V for Vendetta

The most recognizable symbol in V for Vendetta is the Guy Fawkes mask that V uses to conceal his true identity. The mask draws upon the historical act of rebellion in which Guy Fawkes tried—and failed—to blow up the British House of Lords. The stylized face of Fawkes is endowed in the story with antigovernment sentiment, evoking revolution, insurrection, anarchy, rebellion, and—underscored when Evey takes up the mask at the end of the novel—anonymity.