V For Vendetta

V For Vendetta Metaphors and Similes

Shaving Evey's Head (Metaphor)

During Evey's mock imprisonment and torture, V shaves her head. The loss of her long blonde marks the beginning of Evey's rebirth as someone who feels free of the invisible chains that bound her mind into not being able to imagine possibilities for revolutionary change.

Humanity as Workers (Metaphor)

In the second book, V infiltrates Jordan Tower and broadcasts a taped message to the people of England. In an extended metaphor, he speaks of the world as being poorly managed by dictators, whom humanity put in charge. He speaks to the viewers in the language of a boss disciplining employees, giving them a period of two years to show improvement. The implication is that humanity will be punished if they don't take responsibility for the sorry state in which the world is being managed.

Slaughtered Them Like Cattle (Simile)

After V infiltrates the train carriage in which Prothero is traveling, he kills two of the fellow passengers. Finch, when investigating the crime, remarks that V "slaughtered them like cattle." The simile emphasizes how V killed two humans with the ruthless efficiency of slaughterhouse workers killing cows for meat.

Silly Idea Into Your Bonnet (Metaphor)

When Lewis Prothero wakes up at V's simulation of Larkhill Resettlement Camp, V refers to him as Commander Prothero. Prothero claims innocence, saying he isn't sure how V got "this bloody silly idea into [his] bonnet." His statement mixes the metaphor of getting an idea into one's head with the phrase getting a bee stuck in one's bonnet (hat).

Expending Christian Charity on His Guardian Angels (Metaphor)

While the bishop is making advances on Evey, his butler goes down to the guards to share glasses of cognac. The guards ask if he shouldn't be tending to the bishop, and the butler says he's sure "his grace won't mind me expending a bit of Christian charity on his guardian angels." The statement uses metaphoric language, referring to the alcohol as Christian charity and the guards as guardian angels.