Is it easy to maintain hope in difficult times? Sometimes it seems like we come upon circumstances that are uncontrollable. We have the opportunity to wonder if we will be able to experience individual meetings since everything is starting to go wrong. The two stories, “V for Vendetta” and “Children of Men,” both feature the central theme of showing the loss of humanity and the ever-present hope. The use of characterization, conflict, and symbolism reflects the moves and choices made by characters to achieve their usual main interest. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Characterization is an essential element that marks both stories. In “V for Vendetta,” Evey is characterized as a sixteen-year-old girl, who is the perfect product of what her country expects of her: naivety, ignorance, and weakness. A consequence of events and the situation of decadence in which English society is plunged and in a country with a totalitarian government where individuals are sublimated and lose the power to think for themselves by becoming more or less useful equipment tools . Although throughout the story Evey seems lost in the uncontrolled world she lives in, the tension between her harsh experiences has made her the only possibility of hope in society. An article titled "The Politics Behind 'V for Vendetta'" by Andrew Smith states: "The main character, V, opposes the oppressive and controlling British government. The viewer is quickly forced to decide whether he considers V to be a freedom fighter or a terrorist” (Smith). Although V thinks he is a freedom fighter, he also takes revenge, so the reader may not understand all of his choices. You have to wait until the end of the story to realize with certainty that he is doing the right thing. On the other hand, in “The Children of Men”, the main character, Théo, is a man in his forties who always has a lonely face. He is a character who lives in a democratic society and no longer believes in anything, and who has lost all his illusions by losing his son Dylan. In his youth, he was a militant activist alongside Julian, his wife, but disappointed, he gave up the fight. This character moves forward and becomes another person. He undergoes a dynamic change throughout the film, becoming more and more involved in the events. Unlike Evey, Theo didn't have any sort of torture to make him change. At first he didn't care about anything, but then his focus shifted to making sure Kee and her baby were safe to save the world, giving her hope. Few people realize it right away, but the symbolism is an essential element. In "V for Vendetta", a symbol is reflected in Valerie's letter, which represents the power of words. When Evey was imprisoned and tortured for most of her days, her only consolation was the mysterious letter she found in her cell. The letter was written by a woman named Valerie, who had been imprisoned a few years previously solely for being a lesbian and who said: “But it was my integrity that was important. Is it so selfish? It sells so little, but it's all we have left here. It’s the very last inch of us… But inside that inch, we are free” (p. 156). Thanks to Valérie's letter, her words encourage Evey to preserve her integrity. Valerie's letter gave Evey reason to move forward, to deny that she continues to suffer abuse, and, most importantly, to find her strength. On the other hand,in the film “Children of Man,” black teenager Kee’s baby becomes a symbol of hope for all. humanity. She is pregnant and gives birth to a baby girl. Yet the government would never allow an immigrant's child to survive, so the only option is to save her through the Man Project, which investigates the causes of women's infertility. At the end of the story, the baby was seen as an opportunity for hope when all the soldiers and citizens paid their respects, even though they knew Kee was an immigrant. This baby represented a new generation and a new world . Both stories may have different symbols, but the purpose of their story is to create a better society and not lose humanity. Conflict is one of the essential elements of both stories. In “V for Vendetta,” for example, several conflicts arise throughout the story. Yet the main cause of the others would be V's remorse and dislike towards the government after being imprisoned and tortured years ago, making this conflict internal. After giving the hardest lesson V could have given Evey, learning to overcome fear, he had to tell her about Valerie's letter. V explains that the letter is real and motivated him in the same way as Evey, the main character says: “Valerie wrote this letter in her own hand while she was alive. Delivered to me. The words you cried over are the ones that transformed me. Five years earlier” (p.175). This context demonstrates that V did indeed go to a concentration camp where there were Jews, Muslims, homosexuals and blacks. The camp gives him a thirst for revenge against all the individuals who tortured him. However, in "Children of Men", the central conflict is external and rests on a totalitarian government always attentive to illegal immigrants. For this reason, immigrants are taken to a sort of concentration camp to be tortured and left for dead. Although these stories may feature different types of conflict, both share the same dystopian society and hope to make a difference. In the article "Why 'Children of Men' Remains Relevant Year After Year", it is written: "When 9/11 happened...we were blocked for three or four days, and I was talking with Gael, I remember, and thinking about what's going to happen, trying to understand what's going to shape this new century” (Riesman). This refers to when the author of "Children of Men" was inspired to create the story. He was going through a similar situation and wanted to demonstrate the feeling of doing certain things against one's own will. Both stories take place in a dystopian society. A dystopian society is a world that is undesirable to live in and gives people a terrible life. Both stories experience this, but with different types of government. “V for Vendetta” reflects a political system with all the characteristics of media control, censorship, and leader worship. Gregory Claeys collaborates with his book “Dystopia: A Natural History” by stating: “But as a psychological state, dystopia can also be conceived of as the starting point of humanity. We may consider ourselves today a mentally fragile species. But many of us have much less to fear than our ancestors” (Claeys, 2016). In this case, a dystopian society, with the help of the government, can cause several damages to everyone's humanity. This is actually what happened to Evey at the beginning. After being mistreated by the government, she became a woman struggling with low self-esteem. This led to her not being able to open up to the world and feeling afraid. Keep.