V's training of Evey

Yes it was cruel, however cruelty can be a powerful to in a loving hand. In this case he had to take her to the extreme, how else could you free someone from fear except to place them in a situation too horrible for them to imagine.

It was cruel, but it was necessary. Without it, she would have never emerged an independent strong individual. She would have continued life in fear. Afraid of herself, what she wants, everything. I'm not condoning torture, but V gave his love the greatest gift that he could. His first and last gift to her was to be to live in their world.

I have read a lot of fiction belonging to the genre of Romanticism and have come to realise that a person fights back and can lead a hero's life only when he is persecuted. Evey,despite understanding the evil nature of the regime chose not to do anything about it. She was scared. But, when she thought she had suffered under hands of the regime she was no more scared and was ready to fight back. While analysing a work of fiction we are not allowed much liberty. We MUST veiw things in context of the theme of that fiction. If the cruelty meted on evey is veiwed in isolation it seems wrong. But in 'V for vendetta', within the backdrop of the story it is not wrong.

I think he did it, simply as a favor for her. (Let's remember, as cool as he was V was a tad bit warped.)She said herself, she wished she wasn't so afraid, and did what he knew to take the fear out of her.

a little off topic but the thing i remember most about that scene is when he releases her and takes her outside. she puts her arms up in a loving mtion to the rain. this mimics v's arms up in anger while in the flames. he changes the world through violence and, in my mind, it represents that he has given her the strength to change the world too. only through love and caring rather than violence. what movie has had a better message than that?

I am not so sure I would have been as well behaved and restrained as she was when I found out what he had done to me. I would have wanted to wring his neck. Like the saying "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger.." may be true but is it worth it?

The Star Wars novel "Traitor" (by Matthew Stover) has a similar situation. There's a degree to which cruelty is involved. Torture always is cruel. But, in the unusual cases found in "V for Vendetta" and "Traitor," there's a sense in which you could view it as an extreme form of discipline. It may be unpleasant to experience and administer, but it's absolutely NECESSARY. Evey was slave to her fear. V tortured her to get her over it. Extreme? Yes. But can you think of another method that would've worked for someone in the same life circumstances as Evey, in constant fear for her life (and body) if the government suspected her of misbehavior? -'Dee

first of all, this movie is really really good. i do think that v was very cruel to evey by making her stay in the prison. i think that he made her go through it all so that she would realize exactly what he had to go through and she would follow him 100%.