V For Vendetta Essay

Political legitimacy is the right and acceptance of authority, meaning that of the government. It involves its citizens’ obedience. Obedience deals with how beneficial the government is to its citizens, like how safe they feel for example. But the question is, how far does the government have to push its citizens before they begin to dislike how they are being treated and then revolt? Furthermore, is the question of how an individual chooses to protest their government? One can make a stand for just themselves or they can dream bigger, crawling under the skin of the system they do not find legitimate. Two protagonists, Christoper McCandless aka Alexander Supertamp from Into the Wild and V from V for Vendetta take both approaches respectfully, …show more content…
Hobbes’ outlook on the restoration of the state of nature is a supreme sovereign power to take out the brutish nature of man versus man. The background for V for Vendetta is of Britain in the late 2020s and it can be argued that it is a perfect example of Hobbes’ idea of government, considering that the British created a literal national health disaster and then provided the only cure for it as well as the fact that the UK gained a new political party known as Norsefire where fascism is normalized, excluding immigrants, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and homosexuals out of their civilization—out of sight out of mind. It is a government that is ruling their citizens by the fear of their will, making sure to keep the populace afraid so that it can continue to rule. It even took control of the media to show only what they want to be shown to its citizens. Since the government is not very beneficial it can be argued that it is an example of Locke’s illegitimate government, thus enabling an act of rebellion. This is where V comes in. He doesn’t see the government as legitimate as well as has a personal vendetta, hence the name of the