Effects on Society Through Media, Essay Example

V for Vendetta

Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel, V for Vendetta, is a dystopian look at the totalitarian government that inhabits the United Kingdom. To properly instill a totalitarian system, the government has controlled the media both by surveilling its citizens and having people like Lewis Prothero speak their agenda in the media. This propagandistic campaign is successful because the government’s messages are kept short, repetitive and constant, leading the citizens of the United Kingdom to fall almost completely in line with the government- all the citizens except for a few, like V and Evey. Although both the fascist government and V wage respective campaigns to try and manipulate the media and different mediums of communication, each has different effects on the population. This paper will explore the methods and effects achieved by each, focusing mainly on the communication tools used by radio and explosives.

In the United Kingdom portrayed in V for Vendetta, the ruling party is calling the Norsefire Party and its dictatorial leader is Adam Susan. He holds rather austere views when it comes to sexuality, so much so that he has refrained from it his entire life. The only seeming romantic attachment he has is to a computer called Fate, and is drawn to Fate because of the computer’s cold and unemotional nature. Because of Adam’s belief in the superiority of the Nordic race, his attempts to have all citizens share his view mean that he has seized control of the Eye and Ear, the Nose, the Finger and the Mouth, the last of which is particularly important in imparting his beliefs. Adam, through Lewis Prothero’s voicing Fate and broadcasting the news on television, bans literature that goes against the party line and places everybody who doesn’t agree with him or fit the Nordic race into concentration camps. He is so set on making the party line the official line that the population blindly follows him, such as written on p. 73: “They were ordinary people, and they were prepared to torture a stranger to death just because they were told to by someone in authority. Some of them even said they enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed what I did at the time. People are stupid and evil. There’s something wrong with us…some hideous flaw.”

By painting himself as a person who is on an even footing with the rest of the citizens, but one who has the courage to speak the truth as he sees it, Adam increases his control of how the citizens will act. Few people take such strong positions publicly, for they tend to prefer to flock together in masses than stand alone, vulnerable and exposed.

However, Adam does not just stop at voicing his beliefs, but takes it steps further by declaring himself the leader and the Head, doing so by maintaining control over Fate and having Lewis be the mouthpiece to his propaganda. Lewis, especially, is an important tool for his role in television: by being in people’s homes each day and night, the general population is fed the propaganda in a very intimate manner, making them more liable to believe and live the propaganda started by Adam. There is a distance, a barrier, created by releasing one’s message solely through a medium like the newspaper; doing it this way means that people have to leave the comfort of their own homes and willingly seek out the news. But by staying in their homes- the one place where people usually feel safest- and allowing another to speak the “truth” to them, Adam et al. forge a sense of trust that makes it easier to spread their word.

Further, the government keeps its citizens in a constant fear so that they will look upon authority even more as trusting figures. On pages 9 and 10, Fate first talks about bad news, saying, “The people of London are advised that the Brixton and Streatham areas are quarantine zones as of today. It is suggested that these areas be avoided for reasons of health and safety”, then follows it up with a dollop of good news: “The good news follows similar announcements concerning the increased production of both eggs and potatoes.” An entirely negative government would be ineffectual, for people need at least the illusion of something making all the bad news worth the suffering, and the Norsefire Party provides that.

V, on the other hand, uses many of the same methods as Adam and Lewis, but to achieve different results. He is concerned that the British people are becoming brainwashed and losing the ability to think for themselves, so he desires to quite literally light a fire under them so they can start acting as autonomous individuals. Stemming from the time he detonated an explosive at Larkhill Resettlement Camp and escaped, V has taken upon himself to use fireworks and bombs to get his message across. Although this particular method is without words, there is still a message conveyed with each building he chooses to destroy and the materials he uses. With V’s first explosion, at Larhkill, he uses a highly potent mixture as described on p. 83: “I couldn’t have known…the ammonia. The grease solvent and all the other stuff. He’d been making things with them. Mustard gas…and napalm.” Instead of merely escaping from the camp, V chooses to make a deadly concoction as a statement of expressing the depth of disgust he feels and the vengeance he wishes to inflict on his captors.

The main difference between the ways V and the government try to spread their own versions of propaganda and truth is that while the government attempts to be overt and force people to listen, V does not. He creates an idea that is attached to no person, but rather an intangible concept that can live in the minds of each person; this is far more powerful because instead of being told to follow a specific and absolute way of thinking, each person can adapt it to their own needs and purposes, ensuring it is both stronger and will last longer. As V tells Finch in Victoria Station after the latter has shot him repeatedly, “There. Did you think to kill me? There’s no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There’s only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof” (p. 236).

Each party’s message has a distinct effect on the population. The government keeps its citizens in a constant state of fear by feeding them more bad news than good news, locking away rebellers in camps, and burning anti-party literature. The population follows along but it is a more reluctant response: to not obey means death. But as V has shown, giving people the instruments to make up their own minds is a far more effective method. Although he blows up buildings associated with the government, rendering them a little less effective than before, he does not constantly put himself on TV, nor does he show his true face to the public. He remains an enigma, placing the idea above the person, and thus affects the people more deeply than the government.

Works Cited

Moore, A., and D. Lloyd. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 1989. Print.