Blackboy0 ninja'd me on this topic. But he failed, IMO; he celebrated this symbolic day by quoting a movie made by the Wachowski brothers. Violà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran blah blah blah. I've got the whole thing memorized. Most people probably already know.

This day marks the day where the Catholics', lead by Guy Fawkes, plan was foiled. What was their plan? Assassinate the King and protestants by blowing up the House of Parliament. So, what's so special about Guy Fawkes that they made a mask for him? And why does the mask representation of his face have a large smirk? The smirk is there to make it extremely sinister, of course. The mask represents rebelling against the government. Which is here when I shall refer to V for Vendetta, but only for a small bit.

V's symbol


Anarchy symbol



Moving on. What is the tradition of Guy Fawkes Night? When the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, the government told the people of London to set bonfires to celebrate the survival of the King. This tradition was forced until 1859. However, even until today, two hundred years later, this is a tradition still followed, as we shall never forget the gunpowder treason and plot. Another part of this tradition was that a dummy "guy" would be created, and would be thrown into the bonfire and set to burn at the end of the show. I'm sure in some places, this still occurs.

Traditional rhymes have been made and sang to commemorate the survival of the King in 1605. The most common, in which the first five lines was quoted in V for Vendetta, is this:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*)
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!


In the end though, we all choose a side.

The King;


or Anarchy?