Senseless Fears in the Film V Vendetta and Short Story Doughnut Shops and Doormen

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When humans are afraid, we think irrationally. We can convince ourselves that we see demons in the dark, or that inanimate objects are moving on their own. Although after applying logic we disregard these thoughts, upon reiterating an idea multiple times our brains recognize them as true. For instance, in the film V for Vendetta Chancellor Adam Sutler of a future Britain uses repetitive videos of American riots as a scare tactic to discourage the people of Britain from rebelling. In addition, the short story “Doughnut Shops and Doormen” reinstates the idea of fear through a women who consistently avoids unnecessary human contact by convincing herself that the only person she cares for is a rock star whom she’ll never met. Both of these works enforce the concept that “Repetition has a remarkable ability to get us to accept certain ideas” (Brower133). Both works highlight the way the use of repetition combated with fear is capable of hindering us, either as an individual or as a society. Furthermore, they indicate that the eradication of false fears will allow us to evolve into […]. The Film V for Vendetta and short story “Doughnut Shops and Doormen” demonstrate that the use of repetition generates illogical fear; to overcome them, we must first remove our ego.
In the narrative “Doughnut Shops and Doormen” a woman named Amy develops her life around a repetitive ideal. The story begins, “I have to have him. Have to have [Chris Cornell, former lead singer of Soundgarden] for real someday, not just in my fantasies” (288). Amy has convinced herself of this because Chris Cornell has been her only concern “for the past ten years” (288). Because of the dedication she has put into her “relationship” with Chris, she has created a bond with...

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...oncludes her narrative, “People notice me now, and I let them” (292). This indicates the release of her fear.

Works Cited

Tubania, Kimberly. “Doughnut Shops and Doormen.” New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond. Ed. Robert Shapard and James Thomas. New York: Norton, 2007. 288-292. Print.
Brower, Danny and Ajit Varki. Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind. New York: Hachette, 2013. E-Book.
TÜZÜNER, Musa, Osman DOLU, and Şener ULUDAĞ. "Unraveling the Determinants of Public Support for Anti-Terrorism Policies in The United States: Fear of Terrorism and State Contextual Characteristics." Review Of International Law & Politics 8.32 (2012): 97-115. Political Science Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
V for Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, and Rupert Graves. Warner Bros, 2006. Film

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