V For Vendetta Open Responses

1. Explain the metaphor on page 89: "At least the trains all run on time, but they don't go anywhere."

          This metaphor explains the fascist nature of the government in the future of London. The quote references the quote "Mussolini made the trains run on time," which suggests that Mussolini is an effective and good leader because he "made the trains run on time." The metaphor on page 89 plays on this because with the fascist government that Adam Susan runs in the graphic novel, their society is "not going anywhere" especially in the eyes of V. The norsefire government controls everything so advances in technology, literature, and other such things are limited. The people in their society are constantly being video and audio-surveillanced and propaganda is used to control society. This metaphor effectively plays on this idea.

3. What is the role of women in the Leader's fascist society? What evidence exists to prove your point?

         Women in this fascist society have very minimal impact, especially in the government side of things. All the leaders of the varying organizations are all ruled by men. The one woman who at least had a higher ranking of status in their society is Dr. Surridge as she was appointed to be a doctor at Larkhill. Other than that, all women are either showgirls, prostitutes, or very emotionally-attached characters like Mrs. Hammond and Evey. Both women seem to be scared of the events happening around them all the time and they both rely on male figures (V and Mr. Hammond) to make them feel better. Another woman who shows power is Helen Heyer. After the sermon, Helen seems to be able to control her husband as she made them leave so she can watch the neighbors. After the exchange, Mrs. Hammond mentions, "She's a bit hard on him, isn't she?" This shows at least that Helen Heyer could possibly be the one female that has the ability to have power in this male-dominated society.

4. Why does V subject Evey to mental and physical torment? Do you agree with his methods? Explain.

        V mentally and physically tortures Evey to make her realize how controlling her society is. V knows that Evey probably doesn't understand this as s\the government took over when she was only a child. He puts her through a death of the one lover she has and tortures her to the point where she almost dies. V mentions that this experience can be good for her because false happiness can be just as bad as being sad and lonely. He says, "Happiness is the most insidious prison of them all." Happiness can mask any problem and by doing this to her, he has uncovered the truth to Evey. However, I do not agree with his methods because he practically did what the Norsefire government did at Larkhill. V contradicts himself in some way when he is seeking revenge for all the things that happened to him at Larkhill, yet he does the same thing to Evey. There might have been another way to make her realize her situation.

Rapunzel - Twisted Tales Assignment

Not many people knew this, but Rapunzel held the world record for having the longest hair of any human being ever. People credited her for it, but I think the hair was more important than her. Me. Without me, she wouldn’t even have gotten close to the record! Why does she get all the credit? Oh, how the world is cold.

Anyhow, I had the flowing locks of a goddess. Everyone stared at me from the handsome princes to the old and ugly beggars from the outskirts of town. I was hot. Many always wondered how I came to be. They always ask Rapunzel what shampoo or conditioner she used and she would typically reply with Head and Shoulders or Herbal Essences but if I were her I would’ve said, “You can’t get these babies by using shampoo. It’s all natural, baby.”

But, seriously, I was all natural…sort of. See, many years ago there was a man and a woman that lived nearby a garden which belonged to a wicked witch, who had great power and was dreaded by the entire world. The woman, who suddenly became sick, believed that the rapunzel plant in the garden was the only cure for her sickness. Her husband, trying to be a good spouse, sneaked into the garden, but was caught by the wicked witch. When the husband told her what he came for, they made a deal that in order to get the rapunzel, the couple would have to give up their first child to her. He gladly accepted, thinking the wicked witch would forget the promise. So much for being a good father.

Of course, the wicked witch didn’t forget when the couple had a baby girl a year later. She raised the little girl, which she named Rapunzel after the plant her father came to take, in the garden behind the couple’s house. Rapunzel grew up to be a beautiful child with long golden hair, otherwise known as me. When Rapunzel turned twelve years old, the wicked witch decided to lock her up in a high tower, without any doors or even a staircase, in case she tried to run away. Man, what a witch, huh? Surprisingly, Rapunzel liked it up there. I don’t know why because it was so boring up there. The witch didn’t even think of putting a TV inside. It was just me and her by ourselves. Things didn’t get any better when Rapunzel would talk to herself about how much she enjoyed watching the life of the forest, but sometimes she reminisced about the garden she grew up in. Bleh! All this girl talk is killing me. Life is a bitch.

For food, the witch would come everyday to feed Rapunzel. She would say, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.” She would then climb up using me as a rope and come in through the window. The first time she did this, I was not a very happy camper. Having already been plaited, I thought the weight of the witch would make things worse. Being plaited is like having a wedgie…but everywhere, and I was right; the witch weighed like an elephant. The prince, however, was a different story. Apparently, a young prince heard Rapunzel singing one time, so he rode down to the tower. He seemed mystified by her voice which I found laughable because she was clearly off key when she tried to hit the high notes. Seeing no door, he wondered how anyone could even get inside the tower. Luckily, the witch also came by and he saw her climb up the tower by my help.

            When she left, the prince did exactly what the witch did. He called out, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.” He climbed up and I grimaced for his weight, but surprisingly he was much lighter than the witch. When he eventually got to the top and saw Rapunzel, it was clear that he had the hots for her. I saw it in his eyes. From then on, he would come everyday and the two would talk for hours. It was clear that they fell in love with each other.

            It turned out that Rapunzel also wondered why the witch was so much heavier than the prince, so she asked her. I never knew witches were so sensitive about their weight until then when she went into a rage and cut all of Rapunzel’s hair off and led her into the forest without food or shelter. The witch took me up into the tower and waited.

            That night, when the prince came by as usual and cried, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” the witch let me down and the prince proceeded to climb up the tower. He was so surprised when he saw the ugly witch instead of the beautiful Rapunzel.

          The witch tried to scratch his eyes out yelling, “Aha! So you are the visitor who has been coming to see my little Rapunzel. I will make sure you won’t see her again.” Quickly, the prince jumped out of the window and landed in a clump of bushes. From there, the prince stumbled blindly into the forest with a badly scratched face and a searing pain in his eyes. While walking, he heard singing once again and he followed it and found Rapunzel. He ran towards her and they kissed. As she did so, his eyes were healed and he could see again. The prince then took Rapunzel to his father’s palace where he told him what had happened. Rapunzel’s parents were also reunited with their daughter. The king made a proclamation of banning the witch from the kingdom and a grand wedding was held for Rapunzel and the prince and everyone lived happily ever after. The witch was never seen again. It’s a good thing they got rid of that insensitive, lying bitch. As for me, I thankfully grew back on top of Rapunzel’s head.

The Damned Thing Adaptation

The aroma of popcorn filled the nostrils of the police chief as he entered through the light blue double doors of Theater 12. Candy wrappers, empty soda cans, and leftover kernels of popcorn obstructed his way to the crime scene. He strolled through with a quite confidence, the badge on his right shoulder shining in the dim light that illuminated the little hallway connecting the huge section of leather seats and the lobby of the movie theater right outside. As he approached the main section of the theater, the sound of sobbing and a person trying to reassure someone filled his ears. A police officer standing over a limp, seemingly lifeless body entered his vision on the left where the row of leather-cushioned seats started across the whole room.

            “What do we got here, Anderson?” the police chief asked to the young police officer, probably in his early twenties.

            “Sir, I got called here at approximately 6:51 PM for an emergency situation. They said it was a stabbing…I got here as soon as I could. From what I’ve searched, he’s still alive, but barely breathing,” Anderson remarked with an obvious tone of nervousness. “The paramedics are on their way.”

            “Were there any witnesses?” the police chief replied back as he bent down to examine the body.

            “Yes, his wife...”

            “Alright, I want you to take her back to the station…”

            “One more thing, Chief Taylor, we might have a problem.”

            “What?” Chief Taylor questioned as he turned his head at Anderson, his eyes narrowing with curiosity, but at the same time he it said with a manner of arrogance as if Anderson was questioning his authority.

            “Sir, I don’t know…”

            “Well, which is it?! Do we have a problem or not?!”

            “The victim has no wounds or any indication of any signs of struggle, sir.” Anderson replied avoiding the police chief’s menacing eyes; he was looking down staring at the blood-stained carpet that used to resemble light purple. A pool of dark red surrounded the body.

            “What the heck are you talking about? There’s blood everywhere!” Chief Taylor piped. He proceeded to examine the body turning it over. Anderson was right. The body had nothing. He could tell that the poor man was still alive; his chest was moving up and down.

            Anderson didn’t know what to say and stayed silent while leaning up against one of the red-cushioned seats beside the body. Chief Taylor looked up, the angry look that donned on his face earlier was gone, “Do you know his name?” he asked.

            “Connor Bradshaw, sir, I looked at his wallet,” Anderson quickly replied.

            The police chief stood up now, looking around. Anderson observed him intently, waiting what he will do next. Chief Taylor now looked at the victim’s wife intently as if he was on to something. His natural instincts that separated him from all the regular cops took over. He walked over to her.

            “Mrs. Bradshaw, I’m going to need you to settle down and step aside with me please,” Chief Taylor calmly told the weeping woman sitting down a few feet from the body. The police officer that was watching her took this as a cue to leave the two alone and left.

            Between her non-stop crying, she managed to utter out an “Okay.” The police chief stared with a concerned look on his face. He could tell that she was an attractive woman. She wore a lime green tank top with jeans, and was probably in her late twenties. He assumed that she and her husband couldn’t have been married more than five years.

            “Ma’am, I just need you to tell me what happened.” Chief Taylor said.

                   *                                     *                                     *

            I stared at the police officer that stood over me. How could this guy ask something like that at a time like this? I thought. The badge on his uniform told me that he was probably someone important and probably wanted his authority to be respected.

The image of my husband in a bloody mess couldn’t be wiped off my mind as I continued to cry. After a few seconds, with the cop waiting for me to talk, I managed to say, “I’ll try my hardest to recollect on what happened.”

“Any kind of information would be helpful…I’m sorry but have I introduced myself? My name is John Taylor, police chief here in Beaumont,” he said with an air of confidence, especially in that last part.

With that, I started my story through my crying: “My husband and I usually go to the movies on Saturday nights and tonight was no different. He really wanted to see the new scary movie that came out just last week- you know what I’m talking about? It’s called Dead at the Box Office.”

The police chief nodded approvingly, but something told me that he probably didn’t know what I was talking about.

“So, we sit down right over there, right where my husband is now, at the end of that aisle, and we were just watching the movie. I remember there was this really scary part where the kid in the movie gets decapitated by the monster, and as usual there were some screams from the crowd. That was when my husband toppled from his seat and he just started to scream while on the ground. He was rolling over as if something was hurting him. I don’t know what it was, but he was yelling for someone to stop. I could tell he was in deep pain. I saw blood too, but no one did anything to him. I don’t know where the blood came from. I just hope he’s alright…”

That was when I couldn’t go on any longer and I started weeping like a baby again.

                        *                                     *                                     *

            The police chief couldn’t believe his ears at the witness’s testimony. In his mind, he thought that in the twenty- seven years he served in the police department, this proved to be the strangest and most pathetic lie he had heard.

            “You’ve got to be kidding me. You really expect me to believe that? I’m not stupid you know.” Chief Taylor barked at her. He yelled it with the most intense look on his face. The poor woman that helplessly sat in front of him couldn’t do anything but look at him in terror.

            The woman was telling the truth at least from what she saw. It was obvious by the way she reacted to the police chief’s brief outburst. The terrified look on her face looked too real and certainly couldn’t have been faked easily. Plus, the body of her husband still lay flat on the floor a few feet away and she couldn’t possibly have any other intentions other than find out what had transpired during the incident. Chief Taylor realized this and turned away in discontent.

            At that moment, three paramedics, wearing the familiar green overalls with the blue paramedic logo on the left breast pocket, walked in. One of them carried a bright orange box, which looked like a tool box, while two pulled along a stretcher.  The three able-bodied men quickly examined Connor Bradshaw lying on the ground, and in no time had him on the stretcher. As they were about to roll him away, Connor touched one of the paramedic’s arms, hinting them to stop.

            One of the paramedics turned to look at Chief Taylor and Connor’s wife and declared, “He wants to talk to both of you.”

            Linda Bradshaw jumped from her seat and ran to his side. The three paramedics stepped back out of her way. She hugged him as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. Chief Taylor followed; his swagger gone. He looked dazed and confused. Connor looking up from the stretcher glared at the both of them. His whole face and body seemed to be covered with blood. The black hair that flowed from his head was the only thing that didn’t resemble any kind of red blood on his body. The significant amount of blood that he lost weakened him to the point to where he could barely talk.

                      *                                     *                                     *

            “I’ll tell you what happened.” I groaned at the police chief. I let out a little cough; I knew I was dying, but I need to get this out of my chest.

            I immediately went on, “As I sat watching the movie, I felt an invisible force coming over me. It seemed to flow through my veins and into my brain. I felt it trying to control me like a robot. Sharp pain penetrated through my temples as I tried to get it out. I didn’t know how, but I tried to fight it off out of my body. Then, I heard everyone screaming, probably from the movie, and that was when it attacked me. Every part of my body froze and I had no control. I stumbled to the ground and felt blood seeping through my skin. After a few seconds, it stopped and left me alone. But, something attacked me, trying to kill me! It was invisible and it was trying to kill me!”

            At that point, I heard the police chief say, “Take him to the hospital,” as I yelled. I whipped my head back towards my wife and saw a deep, sad look on her face. The three paramedics slithered past her and converged around the stretcher and proceeded to take me away.

            “Don’t take me away! I want to be with my wife!” I yelled. I took one last look at her and the police chief. Something strange happened to me that night and no one will ever know what it was.

Fractured Timeline and Change in Point of View

Many authors use the technique of a fractured timeline and changing the point of view to affect the reader's perception of the story to their desired effect. For example, Fitcher's Bird is a classic story where the antagonist (the sorcerer named Fitcher) is tagged as the bad guy from the very start of the story. In contrast, when the start of the story is changed to when Fitcher and his friends are burned alive in his house by the third daughter, it completely changes the reader's perception of Fitcher and the daughter. The daughter is perceived as an evil person as opposed to the original story. Also, the audience will feel some sort of sympathy for Fitcher as he is being burned alive. Having a fractured timeline also makes the reader wonder why the house is being burned or why the daughter is dressed as a bird. This will make the reader hooked onto the story. Another technique authors use is changing the point of view of a story. In this story, when the point of view is changed from third to first person, it allowed the story to become more alive. The character's thoughts and feelings are conveyed more adequately adding to the effect. Overall, both these techniques make any piece of writing more compelling and exciting.

Lessons From Fairy Tales

Unlike typical Disney fairy tales, Fincher's Bird has some elements that would not be seen in a children's story. This story has violence, and gore written all over it. However Fincher's Bird boasts many similar lessons that Disney fairy tales also convey. One of them is to not trust strangers. in the story, the sorcerer disguises himself as a beggar to trick the three women to come home with him. Of course, the three women's faith is understandably not positive. The fairy tale is discreetly conveying this message, but in an atypical way introduced to children. Another lesson that can be learned from this story is the importance of parenthood and life. When the sorcerer gives the women the eggs, it represents a relationship between a parent and a child, where the parent must provide for the children without getting anything in return. In the story, the egg must be protected at all costs which also applies to children, especially babies. Even with its unorthodox way of incorporating life's lessons into a story, Fincher's Bird effectively makes a good "children's" fairy tale.

The Stand Epic Poem - 10/1

A virus from a facility is released unexpectedly into the open

An infected security guard escapes: a bad omen

He drives with his family to a little town

Infected with Captain Trips, they chug along down

They crash into a gas station

Little did they know they were about to infect the nation

Five out of the six guys get infected and they spread it everywhere

They all die but the one guy named Stu didn’t even need medical care

Now the virus spreads nationwide

99.4% of the population will die

In Ogunquit, Maine a pregnant 19-yr old contemplates

Her parents need to know but she compensates

Frannie first tells her Dad

Because she knew her Mom was going to take it bad

Her mother finds out and gets sick

Frannie blames herself for it

In New York, a troubled musician comes home

With his Mom, he’s free to roam

Getting in trouble with the law and basking in his fame

All Larry could do is sit in shame

A troubled relationship with his mother

He tried to fix it so she won’t get bothered

As he does so she gets infected

Larry was unaffected

In Shoyo, Arkansas Nick, a deaf-mute wanders

Local thugs beat and rob him: call the doctor’s!

Nick meets the policeman with the cold

Soon it becomes uncontrolled

The policeman and everyone in town are dropping like flies

The doctor theorizes someone made a mistake and sighs

Nick is now all alone and in charge of the station

He has so much to worry about; he endures frustration

Back in the facility Starkey tries to cover up

But he feels guilty of the dead man’s head in the cup

Nonetheless, he executes whoever threatens of telling

The poor journalists are trembling

Starkey thinks plan of spreading the virus worldwide will do the trick

It will protect the U.S. from taking all the heat

The president disagrees and dismisses him

He kills himself and goes out on a limb

Dark Fantasy Essay

The short stories, The Raft, Nightcrawlers, and Duel are all considered dark fantasy stories. But, what exactly makes up a dark fantasy story? The three major elements of a dark fantasy story are horror, fear, and a supernatural element that takes place in the story. These three short stories have varying effectiveness and based on these three elements Duel, the most “realistic” story of the three, is the least effective, while Nightcrawlers is the second most effective, and The Raft being the most effective.

                Duel, written by Richard Matheson, is a story about a guy named Mann, who was living in a typical driver’s nightmare. In terms of being a dark fantasy story, Duel only does a good job with the fear element. Throughout the story, Mann is faced with an unknown truck driver who seems set out to kill him. Matheson makes it a point to not reveal the truck driver’s physical appearance or any motives he had for trying to kill Mann. This fear of the unknown is a common motif in a dark fantasy story. In terms of the horror or supernatural elements, this story does a poor job of incorporating these. Matheson purposely named the main character, Mann, which is almost like the word “man” to signify that this situation can happen to any “man.” It seems like the whole point of this story was for it to not be a dark fantasy story at all. Nonetheless, this story has some dark fantasy elements in it.

                On the other hand, Richard McCammon’s Nightcrawlers, accomplishes a better job of having these dark fantasy elements. This story has a supernatural element to it such as when Price, the Vietnam War veteran, can make his dreams and thoughts to come true or appear in real life for at least a few seconds. McCammon segues this into Price’s nightmare when he re-lives his past during the war where he left his fellow soldiers to survive. Price’s dream comes true and endangers everyone that is around him. This provides the horror aspect of the story. Many suspenseful scenes come out of this as Price’s dreams spiral out of control. Violence erupts and people die while Price just sleeps. Fear also plays a big part in this story. The fear of the unknown comes up again in the story as the spectators who meet or are near Price are frightened by his supernatural talent. These people do not know why all these things are happening. At the end of the story, Price is “killed” by one of his dream soldiers which gives him peace of mind about his troubled past. Overall, Nightcrawlers is a good dark fantasy story which is evident in its use of the three elements.

                The best story out of the three is clearly The Raft for providing the reader excitement, and suspense along with the three elements of dark fantasy. Written by Stephen King, he opts to use the fear of the unknown, once again, when four teenagers go to a lake and find a black patch on the water that devours humans.  All the four kids could do was take a guess on what it was, but they were stuck in a raft in the middle of a lake. Stricken with horror, the four get “eaten” by the monster one by one. The black monster on the water resembles a supernatural aspect of the story. What sets this story apart from the other two is the suspense that it provides all the way through the ending. The readers, specifically teenagers, can relate to this story by the content that King writes about in this story. King utilizes violence, sex, and terror to grab the readers’ attention. He uses other aspects of literature to bring his story to life while still falling under the category of dark fantasy.

                All three short stories are all considered dark fantasy stories. Picking a story to best represent the genre can be determined by how effectively these short stories presented the genre through the three elements of dark fantasy. The Raft provides this efficiently and it is clear that it is a dark fantasy story. Also, the excitement that it provides compared to the other two short stories makes this the best exemplar of the genre.