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Book 2, Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in V for Vendetta, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Freedom and Anarchy
Bigotry
The Power of Symbols
Vendettas, Revenge, and the Personal
Fatherhood, Mentorship, and the State
Summary
Analysis
Mr. Finch walks along a beach. He thinks, “Why the hell did I hit him?” The “him” is Peter Creedy, Derek Almond’s replacement at the Finger. Immediately after V finished broadcasting his message to London, Creedy was sent to meet with Mr. Finch at the broadcasting building. As Creedy and Finch survey the building, they notice V’s body lying on the ground, riddled with bullets. When they inspect the body, however, they find that “V” is actually Dascombe, wearing V’s mask and cloak—V has switched places with Dascombe to make his escape.
Thus far, Eric Finch has only appeared to us as a calm, rational detective, albeit one with misgivings about the morality of Norsefire. Here, we get to learn more about Finch’s personality. We also see that V has cleverly manipulated his enemies’ expectations, disguising Roger Dascombe as himself in order to make his invisible escape. V still remains one step ahead of Norsefire.
Themes
After discovering Dascombe’s body, Finch is furious, and lashes out at Creedy’s men. Creedy angrily defends his officers, noting that anyone can make a mistake. Finch yells at Creedy—“When is everybody going to learn?” Creedy sniggers and tells his men that Finch has been depressed since Delia—“that doctor he was kipping”—was murdered. Finch, furious, attacks Creedy. He tries to attack Creedy, but the Fingermen pull them apart.
We learn for the first time that Finch and Delia were having an affair. There was no evidence in the earlier sections, and it’s possible that Moore, who published V for Vendetta serially, only thought of the idea after Book I was complete. It’s important to keep this in mind when reading, as Moore is, in essence, altering his artistic vision a little with each issue.
Themes
After attacking Creedy, Finch was sent to the Leader, who was relatively lenient. Instead of firing Finch or killing him, he sent Finch on vacation to Norfolk—thus, he’s now walking on the beach. As he walks, Finch wonders if it was Dominic who told Creedy about Finch’s relationship with Delia—a relationship that has been going on for many years. Finch never knew about Delia’s experiences at Larkhill, however.
It’s surprising that the Leader doesn’t kill or arrest Finch, given Finch’s objections to the Leader’s regime. Perhaps this is meant to be another signal of Finch’s immense talent as a detective—and yet he still hasn’t tracked down V, or come even close to doing so.
Themes
We cut to a building in London. The man who owns the building, named Gordon, has a new lodger. He prepares eggs and coffee for the lodger, and takes it to her. We see that his lodger is Evey. The man mentions “the bloke” Evey had been living with before she moved in. Evey shrugs and says that she doesn’t think about him anymore. We see that Evey is reading the paper, which has the headline, “Guy Fawkes Video Error.”
This section shows us that Evey has temporarily rejected radicalism of any form—she’s “settled” into a complacent life with Gordon. Again the Norsefire propaganda machine uses various clumsy methods to control public opinion and explain away V’s actions. This section also marks the first time that Moore mentions V’s Guy Fawkes mask explicitly. (See Symbols and Background Information).
Themes
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