V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

V for Vendetta is a powerful, gut-wrenching graphic novel about a masked vigilante who rebels against totalitarian England in the futuristic 2020s, taking mild-mannered and naive Evey Hammond with him to his journeys. It is a story containing themes of oppression, courage, rebellion, and freedom and sets the image of what our world would look like if we were all oppressed and deprived of our even most basic freedoms.

The story starts with a news announcer making a routine daily announcement. This is where we get the first glimpse of how the society and government is based in the universe of the story. The announcements contain news about unexplained quarantines in certain areas, the exact determination of the weather that day and a notice of food shortage. Immediately the readers acknowledge how strict and authoritarian life is in 2020s England. The story follows up with a young woman putting make up on and leaving the house at night. Roaming the empty streets, she comes across a man and sheepishly asks him if he would like to sleep with her "for money, of course". The readers understand that this character is naive, timid and desperate enough to prostitute herself at young age which seems like the first time. However, the man comments on how it is past the "curfew" and the fact that she is breaking many laws by prostituting herself late at night. Other men approach the girl and she immediately recognizes them as "fingermen," the story's version of government agents. While the men attempt to rape the young girl, a masked man adorned in a cloak appear out of nowhere and saves the girl from her assailants. Bringing her to the top of a building, he explains that the night is a special one, and that his name is simply "V". Charmed by her mysterious savior, the girl, which we learn to be Evey Hammond, is abruptly dismantled by the sound of the bombing of the Old Justice Tower. Shocked, Evey asks if he caused the explosion. "V" explains that it was an action necessary to save the "good people" of Britain.

This beginning of the novel shakes the readers quite well and introduces the two main characters of the story in a way that we understand their character and psyche right away. For example, because of her sheepishness and naive doubtfulness, we can determine that Evey is a young and gullible girl that will have her character changed throughout the story, as the readers acknowledge that she becomes a part of V's world. V, for example, is a rebellious, intelligent and skillful man masked under a cloak and a mask. His psyche is so much harder to decipher as we don't know the motives of his strong actions. We also do not know who he is or where he comes from. I think the author wanted to compare these two main characters, who seem to be so much different than each other. For example, while Evey is trusting and naive, or as I like to call her, an open book, V is mysterious,  guarded and preoccupied with his plans and thoughts. I can't wait to read the story more as it unfolds and reveals more and more about the characters.