A lot of questions about V’s actions and use of violence arise while reading V for Vendetta. Many question whether or not his use of violence as revenge is morally justified. It is agreed that there is something wrong with their government and something has to be done for it to change, but is violence really the answer? In V’s mind, he believes violence can be used for good, and through violence, he hopes for change and freedom of the people. The book seems to support the motivation behind V’s revenge, which can be seen through his past with Larkhill Resettlement Camp, his utilitarian practicality, and the destructive government. To begin, many seek revenge on those who have done them wrong, in V’s case it is those from Larkhill Resettlement Camp who stripped his identity away and turned him into a science experiment. Just like the Nazi movement, Larkhill was created by Norsefire to hold “political prisoners, homosexuals, Black people, Jewish people, Muslims, Indians, Pakistanis, and others deemed undesirable by the gov't” (V for Vendetta Wiki). They basically just took everyone that did not fit their perfect mold of a respectful, white, and straight person, and exterminated them. This was run by a military officer, Commander Lewis Prothero, who took those individuals for torture, humiliation, scientific experiments, and extermination, which caused when to die horrific deaths. Those running the camp had no mercy for anyone there, this is evident on page 33 when V says to Prothero, “… how you can show so much concern for porcelain and plastic… and show so little for flesh and blood.” (Moore) V was a part of Dr. Delia Surridge’s science experiment, “she designed a chemical hormone treatment known as Batch 5 and began distributing to select prisoners” (DC Database) Room 5 belonged to V, Dr. Surridge’s ideal subject. Due to the torture and the excessive number of drugs he was fed during his time at the camp, V’s mind was nonetheless warped, which causes his twisted logic of revenge. Due to the drugs, he didn’t remember his name, or where he was from, and his body and face were left completely warped. They caused him years of pain and basically took his whole life away to fulfill their experimental needs which changed him forever.
V is now filled with an undeniable rage and wants to take his revenge on those from Larkhill. He does this by using terrorist tactics to rebel against his fascist government and has his own “fate” for each of the perpetrators. An example of his ironic fates for the perpetrators is evident on pages 34-35 when V drives Prothero insane by burning his doll collection in the same kind of contraption that would be found at Larkhill. This is justifiable because he is taking away something meaningful from him as he did with all the victims. V strongly believes that he can fight violence with violence for the greater good which is why he plots his revenge against those who hurt him. He is plotting these revenge killings out of pure rage and bitterness which is why this is all morally justified in his mind. To continue, V has his own ethical views and his own ideas of what is morally right or wrong which is different than many others. This has to deal with his utilitarianism practicality and his disregard for society’s expectations. Utilitarianism is defined as “a doctrine that the useful is good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of its consequences; specifically: a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number.” (Veronica) In the book, you see many examples of V doing everything in his power to achieve his goal of the greater good for the citizens. His view of the greater good of the country is completely different than the government’s view which is why they see most of his actions as terrorism. This is evident when you look at the drastic measures, they took to get rid of those who did not fit the ‘perfect mold’. In their minds, those people died for the greater good of the country.
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They did not care for the lives lost, they just cared about being the country with the perfect mold. In V’s mind, he is creating good through the chaos and trying to make the citizens less fearful of having a voice. This is evident at the beginning of Chapter 11 when Evey lays V’s dead body in a glass coffin in the underground train and sent it off with plenty of explosives towards Parliament. This action was symbolic because it was V’s final statement before he himself is gone and Evey takes over. Blowing up Parliament while everyone is watching was the last thing that the government had against the people. Taking it away in front of everyone showed the citizens that the choice is now theirs: follow the government or finally have their own say. He believes that after all the violence is over and he is gone, the good he tried so hard to bring out will outweigh all the bad it took to get to this very moment. To finish, V lives in a controlling society run by the British government which just so happens to be the same exact people who destroyed him in the resettlement camp. They take away all the citizen's human freedom which makes V feel the need to save them since they ripped away his freedom as well. This is one of the reasons why he opposes the oppressive British government. “In V’s world, the government has taken all civil liberties from its citizens, allowing them to spy on anyone without warrant at any time and even establishes a nightly curfew.” (Smith) As shown in this quote, the government does not care for its civilians and takes brutal measures at all times, never allowing small and innocent mistakes. Which is the same thing they did to the victims from Larkhill Resettlement Camp. The government resorts to violence to scare the citizens into following their rules and orders. An example of this can be found on pages 5-6 where we first see the nationwide curfew. Evey is caught breaking the curfew by ‘fingered’ who threatens to rape her and then arrest her for not following protocol. V then comes in to save her and justifiably kills the ‘fingered’ for harming and scaring Evey. Another thing that the government does to its citizens is take away their voice and their ability to think for themselves. On page 218, V states, “Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it” (Moore) He is stating how the citizens do not have proper education and the government has denied them this. Thus, in V’s mind, he is giving the people a chance to have a voice and rebel against the government that is taking everything away from them bit by bit. In summary, anyone who goes through hardship has some part of them emotionally, mentally, or physically changed. In V’s case, it is all three, his face was unrecognizable, he is filled with undeniable rage, and he has a constant need for revenge. After what has happened to him, he feels the need to be the voice of the people who are too scared to fight back against the fascist government. Everything he does for revenge is a message to the government, reminding them of who he is and what he stands for. This is seen throughout the book, when looking at his past, his utilitarianism viewpoint, and the destructive government's actions.
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