Analyse how another character influenced a main character or individual in the visual text for a
particular purpose
In V for Vendetta by James McTeigue, the main relationship is between the anarchist revolutionary V and
news reporter turned conspirator Evey Hammond. From this relationship, the majority of the film revolves
around V influencing Evey and turning her over to his way of thinking. The director uses various crucial
moments to achieve this. The first of these is in the TV station, where a naïve Evey helps V escape the police
by knocking out a detective, despite V broadcasting a message of hate only moments earlier. The second is
the terrorist scene, where V captures Evey and tortures her in order to show government brutality towards
him. The third is the end scene, where Evey, who is now fully behind the cause, sets V’s plan into motion
despite his death. V influencing Evey is a major part of V for Vendetta.
V for Vendetta is the story of anarchist V, who is tortured by a totalitarian government along with many
other undesirables and seeks revenge. The film revolves around him and television report Evey Hammond
who is caught up in his plan to blow up parliament. Throughout the film he spreads his message (to meet him
at Parliament on the 2h of November to blow it up) and kills various people who wronged him, all the while
bringing Evey to his cause as he reveals the horrific truth about the governments mass killing program. At
the end of the film V dies but Evey (now fully behind the cause) completes his plan by blowing up
Parliament.
The first example of V influencing Evey is in the TV station scene. V enters the BTN building (the main and
probably only station) with a bomb vest and forces the employees to broadcast his message on the
emergency broadcast channel. In his broadcast he states his hatred for the government, that they have
committed grave crimes, and for everyone to meet him in a years’ time to blow up parliament. Despite the
amount of authorities now congregated at the building, he kills the police and escapes, only to be met by a
detective, who is maced by Evey which allows V to escape. This is probably the change in character In
Evey's thinking, as she first sees him as a sympathetic character. Even know the film is primarily based
around Evey being turned to V's cause, this scene shows that she probably agreed with him from the very
start, despite his obvious message of hate. The director used her to represent the mass of people who
believed in his cause but stayed silent. These people are afraid of the government but are too afraid to act
out, and Evey is the representation of these people finally standing up and doing something about it. This
foreshadows the end of the film where this actually happens, but the film also shows the consequences of
this as Gordon Dietrich who says "Of course, he was right wasn’t he? There’s something wrong with our
government” publicly makes fun of the government and is killed because of it. Directly after this scene,
where Evey is taken to V's lair, we find out more about V and how he influences her. The audience finds out
he is a master thief, swordsman, chef; "this is delicious!" she says about his eggs on toast, and even a fairly
good romantic. This is the director’s way of showing how Evey could fall in love with V, which is what
happens. He is obviously in love with her as well, as he puts on romantic music, movies and other things for
her, but yet does not reveal his face to her even as she asks. This is the way the director shows that even love
will not let V compromise the ideal that it is only the idea that matters.
The second example of V influencing Evey is in the terrorist scene. After Evey escapes Dietrich's house in
the police raid, she is bagged and brought to a facility where she is tortured for helping V and refusing to tell
them his whereabouts. Eventually she is told she is to be shot, but the door opens and she walks out the front
door only to realize she was in V's basement the entire time. Strangely, although angry at first, she takes this
quite well, as she realizes that it will help her become a stronger person. The director does this to show how
V's ideal of "the means justifying the end" has rubbed off on her. For Evey to realize V's troubles, she had to
be put through it. V tortured in the same way, which is why he hates the government. The director uses
flashbacks to achieve this. In the end, Evey is stronger and is not afraid to die, uttering "I'd rather die behind
the chemical shed", showing that she'd rather keep her ideals and die than give in. Essentially in his scene,
she is brainwashed, or at least converted to the cause in a strange way. This follows through with an
important talking point the director included, which is "is V a good or bad character", and the means
justifying the end. Certainly his way of doing his work is villainous, he kills dozens of innocents, but his goal
is rather heroic, in bringing down the government. Brainwashing, is an important fact to consider, or at least
the director has. The line "is that what you want to think, or is that what they want you to think?", whilst said
by V could also refer to himself in this regard, and shows how he influences her on a more psychological
level. However, throughout out the rest of the film V is regarded as a good character. The director shows this
by using the soundtrack. The soundtrack is contrasted between V's heroic, brassy action pieces and the
government's moody, brooding slow pieces, using major chords for V and minor chords for the government,
generally speaking. This makes the audience relate V to heroes, and the government to villains even if their
actions do not match up. The use of the torture scene showed how V influenced Evey in V for Vendetta.
The third example of V influencing Evey is the final scene of the film. In this scene, Evey (now fully turned
to the cause) shows up to help V finally blow up parliament. He goes off to kill Chancellor Sutler and Parity
Chairman Creedy and ends up dying, and it is left to Evey to send the train off carrying the bombs. Despite
Inspector Finch showing up at the last second to stop her, she pulls the lever under threat of being shot and
the train goes off and blows up parliament. As she is fully on V's side at this point in the film, it is obvious
that he has influenced her greatly. Despite being under threat of death "stop or I'll shoot", she pulls the lever
anyway. This brings back to the torture scene, where "you have no fear anymore" is uttered. Evey has no fear
of the government because it couldn't be any worse than torture, because of V. This also links back to the
"does the means justify the ends" theme, as V torturing her did make her a stronger person. The director
shows this by the use of facial features by the actors. At the start of the film Evey’s face is full of emotion,
whether it be worry or scared. By the end of the film her face is constantly blank, showing she is
emotionally empty and simply doesn't care what happens to her. This is another one of V's traits which again
shows how he influenced her. She also does a lengthy, cryptic monologue by the end of the film. This links
strongly to the first scene in the film, where V blows up the Old Bailey with Evey watching. However, it is
changed so Evey takes V's place and Finch takes Evey's place. This shows how Evey has supplanted V and
his ideals, now that V is dead. The line "do you like music?" is also repeated from this earlier scene. The
director has the actors stand in similar position to this earlier scene to again link it. He also uses the same
camera angles. The final scene showed how V influenced Evey in V for Vendetta.
In V for Vendetta, it is shown that V influences Evey. Throughout the film at different points in their
relationship and different feelings towards each other, V’s actions are influenced by his feelings towards
Evey. Whether it is at the start of the film in the TV station, while he is torturing her, or as she sets his plan
into motion, the majority of the film is based around these two characters, how they interact and how their
actions, motives and thoughts are based around each other. James McTeigue showed throughout the film that
V influences Evey.