V. V. V. V. V.

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici. "By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe."

A quote attributed to Dr. John Faust, who made a pact with the devil in order to gain knowledge and power, but sold his soul in the process. This quote and its context applies to both Evey and V in a differing manner. Evey believes she is tricked by V into making a deal that enables him to kill a man. But is V really representative of Mephistopheles here? I, for one, don't think so, since the priest is far more devilish than V. He preaches to the sheep about the evils lurking outside when in reality he is a corrupt hypocrite. He is a pedophile who preys on young girls and even has pedophiliac porn. Do his actions warrant murder, however? Evey doesn't think so, but V is trying to show her the true nature of the minister--the injustice that bestows upon V the power, but not necessarily the right, to conquer it.

Throughout the comic Evey struggles with the morality of killing even those who can be said to deserve death. She does not savor the idea of killing in order to achieve justice/anarchy--she does not want to be the judge of others' souls. Nevertheless, her emotions for her lover override her sense of morality and she attempts to kill his killer in revenge. Does this lapse demonstrate how weak her morals are? I think it only shows that she is human and prone to despair after the perceived abandonment of all of her protectors--her father, V, and her lover. After all, when V offers her the chance to get revenge, she does not take it, even after her transformation in a fake concentration camp.

On another note, I am thankful for Spencer's definition of cognitive estrangement. It's a much simpler way of saying what I've always liked about science fiction--that it thematically comments on human behavior and society with a freedom of context that no other genre has. My favorite science fiction authors, Orson Scott Card and Isaac Asimov, exemplify this concept of cognitive estrangement. Or at least I think so. In any case, I feel that science fiction has been unfairly scorned in the literary community (like graphic novels have been) and that this concept lends it more validity in critics' eyes--not that their opinion really matters.