Halloween may not be my favorite holiday, but Guy Fawkes Day, which is tomorrow, November 5, is close to the top of my holiday list. Like the holiday itself, my reasons are a little hard to define.
I first heard of Guy Fawkes Day during my first visit to England in 1980. Pretty much all the tour guide said was that a guy named Guy tried to blow up Parliament and King James I a long time ago, and the anniversary of that event is celebrated each year with bonfires and fireworks. For the longest time I believed the English were praising this man’s rebellion by emulating his actions – fire and explosions. It wasn’t until much later that I learned the holiday originally was conceived to give thanks for James escaping the assassination attempt and the nation escaping a reinstitution of Vatican rule.
Being a rebel at heart, I was disappointed to learn that Guy Fawkes Day was not an anti-establishment shindig. But things aren’t really as they seem, are they? While the English government may have created the holiday way back in 1605 to celebrate its own preservation, the people of England today seem less concerned with the politics behind the holiday than the opportunity for a damned good night of fireworks.
So why does a rebel like me have such a fondness for a holiday that isn’t so much celebrating rebellion? Like many other things, popular culture explains my appreciation for Guy Fawkes Day. Alan Moore and David Lloyd imagined in a comic book a not-to-distant future where England is under fascist rule and people are ripe for an uprising; they are just too frightened to know it. In the comic and the 2006 movie adapted from it, the character of V., a man in a Guy Fawkes mask staging his own insurrection against the government is just the motivation the people need to begin standing up for themselves and cutting down the government. The story ends with V. dead, essentially killed by his government, but this doesn’t stop the train he has loaded with explosives from taking its journey to Parliament, where it comes to a stop with a very big bang (poor Big Ben). Cut to thousands of folks in the Guy Fawkes masks V. has distributed throughout the city cheering the “fall” of their corrupt government. I get downright silly just thinking about it.
Lest it sounds like I am too eagerly advocating fiery revolution, remember that our largest American national holiday was founded on violent revolution – and is commemorated with lots of fireworks. If it weren’t so hot in July, I’m sure we would stack and burn mountains of wood ourselves. On this Guy Fawkes Day, I hope to hear that my UK friends saw beautiful fireworks this year (last year in an ironic twist fireworks were suspended as an austerity measure), I hope to see many Guy Fawkes masks, perhaps on Occupied streets across the globe – and maybe even a big bonfire or two!
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...
I first heard of Guy Fawkes Day during my first visit to England in 1980. Pretty much all the tour guide said was that a guy named Guy tried to blow up Parliament and King James I a long time ago, and the anniversary of that event is celebrated each year with bonfires and fireworks. For the longest time I believed the English were praising this man’s rebellion by emulating his actions – fire and explosions. It wasn’t until much later that I learned the holiday originally was conceived to give thanks for James escaping the assassination attempt and the nation escaping a reinstitution of Vatican rule.
Being a rebel at heart, I was disappointed to learn that Guy Fawkes Day was not an anti-establishment shindig. But things aren’t really as they seem, are they? While the English government may have created the holiday way back in 1605 to celebrate its own preservation, the people of England today seem less concerned with the politics behind the holiday than the opportunity for a damned good night of fireworks.
So why does a rebel like me have such a fondness for a holiday that isn’t so much celebrating rebellion? Like many other things, popular culture explains my appreciation for Guy Fawkes Day. Alan Moore and David Lloyd imagined in a comic book a not-to-distant future where England is under fascist rule and people are ripe for an uprising; they are just too frightened to know it. In the comic and the 2006 movie adapted from it, the character of V., a man in a Guy Fawkes mask staging his own insurrection against the government is just the motivation the people need to begin standing up for themselves and cutting down the government. The story ends with V. dead, essentially killed by his government, but this doesn’t stop the train he has loaded with explosives from taking its journey to Parliament, where it comes to a stop with a very big bang (poor Big Ben). Cut to thousands of folks in the Guy Fawkes masks V. has distributed throughout the city cheering the “fall” of their corrupt government. I get downright silly just thinking about it.
Lest it sounds like I am too eagerly advocating fiery revolution, remember that our largest American national holiday was founded on violent revolution – and is commemorated with lots of fireworks. If it weren’t so hot in July, I’m sure we would stack and burn mountains of wood ourselves. On this Guy Fawkes Day, I hope to hear that my UK friends saw beautiful fireworks this year (last year in an ironic twist fireworks were suspended as an austerity measure), I hope to see many Guy Fawkes masks, perhaps on Occupied streets across the globe – and maybe even a big bonfire or two!
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...
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