The graphic novel

The authors

Alan Moore has written the graphic novel between 1982 and 1989. David Lloyd has illustrated it.

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) was fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries and  was an English Roman Catholic. He who tried to blow up the Parliament (with King James I and the Protestant aristocracy in it) on the 5th of November in 1605. This is known as the Gunpowder Plot. V is loosely based on Guy Fawkes, and his plot to destroy the parliament building is similar.

Summary

V for Vendetta is a very dense story. It can not be summarized in three lines and writing a good  and complete summary is not easy. While we were looking for some interesting information on the graphic novel, we found a very good and complete summary on Wikipedia. It would have been hard to do better than they did. That is why we wanted to share their summary which is clear and exhaustive.

!!! This summary contains spoilers !!!

Book 1: Europe After the Reign

On 5 November 1997 in London (in a post-apocalyptic future history), Evey Hammond, is wrongfully detained by a group of men who reveal themselves to be secret police. The officers, called Fingermen, prepare to rape and murder Evey, when suddenly a mysterious cloaked figure wearing a Guy Fawkes mask rescues her and dispatches the Fingermen. The masked man, introducing himself as "V", heads to a rooftop with Evey and remotely detonates a bomb and fireworks at the Houses of Parliament; together, V and Evey watch the explosions. V then takes Evey to his secret underground lair, called "The Shadow Gallery", which is filled with cultural items banned by England's new government, ranging from books to music to film posters. Evey tells V her life story, which provides some background information regarding the current state of England, preceded by a global nuclear war in the late 1980s that triggered widespread socio-economic catastrophe. This led to a fascist coup d'état in England, whose white supremacist government, Norsefire, has been controlling the country ever since. These fascists scapegoated various "undesirable" groups—homosexuals, foreign immigrants, non-white people, and left-wing advocates—ultimately exterminating them in so-called "resettlement camps". Evey's own father was arrested because he once belonged to a socialist student group, and she never saw him again (while her mother had died some time earlier of some wide-spread disease).

Eric Finch, an experienced detective and head of "the Nose"—the government's regular police force—is put in charge of investigating V's terrorist activities. Finch reports to "the Head" or executive branch of the Norsefire government, embodied by a single man named Adam Susan: a recluse whom others call "the Leader"; who oversees the government's computer system, Fate; and who essentially serves as dictator. Finch also frequently communicates with: "the Finger"—the secret police force, led by Derek Almond; "the Eye"—the visual surveillance branch, led by Conrad Heyer; "the Mouth"—the branch in charge of broadcasting propaganda, led by Roger Dascombe; and "the Ear"—the audio surveillance branch. Finch's case thickens when V next confronts three government-connected figures to punish them for past atrocities: Lewis Prothero, the propaganda broadcaster who serves as the "Voice of Fate"; Bishop Anthony Lilliman, a paedophile priest who represents the government in the clergy; and Dr. Delia Surridge, an apolitical doctor who once had a romantic relationship with Finch. V drives Prothero insane, forces Lilliman's suicide, and lastly prepares to murder Dr. Surridge. As V is killing Surridge, Finch suddenly discovers that all three of V's recent victims worked at a resettlement camp near Larkhill. Finch suspects that V is waging a vendetta against people associated with this particular camp, and so he alerts Derek Almond to V's probable motives, guessing correctly (but too late) that Surridge is V's next victim. Almond surprises V at Surridge's home; however, Almond—who that same night, in a drunken rage, was abusively playing gun-related tricks on his wife, Rosemary—has forgotten to reload his gun, so V kills him and escapes.

Finch begins to read Dr. Surridge's diary, discovered later at her home that night, which reveals the victims' histories with V at the Larkhill camp: V was an inmate and involuntary victim of a medical experiment run by Surridge. Eventually, V began tending a garden under camp commander Prothero's approval, using chemicals related to Surridge's experiments in order to design homemade mustard gas and napalm, which he later used to destroy and escape the camp. V has since been eliminating the camp's former officers to prevent the government from discovering his true identity. Finch tells Susan, the Leader, that while V made sure Surridge's diary was easy to find, V also ripped out some pages and may have even fabricated the diary as a red herring. Susan suspects that this "vendetta" is actually just a cover for V, who, he worries, may be plotting an even bigger terrorist attack.

Book 2: This Vicious Cabaret

Four months later, V breaks into Jordan Tower, the home of the Mouth, to broadcast a speech that calls on the people to resist the government. He escapes by forcing the Mouth's Roger Dascombe into one of his own Fawkes costumes; the police then gun Dascombe down, thinking he is V. Investigating, Finch is introduced to Peter Creedy, a petty crook who has replaced Almond as head of the Finger. Creedy makes a crude remark about Finch's past relations with Surridge, provoking Finch to strike him and consequently get sent on a forced vacation. Creedy next begins organising a secret militia, which even comprises street criminals, in order to eventually overthrow Susan and replace him as the Leader.

Meanwhile, Evey, who was developing a strong attachment to V, though challenging his violent methods, has since been abandoned by V on a street, without V's providing her any information for finding him again. She has now been taken in by an older man named Gordon, a lesser criminal with whom she becomes romantically involved, and they cross paths unknowingly with Rosemary "Rose" Almond, the widow of the recently killed Derek. Although the Almonds' marriage was in shambles anyway, Rose is now financially devastated and, after she reluctantly began a relationship with Dascombe who is also now dead, she is finally forced to work as a burlesque dancer, increasingly beginning to hate the government, which has failed to support her as the spouse of a top government officer.

When a Scottish gangster, Alistair "Ally" Harper, murders Gordon, Evey attempts to retaliate during a meeting between Ally and Creedy, the latter of whom is buying the support of Ally's thugs. Evey is arrested before she can shoot Ally, but is mistakenly accused of trying to murder Creedy. In her cell, between multiple bouts of interrogation and torture, Evey finds an old letter from an inmate named Valerie, a film actress who was imprisoned and executed for being a lesbian. Evey's interrogator finally gives her a choice of collaboration or death; inspired by Valerie's courage and quiet defiance, Evey refuses to give in, and, expecting to be executed, is instead told that she is free. Amazed, Evey learns that her supposed imprisonment is in fact a hoax constructed by V so that she could experience an ordeal similar to the one that shaped him. He reveals that Valerie was another Larkhill prisoner, who died in the cell next to his and that the letter is not a fake. Evey's forgives V, who, in the meantime, has started playing emotional mind games on Susan, having hacked into the government's Fate computer system. Consequently, Susan, whose only sexual feelings lie with the computer, is beginning to descend into madness.

Book 3: The Land of Do-As-You-Please

The following 5 November (1998), V blows up the Post Office Tower and Jordan Tower, effectively shutting down the Eye, the Ear and the Mouth. The subsequent lack of government surveillance causes a wave of looting and revolutionary fervor from the public, which is violently suppressed by Creedy's men and Ally's associated street gangs. V notes to Evey that he has not yet achieved what he calls the "Land of Do-as-You-Please", meaning a functional anarchistic society, and considers the current situation an interim period of mere chaos in the "Land of Take-What-You-Want".

Finch has mysteriously disappeared and his youthful assistant, Dominic, keeps his work in order at the Nose. One day, Dominic realises that V has been manipulating the Fate computer all along, which would explain V's foresight; this news continues pushes Susan even further toward insanity. All the while, Finch has been travelling to the abandoned site of Larkhill, where he takes LSD, using the psychedelic experience to conjure up his own memories—that of his former black lover and their son, who were both sent to death camps—and to put his mind in the role of a prisoner of Larkhill who is soon freed, like V, helping to give him an intuitive understanding of V's experiences. Returning to London, Finch suddenly deduces that V's lair is inside the abandoned Victoria Station. Finch enters the station tunnel and is confronted by V, who lets Finch shoot him repeatedly, triumphantly mocking Finch by claiming that he cannot be killed since he is only an idea, and that "ideas are bulletproof". Regardless, V is indeed mortally wounded and he returns to the Shadow Gallery within, dying in Evey's arms. Evey considers unmasking V, but decides not to and ultimately comprehends the message of V's nebulous last words: she assumes his identity, donning one of his spare Fawkes costumes.

Meanwhile, Creedy pressures Susan to appear in public, in an attempt to leave him exposed, with Creedy hoping to accelerate his plans for a takeover. Sure enough, as Susan stops to shake hands with Rose Almond during a parade, she draws a gun and shoots him in the head. Creedy quickly names himself the new Leader, but Ally, bribed by Helen, the manipulative wife of Conrad Heyer (head of the Eye), murders Creedy before he can fully take command. V then sends an incriminating surveillance tape of Helen and Ally having sex to Conrad Heyer, who responds by killing Ally but receiving in turn a fatal wound of his own. Helen discovers her dying husband but refuses to seek medical help, callously leaving him to witness his own bleeding out on a closed-circuit television. Finch is the only survivor left now among the key officials of the government, but he freely abandons his post, due to his own change of outlook, influenced greatly by his LSD experience.

Evey appears to a crowd, dressed as V, announcing the destruction of 10 Downing Street the following day and telling the crowd they must "...choose what comes next. Lives of your own, or a return to chains", whereupon a general insurrection begins. Dominic, struck on the head by a stone, loses consciousness as he runs for safety, seeing Evey disguised as V before he passes out. Evey destroys 10 Downing Street by giving V a Viking funeral with an explosive-laden Underground train containing his body, sent to detonate beneath the desired location. Dominic awakens in the Shadow Gallery, as Evey, who is dressed in her mentor's Guy Fawkes costume, introduces herself as V, apparently to train Dominic as her successor. As night falls, Finch observes the chaos raging in the city and encounters Helen Heyer, who has become homeless. When they recognise each other, Helen embraces Finch, saying they could raise a small army and restore order. Finch silently pushes Helen away and climbs onto an abandoned motorway, which he walks down alone, all the streetlamps dark in front of him.

Summary of the chapters

Here you can find the summary of all the chapters and the year the action is playing. 

Source: Wikipedia

1 (1988)	Book I, Chapter 1 : The Villain
	Book I, Chapter 2 : The Voice
	Book I, Chapter 3 : Victims
	Book I, Chapter 4 : Vaudeville
2 (1988)	Book I, Chapter 5 : Versions
	Book I, Chapter 6 : The Vision
	Book I, Chapter 7 : Virtue Victorious
	Book I, Chapter 8 : The Valley
3 (1988)	Book I, Chapter 9 : Violence
	Book I, Chapter 10 : Venom
	Book I, Chapter 11 : The Vortex
4 (1988)	Book II, Prelude : This Vicious Cabaret
	Book II, Chapter 1 : The Vanishing
	Book II, Chapter 2 : The Veil
	Book II, Chapter 3 : Video
5 (1989)	Book II, Chapter 4 : A Vocational Viewpoint
	Book II, Chapter 5 : The Vacation
	Book II, Chapter 6 : Variety
	Book II, Chapter 7 : Visitors
6 (1989)	Book II, Chapter 8 : Vengeance
	Book II, Chapter 9 : Vicissitude
	Book II, Chapter 10 : Vermin
	Book II, Chapter 11 : Valerie
7 (1989)	Book II, Chapter 12 : The Verdict
	Book II, Chapter 13 : Values
	Book II, Chapter 14 : Vignettes
	Interlude : Vertigo
	Interlude : Vincent
8 (1989)	Book III, Prelude : The Land Of Do-As-You-Please
	Book III, Chapter 1 : Vox Populi
	Book III, Chapter 2 : Verwirrung
	Book III, Chapter 3 : Various Valentines
9 (1989)	Book III, Chapter 4 : Vestices
	Book III, Chapter 5 : The Valediction
	Book III, Chapter 6 : Vectors
	Book III, Chapter 7 : Vindication
10 (1989)	Book III, Chapter 8 : Vultures
	Book III, Chapter 9 : The Vigil
	Book III, Chapter 10 : The Volcano
	Book III, Chapter 11 : Valhalla

Summary of the chapters

Our classmate analyzed a passage from the graphic novel. She allowed us to share it. It is really interesting! We really recommand you to read it.

Passage analysis : 137-138

The main charachter in this passage is Evey. She has just discovered that her lover is
dead. In the beginning the reader doesn’t see her, the focal point is on Gordon lying on
the floor. There the reader understands that he’s dead, because his eyes are wide open,
without any expression. There is also the newspaper on the floor, just next to his head,
on which you can read the word « fall » and then in the next box : « crime figures fall ».
Those words emphasize the fact that Gordon is dead and show the reason why he died,
as he is one of the figures which the government considers a « crime figure ». Then the
camera comes back to Evey. First the reader sees her body without seeing her head.
She’s sitting on the stairs. The reason why you discover her part by part is probably that
the graphic novellist wants to keep some suspens as to her reaction to the death of her
lover. You first see only the lower part of her body, then in the third box you can see her
from the back. In this very same box there is a grey shadow casted upon her, which
might be a metaphor for the sadness which fell upon her as her lover died. In this entire
passage Evey is wearing blue which is a symbol of hope giving the reader a clue that
Evey’s life’s not over yet that she still has hope for the future. She is barefeet and her
hair is blond which are both symbol of innocence and naivity showing the reader that
she’s yet only an innocent child who still has things to learn. Then the focal point moves
to Evey’s face. You can see her eyes are looking at Gordon but her face seems to miss any
emotion. However, her arms are holding her knees near her as a gesture of protection.
Her face might be lacking any kind of emotion but her body language speeks for her: she
is terrified, she feels the need to protect herself. Her hair is in a mess, maybe to
metaphoricaly expresses the fact that her life is now a mess, as much as her thougths in
that moment. She is alone. Here comes the main theme of the passage: an abandonment.
She remembers every moment when someone she loved and trusted left her. The
memories are showed from the very first abandonment until the last one. Every memory
is followed by an image of Evey and her reaction as she recalls what happened. The first
memory, second line second box, is the memory of her mother’s death. You can see an
arm, which because of the way it is pending from the bed is obviously from a dead body,
on the right side of the box. You see the father of Evey taking his daughter out of the
room, then the focal point goes back to Evey’s face. No expression on her face, again, but
she is still holding her legs close to her body. Then comes the memory of her father’s
arrest. The focal point takes him from below, emphacizing him to show the great
importance he had for Evey. Behind him there are three men dressed in grey colour
showing that the men are doing something horrible. Then the focal point goes back to
Evey, closer then before, and she still has no expression on her face, still holding her legs
tied. Then comes the memory of V abandoning her. You see the street where she
realized he had left her alone. Her mouth is wide open, she seems surprised and scared.
Then the focal point comes back to Evey who is now crying, her eyes still wide open.
Then the point of view goes back to the last abandonment: Grodon, lying on the floor. It
is important to notice that every single memory is drawn with dark and grey colours to
emphacize the feeling of sadness and abandonment that Evey feels.

The second box of the first line on page 138 where the point of view goes back to Gordon
lying on the floor is almost exactly the same as on page 137, first line second box. This
might be to illustrate that the circle of memories has come to the end. It might also show
that Evey is caught in some kind of vicious circle where everyone she has ever loved
abandonned her in the end. The end of those two circles is marked by Evey standing

up. She then walks through the house into Gordon’s room and to the drawer where she
takes a gun. She walks almost like a machine, her arms always close to her body, her
head straight. She seems comanded by some strong motivation which leads her body to
move. Moreover, as she walks throught the house the reader can never see her face. On
the stairs you can see only the lower part of her body, in the corridor you see her from
the back, as she comes into the room and as she opens the drawer her face is darkened.
This might be because Evey is in an intern evolution process. She’s turning from the
innocent girl to someone else with « dark » motivations. It is to show the reader that
she’s becoming someone different from who she has been before. This motivation, the
second important theme of this passage becomes clear as she opens the drawer and the
focal point is on the gun in it: she seeks vengeance. For the first time since the begining
Evey is acting on her own, out of her own motivation seeking vengeance. She wants to
avenge all the abandonments and put an end to the vicious circle of terrible things which
have happened to her. For the first time she decides to be a master of her destiny for her
own interests.