V For Vendetta Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a system of government in which the state acts to extends its absolute authority and power into all aspects of its citizen’s lives and have that population be completely under the control of a totally pervasive ruling ideology of a single leader. The essence of totalitarianism can be found in its very name; it is a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total' control over society, and further seeks to meld that state’s beliefs within that societies core roots, an example of this occurrence can be liquidised through Stalin and his methods in Russia during the 1920’s and 30’s. Carl Friedrich’s, a late political scientist and historian of the 20th century formed the basis of a totalitarian

In the fictional reading of V for Vendetta, the totalitarian government is centralized and controlling. In the beginning, the government officials take advantage of their power. Throughout the reading, we learn about the government and its branching. People who work in “The Eye” are surveilling and ultimately making sure there is no type of rebellion. At “The Head” the leader stays in contact with the other institutions, “The Nose” and “The Ear”. All these come together creating a dictator. Using the theoretical lenses, there are some that I found interesting and caught my attention. Some of the lenses are easier to understand than others but relate to the story.

Literacy has been used in many forms throughout time and one of these forms is to revolt against unfair governments and totalitarian governments. These forms of literature often demonstrated another type of totalitarian government, the film ‘V for vendetta’ directed by James McTeigue and the novel ‘1984’ written by George Orwell are great examples of this. V for vendetta shows a totalitarian government in an alternative London and 1984 shows a totalitarian government in a fictional world.

A totalitarian government thrives on selfishness and strive for goals that are always for the benefit of one person or a small group of people that are in power. The most common example of this in world history is Nazi Germany during World War II. This flaw in political history make up a time that most people try to forget. The control that Hitler had over Nazi Germany brought about countless social, economical, and political issues to Europe. His society was founded on a racist hatred towards the

“V for Vendetta” uses similar tactics as us and “1984” to keep a close eye on the people of the nation. In the movie, they used cameras, telescreens, taped phones, fingermen,etc. as surveillance tools to

“People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.” In an authoritarian government, the citizens listen to their director because they have this fear within them, that if they do not do what is asked of them they will face consequences. But in reality, the citizens have power over the government and the government is the one that is living in fear. At any moment someone can threaten the government. This has been seen through terrorist acts such as 9/11 terror attacks, and this has been demonstrated in the movie V For Vendetta. In the movie V For Vendetta, V attempts to bring freedom and justice into a society that has been corrupt from having an authoritarian government. He threatens the government and tells them a year in advance that he will blow up the most important building in their city, but the government was not able to stop him. V wanted the city of London, England to have freedom and rights, free press, and to no longer have to live in fake fear, all three which are factors of an authoritarian government. In V For Vendetta, it is displayed that the citizens have no rights and freedoms, the media is controlled by the government, and that the government creates fear.

Both of the governments have quite a few similarities. One, for example, is that a lot

The film 'V for Vendetta' directed by James McTeigue addresses the idea of governmental authority and control in our society. One key scene where this is portrayed is in the opening, where Evey goes out to visit Gordon Deitrich after curfew. The futuristic landscape of a totalitarian England is displayed here, where the oppressive party in power have created a culture of fear to ensure the conformity of the citizens. However, in contrast, the final scene of the film where a crowd converges to watch Parliament blow up, illustrates a further idea. That when united, it is the people who have the power to change their society, through rebellion and political uprising.

In 1984, George Orwell shows a Capitalist society that was pressured by fear of turning into a Communist state to take a radical course of action, just barely clinging to the few fundamental views it once had. Doublethink is a major contributor to Big Brother’s success as a party. It coincides with the Thought Police, by making every member of every class consciously think about what the say and how they phrase it. This constantly keeps everyone at bay and allows the Thought Police to weed out those who seem to be forcing themselves into society and those who are just barely putting in enough effort to get by. Doublethink is speaking in terms of equality, so that everything is contradictory to itself to even everything out. The party slogans are perfect examples of how Doublethink is an active part of society, “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (page 6). These slogans are not only contradictory, but they “equalize” one another and in a very simplified manner, explain to all members of society what they stand for. Big Brother looks to find peace through war, there is a constant talk of a war outside of their society and that Big Brother is the only force protecting their lives. This instills a fear within all citizens and causes them to let Big Brother do as he pleases, so long as they still have their lives.

Totalitarianism is defined as a political system of government in which those in power have complete control and do not allow people to oppose them. Those in power are a single party dictatorship in which one party controls state, and all other parties are forbidden. Other important features that distinguish or help define totalitarianism include restricted or eliminated constitutional rights, state terrorism, and totalitarian rulers are known as ideological dictators. The government of Oceania, in the novel 1984, is an example of totalitarian society. Germany, under Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism is another example of totalitarianism. Orwell’s Oceania has both similarities and differences to the totalitarian states of the twentieth

Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever

The governments in today’s society have brainwashed their citizens into believing everything their leader says and thinks is correct and everything else is wrong. This can sometimes be known as a totalitarian government. George Orwell’s novel 1984 revolves around totalitarianism. The members of the party in Oceania are taught and required to worship their leader Big Brother whether they believe in him or not. In the novel 1984, George Orwell shows the problems and the hatred with a totalitarian government through his use of symbolism, situational irony, and indirect characterization.

Of the many symbolic masks, the Guy Fawkes mask stands out as one of the most effective, often being used as a “masked identity” in order to make profound statements. Not only does this secret identity create more attention to the “masked one” but it also diverts attention to the cause rather than the identity. Literally using a mask, Fawkes was the main influence of the character “V”, in James McTeigue’s, V For Vendetta. V’s connections and motivations to Guy Fawkes, his attempt to justify himself as a terrorist, and V’s concealment of his true identity, collectively define the message that V conveys to his audience: to break parliament and take control of their own country.

V for Vendetta is set in the future in England and it depicts the events following a major world war, terrorist attacks and large amounts of degradation within the nation and world. The government that is in power is at first shown as the standard postindustrial government that uses media to inform the people, and in most cases, spread their form of propaganda. The government prides itself in being efficient, in maintain control and the safety of its citizens. The film slowly shows how the government took power and how its use of power resembles a model like Weber’s. To take power, there had to be a party that could seize power, this is where the bottom line focus came in. The seizing power used fear, but they use of terrorist attacks committed by

“V for Vendetta" is a movie about freedom, about human struggle against the state, the government of the sacrifice of a symbol. V for Vendetta was born from the successful combination of a sudden, seemingly incongruous things: out of the comic’s conventions and the anti-globalization pathos. I think this movie is a combination of the of Lewis Carroll’s abstract absurdity and George Orwell’s totalitarian nightmare. Alice meets with Hitler. Evey dressed up and went out on a date, but instead of rabbit hole, she found the black "funnel". Once the British had already made a movie "It Happened Here," an alternative fantasy on the theme of the Nazi’s occupation of England - now the enemy did not come from outside but from the inside. In the near future, England is living under a power of tyrant, neurotic clown with flabby face. Supreme Chancellor autocratically governed the country. Bishops are concerned about the moral health of the nation. People are constantly live in fear of external threat after the tragic virus attacks a few years ago. Every person sentenced to death if he keeps a Koran. Same thing for the "unnatural" sex. There was nothing else to be executed for;