V for Vendetta Directed by James McTeigue

In both 1984 by George Orwell and V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue, share the common theme of power. In 1984 and V for Vendetta we see the government's perspective on how society should be run. In the case of 1984 the government is called the Inner Party. In V for Vendetta the government is called Norsefire. In both we see people struggling to live in these circumstances and people revolting against the government. Not only power from the government but from the people as well. We see them both powering over and controlling the citizens to think one way and act one way and obey by their rules or horrible things would come their way if they didn't. Some of the similarities that we see include, the prospective on how society should be run, the punishments for those who rebel, and how the people rebel against the government.

One comparison in 1984 and V for Vendetta is the idea of how society should be run. In 1984 the government controls and watches over all the people and what they do. “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover,so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard (3)”. This is an example of one way that the government the lives of the people in 1984. This is stating that any wrong movement or word that the people say can be held against them. In V for Vendetta they did the same thing. For example, setting times for all the people to be in doors, restricting certain aspects like works of art or religious books, and surveillance over the people. They both portray a totalitarian government. This is defined as a society in which is ruled by a dictator where there is little to no freedom and governments control almost every aspect of life. We see the Inner Party in 1984 and the Norsefire Party in V for Vendetta both ruled by leaders or faces of the party, in 1984 it was be big brother and V for Vendetta it is Adam Susan. In the movie and the novel, personal freedom and privacy is gone and these worlds were made possible through the use of technology.

An aspect that relates to power, is the punishment over people that the governments do. In 1984 Winston is tortured in order for them to brainwash him into following the Inner Party and to love Big Brother. Those are arrested for thought crime and other reasons as well. He is faced with his biggest fears to the point where he betrays Julia and says he would rather have her be tortured than for him to be tortured with his biggest fear. In V for Vendetta there were many deaths. One of them being the little girl running around in the mask. He see one the the police officers shooting the girl because she was wearing one of the masks that were supplied by V. This shows the power of the punishment by saying that one wrong gesture against the government, no matter your age, can lead to serious consequences because you are disobeying the rules and following another party.

Another aspect power that we see, are the people rebelling against their government. We see this in both stories, such as Winston and Julia rebelling against the inner party. In V for Vendetta, we see this for all the people at the end of the movie joined together for the explosion of the building. Winston rebels by keeping a diary. In the diary he writes his rebellious thoughts and leads him to Julia and ultimately leads to resistance of what the Inner Party stands for. “His pen had slid voluptuously over the smooth paper, printing in large neat capitals- DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER…(pg.18).” One act that Julia does to rebel against the part is sleeping with Inner Party members. In V for Vendetta the people rebel by wearing the masks and ultimately making the Norsefire Party feel powerless. We see aspects of power of the people are acts of rebellion against injustice in their societies.

One would agree that V for Vendetta and 1984 are very similar in many ways. One similarity that stands out the most, would have to be power. Power is shown by how society is run by the government\, the punishments of the people, and lastly how the people rebel against their governments.

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