V for Vendetta (2)

In the film V for Vendetta (2006) the writers draw parallels between the film and what is happening in the world now. The writers express their opinions concerning the government and totalitarian societies. V for Vendetta is set in the present in the United Kingdom. The government has been oppressing the people and has transformed into a totalitarian government. Outraged by this, V plots to begin a revolution to bring down the government.


The speaker in this text is V, and his audience is the general public of London who have been wronged by the government. This was not just broadcast on BBC News, it was broadcast on every channel and also on the huge screen in the middle of the city. V obviously wanted to get his message out to anyone and everyone he could. He is speaking to those who have felt suppressed by the government, those who "see what he sees, feels what he feels, and seek what he seeks." We know this because towards the end he says "So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked."


The film V for Vendetta was actually based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore. The tone in the graphic novel's speech is more joking, and a relates the incedent with government to something the people can understand, like being let go from a job. The main point V is tyring to make the the graphic novel speech is that one is responsible for one's government's actions. He is saying that the people who voted for such terrible rulers are responsible because they voted. The tone in the speech used in the movie seems to be more stern. He is more serious about the matter at hand by not really beating around the bush.

V’s Speech to the people of London begins with V using ethos to attempt to establish that he is just like an everyday person. V does this by saying “I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition…” He lets the audience know that he is no better than any of them. This is where V first connects with his audience so he can later persuade them to join him and accept his point of view.

V uses logos in the sentence claiming V’s suspicion of how the government will be reacting by stating assumed facts and evidence against the government to attempt to get the people of London on his side. I say “assumed facts and evidence” because a government has routine ways of reacting to a given situation. If you take into account precedents and what is actually happening in the movie, V is correct and therefore presenting facts. V and his audience may not know they are facts but by using dramatic irony, we the audience know something the characters do not. That is how i justify that statement as being a fact. By saying “while truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power,” V is appealing to the intellect of the audience by giving them a bit of something deep and profound. He uses evaluation in the last sentence by questioning the upstanding in the country.

By listing the words like "cruelty" and "opression," V uses pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotions. By describing the life the citizens of London live, and the feelings that they deal with, V is trying to make the people see the rights the government has taken from them and how wrong it is. In the fourth and fifth lines V says, “Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable.” He is using evaluation to put the blame on those “more responsible.” V also uses a forensic argument to identify “the guilty” and is pointing a finger at the hoi polloi.

The speaker uses pathos by talking aobut hope to appeal to the audience’s emotions, reminding the public of the reason for remembering the 5th of November. He is saying that he knows why they are afraid and he understands. He is trying to put himself on a level where the audience can trust him, where they can identify with him as a leader. In the last lines of this paragraph V uses a forensic argument to question the morals of the general public. He questions their actions as they gave the Chancellor their “silent, obedient consent.”

The main purpose of this speech is to reach out to those hurt by the government, those like V, and let them know that it is no longer acceptable to sit back and let it happen. He uses various modes of persuasion to get the audience to join him on the Fifth of November.