No One's above the law in America

V for Vendetta is of course controversial because of how violence and vengeance is viewed in the novel. The reader is persuaded to believe that V, the legal criminal, is really the hero in the novel. In some respects he is, as many would see it a favor to society to open the eyes of the citizens so they could see the flaws in their government.
Furthermore his tactics are murder and exploitation which are both illegal in that society. This is the real controversy in V for Vendetta because if he is indeed the hero of the novel then that places V above the law. The law, as referred to in America, is a strict line of rules and regulations that every U.S. citizen must abide by and there are consequences for the crime committers. The glamorous escapes and artistic plot that V has wins over the reader, almost to the point where we appreciate his services with complete neglect for the lives he takes. V’s fight is more personal than general, and we, as readers do not share his reason for vengeance because we didn’t go through what he went through. I find it very interesting that even with no insight to his inner emotions, we still join him mentally in his bout against the fascist government. Fascism is also something scorn by American society. Though the U.S. is not a complete democracy, we are strongly against totalitarianism. With the American history and events such as: the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, World War II, and the War in Iraq, a book that centralized around a fascist government is problematic. The land of the free also consists of countless amounts of free thinkers. The release of this book would, if interpreted opportunistically, cause people in power and people in general to think rebelliously. Because the graphic novel paints V as some hero, any other extremist that disagreed with American society striving for change could use this book as a catalyst and take action.

Clifton Barney