Anarchy, Chaos, and Revolution in V for Vendetta

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Another significant literary device employed by Moore is his specific diction, which he puts to use at the beginning of V’s posthumous monologue. A significant example of this takes place in the first panel, as V personifies anarchy. Moore writes, “Anarchy wears two faces, both creator and destroyer. Thus destroyers topple empires; make a canvas of clean rubble where creators then can build another world” (Moore, 248). V’s personification of anarchy as a two-faced creature, both creator and destroyer, emphasizes the dangerous and temperamental nature of anarchy, in that it can destroy old regimes and make way for the rebuilding of new society. The personification of anarchy seems to describe V himself, who both paved the way for the creation of a new society, but did so through dangerous, chaotic destruction including murder, fear, and manipulation. Anarchy as both a creator and destroyer suggests that while an anarchist revolution has the power to create through liberation, it achieves that end through the use of chaotic destruction, a concept that reflects the character of V in a very tangible way. This use of chaos to create indicates that a very real, and very dangerous, outcome of revolution is total chaos. Another example of diction that reinforces Moore’s theme of revolution and its relationship with structured anarchy and unstructured chaos occurs in the second panel. Moore writes, “Away with our explosives, then! Away with our destroyers! They have no place within our better world” (Moore, 248). This quote of V’s reveals a very ironic truth of his revolution, which is that his explosives, their oppressors, and the chaotic destruction that they represent have a very real place in his and Evey’s idealistic, better world; indeed, they play a critical role in its creation. In the very same way, V’s death shows that he has no place in the new, anarchist establishment, just as chaos and destruction are incompatible with a peaceful, rational anarchist society.

At its most essential level, V for Vendetta can be seen as the story of a successful revolution whose outcome has yet to be decided; we know not whether the society will maintain structure and follow anarchism or lose structure entirely and dissolve into a state of total chaos. What we learn from Moore’s symbolism and diction, however, is that the three concepts are closely tied, especially through V, who seems to personify all three. After analyzing V’s revolution and its origins in anarchy and chaos, understanding humanity’s response to the dissolution of societal structures would expand upon this argument, and provide a more holistic understanding of the text and its reoccurring anarchist themes.