Guy Fawkes Mask By David Lloyd: An Analysis

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“He's become some sort of all purpose symbol for them, hasn't he?” (252) Here we see the leaders of the fascist Regime 'Norsefire' referring to our hero V, They are realizing the full potential and ambiguity of the 'Guy Fawkes' Mask. It is what Post Structuralists would call a Free floating signifier – meaning it evades being tied to any particular meaning. At this point V is not just a person but an Idea, an Idea which could change their world. The creators of this Graphic Novel – Alan Moore and David Lloyd recognised that a symbol (especially this one) can buckle under the pressure of so many meanings and become meaningless, or 'all purpose',.

In the early 1980's, Comics were just beginning to realize their full potential, They were becoming
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“It was you!”, Declares v “You who appointed these people! You who gave them power to make tour decisions for you!”, (117). This brings Erich Fromm's theory to mind, which he argues in his book – 'Fear of Freedom, “We surrender our freedom willingly, even eagerly because we are terrified of individual freedom”,. In the following scene we see the Fascists desperate to maintain the appearance of 'Normality' - “The situation is under control and citizens are advised to carry on their business precisely as normal”, (191) But V has been making it abundantly clear that 'Normality' is just an empty …show more content…
Why are they so frightened of us?”,(159) A very interesting question. The answer, perhaps is that gays and lesbians represent a symbolic threat to the fascist system of representation. Gay and lesbian identities and systems of signification stand in direct opposition to the homegenous concept of normality. Which is such a crucial component of fascisms symbolic regime. This subversive challenge to the normal also suggests some interesting strategies of resistance, As the story goes on we see that v imprisons Evey in a simulation fascist prison abnd subjects her to months of physical and psychological torture - (if fascist authority is based upon maintaining the illusion of power then it becomes possible for others to appropriate that authority by developing allusion of their own). Vs decision to do this is of course, Ethically questionable. “You say you want to set me free and you put me in a prison...”, (168) To which V replies - “I didn't put you in Prison Evey, I just showed you the bars”, (170” This is a radical postmodern argument – the oppressive power of the fascist state (and the modern state more generally ) does not lie in the ability of these states to deploy conventional forms of political and economic power, rather the

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