Books: V for Vendetta

[tiredstars]

Continuing my attempt to write something about every book I read

Comments

[dissident_hope]

I agree with what you say on torture/abuse on a individual level. Most individuals are likely to be shattered/severely damaged for life by such terrible experiences. I was going to say however consider on the collective level how the horrors of the holocaust spawned the might & self-determination of Israel...(not that I support the war crimes of that nation) But then of course, Israel could be seen as warped by the collective experience of the Jews under Nazism. It's only relatively recently, with the younger generations in Israel who didn't experience or hear first-hand of the terrors of the holocaust that there are more sane, liberal voices calling out against Israel holding down disenfranchised Palestinians under their the nation's bootheel. So yeah, I think you're right that this device in the book is a bit flawed - maybe some people (singular & plural) could come out of abuse/torture stronger/bolder eventually, but I think that even then they would be missing a part of their humanity, & perhaps be less feeling of suffering they

[tiredstars]

I think you're right that there's a difference between the reactions of individuals and societies. Also, there is the time involved - people can recover from these experiences, at least to a degree, and I expect that's helped when they have shared them with others around.

I could also have added that this is a very means-ends oriented approach. I just finished reading The Dispossessed and one of the principles of the anarchist society in that is that means and ends are the same, so you cannot create freedom by imprisoning people. The two books actually make an interesting contrast, because while I think they may share a similar view of anarchism (at the very least, they're both positive about it), the way they approach it is very different.