead of creating a list of words, an artist can just create a picture that zooms in on the titles of books in his library and automatically shows that V is not void of the old culture.