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Rhetorical Analysis Essay

An Analysis of Valerie’s Autobiography from V for Vendetta

The plot of the movie V for Vendetta takes place in a futuristic world in which Britain has fallen under fascist rule. Headed by a conservative religious zealot, the population subjected to this government are under constant surveillance. Anyone who is caught not adhering to very strict moral guidelines is imprisoned. Among the behaviors deemed unacceptable by this regime is homosexuality, for which a character, Valerie, is apprehended for. Throughout her brief characterization she is identified as homosexual, so the fact that she was taken for this specific trait is evidenced by her statement, “I still don’t understand it, why they hate us so much.” While under incarceration, she is tortured and experimented on. In desperation, knowing she faces death, she wrote her autobiography on toilet paper.

She starts this piece by establishing credibility in saying, “I know there’s no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks, but I don’t care…I don’t think I’ll live much longer and I wanted to tell someone about my life.” By acknowledging a common frame of mind in this way with her probable audience, her fellow inmates, she helps to establish herself in the audience’s mind as an actual person. She also achieves this effect by adding in otherwise frivolous details about herself, such as her memories of her grandmother, or the fact that she always wanted to be an actress.

Another way in which she generates ethos (as well as logos) is providing accurate descriptions of the current regime’s rise to power from personal experience. By pointing out what would be common knowledge to her audience in saying, “I remember how the meaning of words began to change; how unfamiliar words like ‘collateral’ and ‘rendition’ became frightening, while things like ‘Norsefire’ and the ‘Articles of Allegiance’ became powerful,” and by mentioning a war in America, it helps to further prepare common ground in the reader’s mind.

It would be neglectful to not explore how the author depicts herself as gay. Her initial experience was with her first girlfriend, Sarah, at school. As far as the audience knows, there was no physical part of this relationship, although an admiration of Sarah’s physical form is noted when she said, “It was her wrists – they were beautiful.” Communicating to the audience how early these feelings started helps to confirm the notion that she had no choice in the matter. She then states her teacher wrote their relationship off as something adolescents grew out of, which helps to convey feelings of frustration and subjective persecution, having never done so. Next, she tells us her experience of coming out to her parents, “In 2002…I came out to my parents. I couldn’t have done it without Chris [current girlfriend] holding my hand. My father wouldn’t look at me. He told me to go and never come back. My mother said nothing.” She expresses confusion and more frustration because of this, saying, “I’d only told them the truth. Was that so selfish?” Finally, she tells of how, in 2015, while starring in a motion picture, she met the love of her life, Ruth, stating, “The first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again.” Portraying herself in this honest way instills in the audience an indignation toward her unjust treatment.

The readers of this autobiography, although she doesn’t specifically know who they are, she knows will probably be one of her fellow prisoners, which is insinuated in her statement, “ I know there’s no way I can convince you this is not one of their tricks…” The first person to read this piece was actually the hero of the story, V, who went on to lay the ground work for the government’s demise, having been inspired by this piece. This is evidenced, in the movie, by the fact that he keeps a memorial dedicated to Valerie in his home. Later, V exposes the character Evey to many of the same conditions he was while incarcerated in an effort to appease her desire to be more like him. One of these conditions was reading Valerie’s note.

Valerie’s main point in this piece is the idea that integrity and freedom to be who you are should be an inalienable right. This idea is conveyed in her statement, “Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch we are free.” Later, she expands on this idea, realizing her mortality, explaining, “Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch but one. An inch - it is small and it is fragile, and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.” Other than this unit of measurement, this idea is also personified by roses when she says, following her statement about the war in America coming to London, “After that there were no roses anymore – for anyone,” and later, “…but for three years I had roses and apologized to no one.”

As mentioned earlier, some of this piece has appeals to logic and reason, but it is mainly a very emotional work. There are recurring overtones of love, fear, and sorrow. Detailing her reaction to Ruth being captured, saying, “I’ve never cried so hard in my life,” instills a sense of pity in the reader, as most people know what it is to lose someone they love. Telling the audience how, “…words like ‘collateral’ and ‘rendition’ became frightening,” would bring back very vivid memories of the current regime’s rise to power. And in her last statement, having intimately made herself known to the reader, she establishes one final, important connection, saying, “…even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you.”

In conclusion, this piece is essential to the plot, because it is the main character’s primary motivation for acting as he does. Thus, the author’s masterful use of ethos and pathos makes this a powerfully persuasive work.

Work Cited

V for Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, and Stephen Rea. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005. Film.