V For Vendetta Setting Essay

Setting in V for Vendetta

The graphic novel, "V for Vendetta" was set in 1997-1998 in London, England succeeding a nuclear war in the 1980s. In this post-apocalyptic era, the effects of the nuclear war had changed and destroyed the world for the worse which was evident through the environmental degradation in London. Usually, an apocalypse results in limited resources like food, and chaos as people are looking for someone to lead them while they are confused and scared. In many apocalyptic films, there is a social change where usually a corrupt leader uses propaganda to manipulate his people by using their fear as an advantage.

The graphic novel was set in the future from when it was published, informing the audience about the future events

that could lead England to fascism while Margaret Thatcher was president. It is a story of London in the 1980s but taken further to evoke fear and warn the audience that one day the world could be as messed up as the story.
This can be seen through Evey's flashbacks where she talks about events in the 1980s where America and Russia had started a Nuclear War with explosive nuclear missiles. The consequences of the war had led to the abolishment of the continents; Africa and Europe. London was flooding as the Thames barrier had been damaged and there was pollution which is seen when Evey says: "the sky was all yellow and black…Dad said London was finished". The flooding had destroyed crops in the countryside and Europe was greatly affected by the bombing meaning that the resources in London were low and the economy was in a crisis.

In reality, there was a nuclear standoff in 1983 where the US and the Soviet Union were both stockpiling nuclear missiles.

However, there was no war as both sides knew that the consequence of bombing would injure too many innocent civilians. Also at the time that the novel was written, conservatives were in power of England under President Margaret Thatcher who viewed that those who didn't fit within the norms of society should be discriminated against; those people included demographic groups which opposed the traditional moral values such as feminist and socialists and homosexuals. In the book, Evey's dad was taken away because he used to be a part of a socialist

group.

Although in the text, fascism had dominated, there was an anarchist (v) who was opposed to the Norsefire regime and aimed to establish a new world order where there was freedom to live instead of submitting to the government. This was done through violence and destruction as fear which was the only way people would listen. V wears his mask to show his allegiance to Guy Fawkes who was another anarchist in the 16th century who also opposed the government of that time. Guy Fawkes attempted but failed to blow up the houses of parliament so V destroys the houses of parliament for him. By getting rid of the houses of parliament it shows his intent to suppress the fear civilians had with the government and hoped to nullify their dependence on the leader.

Another building that was blown up was the Head which served as the Leader's office, the central institution of the Norse fire government. When Evey sends off V with a Viking funeral, she puts him inside a train which would explode at the Head. By doing this, the destruction portrayed a new beginning of change and independence from the Norsefire regime.
A likely reason that the train was used to abolish the Head could be because before the Norse fire government took control, trains served as convenient transport for the public. Contrastingly after the Norsefire government took control, there were fewer people on the trains as it was only for those who were higher up in the social hierarchy like the finger men. So in a way, the train was a symbol of the disempowerment of the public which overthrew the government and at the end of the story. It could also evoke a sense of rebelling with the thought that if normal people couldn't use the train so couldn't the government.

A contemporary example of this setting is in America under the rule of Donald trump who, like the leader in V for Vendetta, discriminated against many, in this case under the rule of trump Muslims have been deported out of the country.

Similar to V for Vendetta, the state is run by a dictator who surrounds himself with people who think alike to him. Trump also uses the public's fear of ISIS to his advantage by promising to build walls to stop immigrants coming into the country. In the novel and in America 2017, civilians just want to know that they are safe and have become reliant on the government to do the things they don't want to

do.