The Face Behind the Anonymous Mask
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
I’m not english. My clients are, born and raised in England. I started my day with a morning of poetry and recitation contest. Haha.
This is a stanza taken from an English children’s rhyme, Fifth of November. There’s no reading between the lines here because the story is as real as it sounds.
It is popularly known by many, particularly in America, as the Anonymous mask–which now has evolved into a global symbol of anti-government protest and resistance.
Anyone who’s seen the film would instantly recognize the mask donned by the revolutionary protagonist in Alan Moore’s “V for Vendetta”.
Sure enough, the mask was undeniably a major element to the plot and added a touch of mystery to the vigilante’s character, which I found rather powerful. But, beneath the creepy smiling white face, arched eyebrows, red cheeks and black mustache lies a longstanding and unforgotten history that dates back to the 17th century.
Guy Fawkes Day (also referred to as Gunpowder Treason Plot, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night) is an annual event celebrated across U.K. to commemorate the failed attempt of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James I on November 5th, 1605.
Fawkes, born a protestant, later converted to Catholicism and joined a group of English Catholics to plot the overthrow of the Protestant Government, in hopes of re-establishing Catholic monarchy in England.
The night of the Gunpowder plot, he was found guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder, stored in a cellar, just under the House of Lords. With the plot sabotaged and discovered before it even took place, Fawkes along with other plotters that he named, were arrested, brutally tortured and executed for treason.
Following that, every year, the British regarded November 5th as a national Thanksgiving Day (rejoicing the safety of the King’s life) like the 4th of July in America.
Traditionally, villagers set off fireworks and children paraded straw effigies of Guy Fawkes along the streets, begging “A penny for the Guy” and burnt them to ashes on bonfires.
What’s your coffee story today?
Life Through the Windshield 