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Book 3, Chapter 3
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
On November 7, 1998, Eric Finch arrives at Larkhill Camp. He realizes why he’s failed to catch V—he’s been unable to think like V. In order to do so, he decides he will take LSD. He takes four tablets and walks through the ruins of the camp. He notices barbed wire, brick buildings, and what appear to be the remains of human corpses. Suddenly, the drugs set in, and Finch instantly regrets his decision—taking LSD at Larkhill will be terrifying.
Finch takes an acid trip to simulate V’s atypical state of mind. (Four tabs is far more than anyone should take on their first time—something Alan Moore, a vocal proponent of acid use, knows very well.) Finch’s struggle in this section parallels Evey’s: the road to freedom is long, and frequently terrifying.
Themes
Finch looks up, and sees the faces of his old friends—blacks, homosexuals, and other “subversives.” In his youth, Finch used to attend protests and demonstrations with his friends—now, his friends have all gone. He watches as they run away, into the brick walls of Larkhill.
We learn more about Finch in this section: he was once a friend to the very minorities whom Norsefire exterminated. Perhaps Finch even helped to exterminate them in his role as a government official. This helps us understand why Finch loved Delia: they could understand each other’s guilt.
Themes
Finch walks into a building of Larkhill, where he’s surprised to find Delia, cooking dinner. Finch confesses that he’s taken drugs. Delia nods and points him toward two men, Lewis Prothero and Anthony Lilliman. They lead Finch into the depths of the camp, promising to fill him with poison.
Like V himself, Finch is filled with drugs and escorted into the depths of Larkhill. Moore is a frequent user of LSD, and has said in interviews that he encourages people to use the drug to open up new creative parts of their minds.
Themes
Finch feels himself floating into the very room where V once lived: Room Five. As he lies in Room Five, Finch realizes that he, and he alone, is responsible for imprisoning himself in this place. As soon as he realizes this, Finch finds himself outside Larkhill. He screams, “I’m free!” and raises his hands into the air, just as Evey did after being freed from her prison.
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Stripped naked, Finch wanders into the distance, chanting words that begin with “V.” Eventually, he finds himself in Stonehenge, just as the sun is rising.
Moore endows the scene with a religious significance by setting the action at Stonehenge, the famous English landmark where Druids used to practice their mysterious religion thousands of years ago. It’s hinted that Finch has learned how to “think” like V—intuitively, using games and wordplay.
Themes
