Original artwork, not a still
There's no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There's only an idea. Ideas are bulletproof.
— V for Vendetta · 1982
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
V is announcing his own succession: the man can die, the mask cannot, and Evey takes it up. Alan Moore and David Lloyd turned a doomed anarchist's boast into a general rule about symbols, and the line has been quoted for decades as a defence of ideas against the force aimed at them. It also carries the irony that the idea was just beaten by a bullet.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for V for VendettaShow the scene
In Book Three, V's war on the fascist government is almost over. Detective Finch deduces that V's lair is in the abandoned Victoria Station and goes in. V takes him by surprise in a scuffle: Finch shoots V, and V wounds Finch with a knife. V tells him that he cannot be killed because he is only an idea, and ideas are bulletproof. He is mortally wounded all the same, and retreats deeper to the Shadow Gallery, where he dies in Evey's arms.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: V for VendettaPlot summary, Finch and Victoria StationReference checked
Context reviewed
