Cities are places of cultural exchange and enrichment
such as Berlin, Vienna, London, Paris and New York. But at the same time, these
metropolises are examples of chaotic environments full of all the tension of
modern life, due to migrations, dissolution of identities, breakdown with
traditions, revolution of lifestyle, among other reasons (Rechniewski, 2005:
7). And in the three stories mentioned as following city is a crucial aspect in
the life of protagonists since it represents not only the place in which they
live, but also a place for search that lead revolution inexorably.
In the case of V, city represents a place for search
since he has already found it before in that place, and there is a moment in
which he found it again, but it is different from how he remembers it. He
introduced himself to the justice´s statue and tells her that he has admired
her for a long time, but he is disappointed now since she has been corrupt, she
is not the justice for everybody, she is now the justice just for some; the
government. (Moore, A. & Lloyd, D. (1989); p. 8-9; v.2) So that, he
continues his pursuit of justice, but around society and city, however he does
not believe in common justice, he is looking for the justice that is made with
people´s believes and resources. While in 1984,
Winston considers that this city is being deprived from freedom, since
everywhere there are party´s slogans that suggest what people have to think and
feel. For instance, 'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls
the future: who controls the present controls the past.' p (Orwell, G. (2009);
p.22) Therefore, people feel secure in the city, because they do not know other
reality, their reality and truth were the ones the Party established, and their
freedom was just the one that it allows them. So that Winston observes the city
as place which needs to be free, and he believes that this freedom can be in
the same place, but he has to find it. Finally, for the observer in “The
Man of the Crowd” the city
represents routine and people, but one specific day he was captivated by
something different.
At this particular period of the evening I had never
before been in a similar situation, and the tumultuous sea of human heads
filled me, therefore, with a delicious novelty of emotion. I gave up, at
length, all care of things within the hotel, and became absorbed in contemplation
of the scene without.
(Poe, E. A. (2006); p. 230)
Therefore, he started to
notice how people come and go, and he identified in this situation how humdrum was
his life and city, and decided to find in it something special, something
different.
Moreover, these stories are developed in London, a
multicultural city, full of colors, lights, noise and crowd, there are men who
observe the movement of this city but in different times and contexts, they
observe how people act in it and how different can be even though they live in
the same place. All of these men start a journey to change or to find out
something; the truth, justice, peace, freedom or just something valuable. Some
aspect that is totally alike in this big city.
The
search
In the case of “The Man of the crowd”, he just look at
people come and go, but he feels astonished by the diversity, by the
environment changing with the passing of hours. Due to this action it can be
considered that this man is looking for something that makes his society valuable,
people who change the society paradigm, so he must be looking for divergent
people, since people who broke schemes are always striking for one reason; they
bring the society value. Therefore he starts this journey of tracing, thinking
that the mysterious man that he has followed is different from others who just
abide orders and follow the same routine every day.
On the other hand it is V, a mysterious man who also observes how city
changes and how people make their lives commonly every day, is more involved in
his hometown changes and he wants to make a change. As his country and government
have changed by the war, famine and disease, he decides to intervene. In
response to these changes he has made a plan which pretends make people taking
back their freedom. He actually embodies the feeling of others in this dystopic
London who wants revenge and is looking for a change. For instance Evey´s situation,
she is an immature girl who finds in illegal actions a leak for her troubles,
but these illegal actions were not carried out if the city were not controlled
by government corruption. So that, at the moment in which V saved this young
girl demonstrates what V represents in this story, the escape from this totalitarian
place for many people: revenge.
Thirdly, in 1984, Winston is also a man who observe his city routine,
but he observes it from a privileged place, he is part of one of the best part
of the society, he does not need money or comfort because he already has it;
however he needs freedom. He notices several iniquities, so that he starts a
journey looking for the truth. And in his searching of justice he concluded
that this The Big Brother which control people´s mind is giving them the
information that they need people to have, they tell them a false truth of
their own lives. Even their slogans are part of this manipulation; “WAR IS
PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGHT”, (Orwell, G. (2009); p.5) Therefore
he needs to find his own truth, what it is his place in this city, in this
society. He thinks that the truth is hidden in the same party he belongs to, in
the same city he lives on.
The
Resolution
These men share the same curiosity about people´s behavior
against their own society. They feel interested about the city´s rhythm, about
how people respond to certain kind of stimulus. Concerning V’s struggle, he
feels confused because people are afraid of making an effort for asserting
their rights, while the man at the café desires understand the attitude of
people around him and if there are somebody who can make a change, and Winston
feels astonished by people´s actions and desires, he is confused about his
loyalty. Therefore they take a decision with regard to their feelings; they begin
a journey not only against society, also into themselves, into their feelings,
values and beliefs. Their actions could definitely have consequences in
the future, but what are the consequences that these actions lead in their own
present lives?
Talking about Winston and his journey into the truth,
he definitely found it; he accomplished his aim and discovered the manipulation
of The Big Brother against people. However he faced the thought police and was
tortured, so that, all what was revealed to him was erased, and the truth was
won by the city. At the end the city won the truth again, and people still
believing that it was that truth established by the party the only one that
exist, however it is again hidden into the city of London.
Otherwise, in “The Man of the Crowd”, even though the
observer gave up following the stranger but he definitely found something, he
found fascination where he noticed this elder man routine. This man at the café
only wanted to discover something different, something special, and he did it.
The travel with this mysterious man not only showed him his daily routine, he
also showed him places of London routines, he noticed how people in the center
of the city act, and how people on the most worst places of it act also. So
there is a paradox in terms of how different can be a place in which people
lived and share together. The paradox is subtly underlined by the vividness and
precision of that landscape of objects, manners and physiognomies, of the
hierarchical classification of social classes and groups and the fitting
adjustment of body and clothes, types and gestures, social position and social
façade. (Gutiérrez, F. M. (2000) :
p.157) And even though the elder man
coexist with these places everyday people would never know to which part of
these city passages he belongs. Therefore, he was captivating, he was different
from others.
This old man,” I said at length, “is the type and the
genius of deep crime. He refuses to be alone. He is the man of the crowd.
It will be in vain to follow; for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his
deeds. The worst heart of the world is a grosser book than the ‘Hortulus
Animæ,’ and perhaps it is but one of the great mercies of God that ‘es lässt
sich nicht lessen.
(Poe, E. A. 2006 p. 237)
Finally, V found justice since
people who felt identified with his plans and actions continues them even with
V´s death. Although at the end the corruption does not ends entirely, his
rebellions and fights lead a legacy and generate a before and after with his
death. His death represents the triumph of revolution, and his actions
demonstrate that in this story city continues being dystopic, but justice has
won and freedom is the feeling of this new London. “You escaped from a
slaughterhouse without damage but no change, and saw the need for freedom: not
only for you but for everyone. You watch and after watching, you dared to do
something”. (Moore, A. & Lloyd, D. (1989): p.29, v.10)
The intertexuality in these stories manifests in their
protagonists, the places in which they live and their actions. All of them
represent a kind of man that feel curious for finding something different in a
big city such as London, where repression, corruption, routine, movement,
crowd, noise and injustice are part of people´s life. Furthermore their actions
represents more than just a try of being recognized, they act with regard to
their feelings, values and believes, and the fatal flaw in these stories
demonstrates their reasons to act.
A common theme that emerges from utopian and dystopian
visions is that of the fatal flaw, some failure that unravels the whole
idealistic vision and lays bare an insight into something more profound. It is
not particularly interesting that idealistic visions fail. What is interesting
is just how such failures come about, and what they teach us about events,
people, and ideas.
(Sage,
J. (2007): p.1).
In the case of V, he dies, Winston is tortured and the
observer gave the searching. Therefore, even though these men have different
and personal features, they all share the common aspect of freedom, which makes
them different from others, they all decided what to do and how to do it.
Although it was a decision more difficult for some of them (V and Winston),
they did what they were expected to do to find their own purposes. So that, any
of them could have been the protagonist of any of these stories.
References
Gutiérrez, F. M. (2000).
Edgar Allan Poe: Misery and Mystery in "The Man of the Crowd". Estudios
Ingleses de la Universidad Complutense, 1(2), 153-174.
Moore,
A. & Lloyd, D. (1989). V for Vendetta. New York: Vertigo.
Orwell, G. (2009). 1984.
Buenos Aires: Emecé.
Poe, E. A. (2006). The Man of the Crowd, in Kennedy,
J. G. (Ed). The Portable Edgar Allan Poe.
London: Penguin Books, 229-237. 1984
Rechniewski, E. (2005). Modernism and the City. Literature
and Aesthetics,15(2), 7-12.
Sage, J. (2007). V for
Vendetta and Political Philosophy: A Critique of Thomas Hobbes. Retrieved
from [http://bit.ly/1jjcIaz] (12.10.15)
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