What Are The Similarities Between 1984 And V For Vendetta

The importance of the historical culture of a text is, more often than not, underestimated. Values of a society during differing time period’s significantly shape a text’s composition, crafting a piece that ultimately is a product of its times. However, throughout time, adaptations of a text are created to enhance, heighten and challenge the cultural, historical and social contexts of the past which undoubtedly parallels with the modern world. George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’ and James McTeigue’s film ‘V for Vendetta’ illustrates this idea through the significance of how power can ultimately shape an individual. The post war contextual makes it possible for one to understand the significance and value of both texts. Orwell and McTeigue effectively

capture this idea and touches on the possibility of this nightmarish story becoming our reality.

Orwell’s text paints an obnoxious interpretation of totalitarianism by establishing the imperative nature of the government through the dictatorship of Big Brother, which manipulates the individual into surrendering their privacy, individuality and liberty to achieve total control. Winston Smith, a worker in the Ministry of Truth, is unable to reveal his desire for autonomy under the watchful eye of the antagonistic Big Brother, yet, conscious of the fact that any disloyalty to the party will result in death; Smith begins to ponder the illogical views of the party.
On the other hand, V for Vendetta eludes the idea that the party will override defiant individuals through V’s victory in defeating the state. The man, V, lives in a world of fascism, where the Norsefire Party indoctrinates individuals into society’s ideology. Using terrorist tactics, he opens the eyes of those who are blind to how society is run by blowing up the parliament. He saves a woman named Evey and soon discovers he has an ally in his battle with the oppressors of the world.

Together, the ideas that the abuse of power in society is crucial to maintain complete control of the citizens, allows us to differentiate the main values expressed in the texts. In 1984, Winston is very much like the other citizens. He puts on a mask of a quite optimistic supporter to please the Party and he conforms to society’s etiquette. The notion of control in 1984 is most prominent in the quote ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is knowledge’. This slogan is featured numerously throughout the text, representing the ability of the party to bend the citizen’s knowledge at their will, deteriorating their humanity.

Winston’s resentment of his society stems from the absence of the past. Through propaganda, the party rewrites history to their will and eradicates any traces of the past that may contradict to the party’s authoritative leadership. The party replaces the past as a time of depression and claims that they have liberated civilians from hunger and slavery, motivating the people to work harder for the party.
Winston’s fascination of the past is seen in his adoration of his glass paper weight sold to him by Mr Charrington in the antique store.

“The inexhaustibly interesting thing was not the fragment of coral but the interior of the glass itself…the paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.” Suggests Winston’s limited understanding of the past and his inability to reconnect with the past. The paper weight serves no particular purpose besides its beauty, which Winston was initially drawn to. The impractical paper weight is a representation of the idyllic past and foreshadows how naive Winston’s goal to overturn the government

is.
Orwell incorporates a popular 18th century British nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons’ which embodies the irrecoverable past that Winston romanticizes and to recall ominous memories of the Christian past. Throughout the novel, Winston struggles to uncover the remaining verses since Mr Charrington introduced them, until the thought police arrests him and Julia. Charrington quotes the end of the rhyme during the arrest “And by the way, while we are on the subject, ‘Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head’’ signifying the betrayal of the past to Winston, represented by Mr Charrington’s duplicitous character. Upon further analysis, this line from the rhyme exemplifies the Party’s ultimate goal in eradicating knowledge exhibited in the line ‘Here comes a chopper to chop off your head’. The party is literally sending individuality and free thought to bed, seen in the first half of the verse. Hence, the manipulation of the past further enforces control, evident in Big Brothers slogan ‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past’.

Similarly, in V for Vendetta, the idea of using false history to weaken the individual’s sense of independence manifests in the film, aiding the nature of the text’s values. McTeigue uses a British school children rhyme to effectively evoke a distant memory from a religious past, making a direct link with religious beliefs. The rhyme ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason, Should ever be forgot’ connects terrorism and violence to Christianity in modern society. The blowing up of parliament in V for Vendetta, makes a religious reference with the 9/11.

A major historical influence on V for Vendetta was the Gunpowder plot of 1605. During 17th century England, King James ordered all Catholic priests to leave the country. Guy Fawkes’s inherent distaste towards the King resulted in an attempt to end his reign, however, he was caught and hung. Following his death in the 1600’s, Fawkes became a stand in for the Catholic Church.

V’s Guy Fawkes mask denotes the notion of identity vs the ideal. Through his hidden identity, V becomes the ideal as he is not limited to one character. This concept allows individuals who lack power to take part in V’s fight. The cross cutting scenes between the civilians intently watching the Party propaganda to the empty seats in front of the televisions contrasts V’s empowerment throughout the community. A panning scene of individuals wearing the mask, opposing the Party’s usual regulations reflects V’s ultimate purpose to avenge for the liberty of everyone. “He was all of us” symbolizes V as the embodiment of rebellion and free thought. Towards the ending, an extreme long shot of everyone wearing the mask symbolizes the unity through Guy Fawkes mask, as each individual removes the mask, it illustrates the representation of V’s character.
This challenges V’s character as Winston’s character in Oceania draws on Orwell’s past experiences during his time in Spain’s era of fascist regime. Winston’s strong willed passion to revisit the past ceases when the people he trusted and believed most betrays him. It is likely his concern for his personal sanity overweighed his goal of liberating himself after Big Brother’s torture. “Do it to Julia! Not me! I don’t care what you do to her. Tear her face off, strip her to bones.” concludes Winston’s final betrayal of his loyalty to Julia when he is faced with his biggest fears. However, V persists regardless of his personal emotions, evident in the ending with the close up shot of V’s death.
Another aspect which contrasts with V for Vendetta, is Winston and Julia’s broken relationship which validates the level of control that the party enforces to the extent in which their personal identities are wiped.

On the other hand, V and Evey’s relationship enhances the rebellion. The drastic alteration of Smith’s identity portrays the Party’s domineering control and manipulation over its citizens. A final quote concluding Winston’s futile determination is “He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother”. Orwell’s disturbing ending shows Winston falling into the hands of Big Brother and his absence of logical reasoning after the torture, is he to genuinely accept the Party’s political perspectives, which was Orwell’s intentions on Winston’s so called

victory.

Together, the political dystopia of 1984 and V for Vendetta provides a critique of the political context of the time and shadows events in our society. The 2006 film V for Vendetta popularized the Guy Fawkes mask, evident in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protest, where many protestors adopted the idea of the mask. Director McTeigue comments on this as “I think they got the ideas of questioning the government”.

Furthermore, both texts parallel with the modern world. Propaganda tactics are evident in numerous modern countries such as North Korea, where media and the internet are censored. Censorship is a form of control to manipulate the public’s opinion and actions evident in the telescreens in 1984 and the media channels in V for Vendetta.

A striking similarity between North Korean societal regulations and the ideas present in the text are further seen through a quote from a defector, “In North Korea, life only gets better if the state helps you. But these days, the state doesn’t. We’re on our own” which challenges V’s quote “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people”.
Thus, the differing endings of both texts reflect the values Orwell and McTeigue are imposing. This is seen in the repressive nature of Oceania, influenced by the age of totalitarianism that Orwell wrote in and Orwell strictly illustrates the dangers of a totalitarian society throughout the novel. Whereas, McTeigue focuses on the concerns of the individual and the state. Hence, using the similar landscape of a totalitarian regime from 1984, McTeigue adopts his views to parallel and relate to his dystopian vision of the future through the contrasting character development of V compared to Winston.