During my read-through of the graphic novel, one thing that particularly caught my attention was V’s dedication to wearing the mask – rather indubitably a source of symbolism and allusion.

The mask is referred to as a “Guy Fawkes” mask. Guy Fawkes was the most (in)famous member of what is colloquially known as the Gunpowder Plot. On November 5, 1605, Catholic radicalists attempted to blow up the House of Lords in London in a larger effort to restore Catholicism as the predominant faith. V for Vendetta brought the rosey-cheeked, mustached disguise into the spotlight, and it has since been used as the face of various anti-government movements. Such projects in recent years include Project Chanology, the Occupy movement, and the “hacktivist” group Anonymous.

Clearly, the mask has grown to represent activism, rebellion, and anti-governmentalism in general. However, I thought that the mask served more of a purpose than a reference to violent protest.

The mask to me seemed to represent the notion that V was representing something much greater than himself – and other aspects of his character work synergistically with this. Even his name serves to make this point – a letter versus a traditional name seemed to objectify him in the novel (I thought it seemed suggested that ‘V’ was referring to the Roman numeral for ‘5’ – the room in which he was experimented on). Even when his mask is off, his face is not shown. V’s talents rank him as a tactician, explosives expert, hacker, skilled liar, philosopher, man-to-man-combat henchman, and an intellect – all talents seemingly imperative to a successful rebellion.

When I read through the novel, I came to the conclusion that V represents the rebellion, anarchy. His face is unseen. His name is withheld. His skills are all-encompassing.

V is not the rebel, yet the rebellion.