Introduction

V for Vendetta is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. Moore also wrote the acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen and is considered one of the greatest living graphic novel authors, while Lloyd created Marvel’s Night Raven and has done illustrations for many Marvel and DC properties. V for Vendetta was initially serialized in the British anthology Warrior between 1982 and 1984. In the late 80s, it was reprinted in color by DC Comics.

The novel takes place in 1997, in a dystopian near future in which the Cold War culminated in atomic bombings that destroyed much of the world and subjected the rest to nuclear winter and governmental instability. Britain falls into chaos and is overtaken by a racist, Christofascist organization called Norsefire. A masked anarchist antihero named V, along with his protégée Evey Hammond, works to give British citizens the chance to escape tyranny and rule themselves. This plot was partially influenced by Moore and Lloyd’s political ideas about conservative Thatcherism combined with tensions around the escalating Cold War. The novel deals with themes such as the opposing natures of fascism and anarchism and the responsibilities individual people have within oppressive social systems.

The graphic novel is in the BBC’s 2019 list of “100 Most Inspiring Novels” and is listed 83rd in The Comic Journal’s 1999 poll of “The Top 100 (English-Language) Comics of the Century.” In 2005, it was made into a movie written by the Wachowski siblings, directed by James McTeigue, and starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman as V and Evey. V for Vendetta, especially V’s memorable Guy Fawkes mask, has had a massive cultural impact. Across the globe, the mask has come to represent revolution and the fight against fascism.

The book has been widely banned due to its anti-fascist themes. In 2021, Texas Republican Representative Matt Kraus included it on a list of books he wanted to ban from school libraries. Since then, it has been banned in several Texas counties along with other popular works such as Art Spiegelman’s 1980 graphic novel Maus.

This study guide refers to the Vertigo/DC Comics 1990 paperback edition.

Content Warning: V for Vendetta contains images and descriptions of violence, sexual violence, pedophilia, drug use, racism, and intolerance toward gay people. The source material uses outdated and offensive terms for Black people, Pakistani people, gay people, and neurodiverse people.

Plot Summary

In 1997, England has been wracked by nuclear war, famine, and disease. A fascist regime called Norsefire rules the country with extensive surveillance, propaganda, and police violence carried out by its various governmental branches: the Eye, Ear, Nose, Mouth, Finger, and Head. A teen girl named Evey is saved from an attempted rape by V, a mysterious anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask. The night he rescues Evey, V blows up Parliament. Evey subsequently works as his protégée. Various Norsefire men try to catch V, including investigator Eric Finch from the Nose, policeman Derek Almond from the Finger, and Conrad Heyer, who does surveillance for the Eye. They are overseen by Norsefire’s fascist dictator, Leader Adam Susan, who spends his days watching video feeds on the Fate supercomputer.

In Book 1, V kidnaps Lewis Prothero, who voices Fate on a daily radio broadcast. He kills the pedophilic Bishop Anthony Lilliman and a doctor named Delia Surridge. Meanwhile, with the help of Delia’s diary, Finch slowly unravels V’s history. V was imprisoned in Larkhill Resettlement Camp, one of the concentration camps where Norsefire sent people of diverse races, sexualities, and ideologies to labor and die. Prothero and the Bishop featured in the torments V underwent in “Room V,” and he was medically experimented on by Delia. V gathered materials to create bombs and tear gas that ruined the camp. He fled and spent the next four years killing former Larkhill employees, saving Prothero, the Bishop, and Delia for last. The next step in his vendetta is to topple the fascist system that enabled such tortures. Almond pursues V, but after a night of mentally and verbally abusing his wife Rosemary, V kills him.

In Book 2, Almond is replaced by a man named Peter Creedy. Rosemary is frightened and alone without Almond and begins to work at a cabaret. V takes over the Mouth and tells the British citizens that they have a responsibility to hold their government accountable. V deserts Evey, and she takes shelter with Gordon Deitrich, a smuggler and gangster. Gordon is killed by another gangster, Alastair Harper. Evey tries to kill Alastair in revenge but is captured by an entity she thinks is the Norsefire police but is actually V. V imprisons and tortures Evey to test her resolve. While imprisoned, Evey gains hope by reading a letter written by a lesbian woman called Valerie; the letter is later revealed to be an exact replica of a letter V read in prison, written by his neighbor in Room IV. When Evey is freed, she is initially incensed that V imprisoned her but finally embraces her rebirth as an anarchist revolutionary.

In Book 3, V suspends Norsefire’s surveillance for three days. Chaos and looting ensue, and the Leader responds with police violence. Creedy recruits Alastair to support him in a coup. Conrad’s wife, Helen, employs Alastair as a double agent in a plot to instate Conrad as a puppet ruler. She also begins an affair with Alastair. V continues to teach Evey about anarchism, priming her to become his successor. Finch is increasingly disillusioned with Norsefire. He makes a pilgrimage to Larkhill to better understand V. There, he sees the horrors Norsefire has committed and repents his involvement. Finch follows the London Underground to V’s home, the Shadow Gallery, where he kills him. He quits his job and leaves London. Rosemary kills the Leader for what he has done to their country. Alastair and Conrad fight and kill each other. With Norsefire in ruins, Evey dons V’s mask and takes up his mantle, hoping to guide the country toward rebirth under the liberty and equality promised by anarchy.