Comparing Justice In Of Mice And Men And V For Vendetta

Slide 1

“Violence can be used for good… justice”.

Slide 2

Justice always involves action, and if power is abused, justice cannot be enforced. This justice is explored in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and in McTeigue’s V for Vendetta. Through many literary and film techniques, both composers explore modern issues with the distribution of justice experienced in the world today.

Slide 3

In both texts, the composers show how when opposed with a threat, justice will take place in an action, typically violent. For example in V for Vendetta, justice is given when V ends the government’s power in England by blowing up parliament and killing the chancellor. In Of Mice and Men, justice is given when Lennie crushes Curley’s hand after he walks into the bunkhouse immediately jumping to violence by punching Lennie.

Slide 4

This response shows that, threatened with injustice, the response will be the enforcement of justice through an action. This is the case with all just responses to unjust occurrences.

Slide 5

Steinbeck praises this response to injustice through zoomorphism, which is used to make Lennie seem innocent, and Curley malicious. This is evident in the line “Lennie covered his face with his huge paws and

They are purposely of an ugly appearance. In the scene where Evey is about to be sexually assaulted, McTeigue uses a mid shot to set the scene.The fingermen have the light shining on the back of their heads, allowing for darkness on their faces making them seem like antagonists. Evey, however, has the light shining directly on her face, making her look like the protagonist. This scene explores the abuse of power when the fingermen are supposedly “distributing justice” to Evey, their actions are unjust as they are abusing their power to prey on the innocent. McTeigue communicates through this scene that ultimately, justice cannot be administered when there is an abuse of