A Vendetta against Women?

Observation: In V for Vendetta, we are introduced to Evey Hammond during her failed debut as a prostitute.

Question: Why did she fail?

Answer/Observation: In her desperation, she was naive and solicited an undercover cop.

Q: Why was her first attempt an undercover officer?

A/O: With Evey's miserable start at prostitution, the author is able to set the tone for the story on a variety of levels. The reader is given a sense of the style of government in the story through the actions of law enforcement and a sense of the plight of the people through Evey's desparate act. Formatically, the authors depict the fingermen in off-kilter and skewed panels to give the reader the sense that the government is off-track.

In addition, by Evey failing, her purity (read: morals) is unsoiled, leaving her a perfect replacement for V once he dies. In this manner she represents the bright and unspoiled future ahead of England, post-V. This is in stark contrast to most of the other women in the story, who are degraded one way or another. In fact, that Evey is so desparate for money she is willing to sell her body clues the reader in very quickly that there is something wrong with the Britain in V. The shadowy nature of the police force reinforces that message.

The juxtaposition of at least 6 panels of Evey's obvious anxiety (ppg 9-11) with the cheery evening newscast at the start of the novel contributes to this feeling. As McCloud discusses in Chapter 5, the authors are able to bring in all the senses using a collection of images (121), and invokes feelings of apprehension and worry in readers.

Q: Why are the women so degraded in V?

A/O: By degrading women characters in V, the authors reinforce their vision of post-war England on the reader. Through their living situations, we are made to see the totalitarian government is raping society. The women characters are desparate for forgiveness (Dr. Surridge - 73), acceptance (Valerie - 159), power (Mrs Heyer - 228), revenge (Mrs Almond - 205), and guidance (Evey - 25), indicating their status as second-class citizens in the novel. Even Lady Justice is called out as a whore by V (40).
Combining Evey's prostitution attempt, Mrs Almond's sexual debasement by being made to work as a stripper, and Mrs Heyer's use of the bedroom to make underhanded deals further cements the collective poor image of women in the book. In fact, until Evey's transformation in the story's climax, the only woman character that exhibits any kind of stones is the little girl that puts graffiti on the party poster (189).
To further illustrate the second-class status of women in the book, the leader of Britain, Adam Susan, is without female companionship despite the society's apparent preference for blatant heterosexuality. Indeed, he seems to have an unhealthy cyber-relationship with fate (38 & 229) that chills the reader and lends to the Orwellian flavor of the story.

Q: What is the signifigance of the Orwellian atmosphere of V?

A/O: By depicting the society of Britain in V as one of paranoia, fear, and desparation, the authors are able to highlight a couple ideas using the reader's own emotional responses. In V, the government and by extension Britain, is seen as one body, and this is reinforced by naming the branches of the government after body parts. The police are called Fingermen, detectives the Nose, surveillance done by the Ear and Eye, media the Mouth; this connection the five senses disorients the reader and seems to say that under totalitarian leaders the government stifles (censors) your sensors. The Fascist government's job in V is to "purify" the body of unsavory elements, often with violent and cruel measures (127). This functions to make the reader wonder about who defines what is "unsavory" (good/bad) for a society.