Androgynous Evey: Innocence corrupted

"First published in 1982, the comic series V for Vendetta charted a masked vigilante's attempt to bring down a fascist British government and its complicit media" (Moore).

As everybody thinks, V for Vendetta tells the story of V, this anarchist who tries to return British people what they were taken, for example freedom. In the meantime, he gets to know Evey Hammond, a 16-year-old girl who is about to be killed and abused. Thanks to V, she is rescued and from now on, they get to know each other while revolution is just starting.

The interesting part about this graphic novel is that even tough V is always recognized as the main character, Evey Hammond is the one who suffers from changes, not only physically, but also psychologically.

The purpose of this post is to show the evolution of Evey as the main character, the way she loses her fear and how she became an androgynous character with a corrupted innocence. 

At first, we are presented this girl who wears a lot of make-up and short dress. Since she needed more money, she decided to prostitute herself, despite the fact she knows the consequences of being caught. When the fingermen found her, she is absolutely terrified, until this strange man appears and kills them. Then, V takes her to his place in order to protect her. Here we are shown this innocent girl who does not even know how prostitution world works, making this clumsy attempt to get a customer. She is really naive and easily frightened. 

This combinations of panels shows V and Evey talking. She confesses her fear of not knowing where he has been while she cries on his shoulder expressing how she feels about not knowing what is happening. He hugs her while the narrator says "... and Evey Hammond sobs like the child she is" (26). Even though she does not know what to do, she realizes V is her only salvation. 

In this panel, we see Evey performing as a little girl who visits the Bishop. She is characterized as a fifteen-year-old girl who is about to be abused by him. As Lilliman says, he is astonished by her beauty and youth. Nevertheless, he changes his mind after being hit by her. Here we can see how Evey appears as an innocent girl who has learnt how to protect herself.

Here, Evey asks V why they have not slept together despite the fact they have been together quite a while. Now we can see how she was expecting something else to happen between them, maybe a kiss or something else. The innocence that she showed at the beginning of the graphic novel is starting vanishing. 

These following panels show a great contrast between what our perception of Evey was and how this character evolved, smoking and drinking. The innocence was clearly corrupted as the following pictures also show. 

After that, many things happen in the graphic novel. One of the most important moment for Evey is when she is caught. Her hair is cut, she is constantly tortured and little by little she starts being dehumanized. She leaves her fears aside and after a tough process, she gets free from her boundaries. 

Here is the climax of her transformation. She is released from the prison, V confesses that he created this situation to set her free and takes here to the roof where the rain is falling. This not-clear figure is Evey, who now is not afraid of anything, who has been able to left her innocent and child-like behavior aside in order to be free and take things seriously.

In the end, after V's death, she realized that everyone is V, even herself. That is one of the reason why she decides to continue with his legacy and becoming V. Then she asserts that she felt enthusiastic but not scared anymore, since there is no time for those useless feelings.

After seeing these panels, we can confirm one main fact:

As we discussed in class, Moore shows us how Evey evolved surprisingly fast from the naive and innocent girl who hid from danger to a strong, astute and clever woman, after passing through a process who made her an androgynous being. 

To finish this post, I encourage you to read more about gender in V for Vendetta. I found this interesting post called Gender Binary in V for Vendetta. The author analyzes women and men roles within the whole graphic novel and their importance. 

http://genderlitutopiadystopia.wikia.com/wiki/Gender_Binary_in_V_for_Vendetta_by_Zach_Rolfs

As a final question, would you agree with the innocence corruption that happens in the graphic novel? Are there other instances in which Evey evolves as either an androgynous character or as strong woman? 

In order to end, here there is a joke I found some time ago.

References:

Moore, Alan. Viewpoint: V for Vendetta and the rise of  Anonymous. BBC News, 2012, 22 Nov 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16968689>
Moore, Alan. V for Vendetta. DC Comics, 1988. PDF file.