Remember, remember the 5th of November

“Remember, remember the 5^th of November. The Gunpowder treason and plot, I know of no reason why the Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!”

These lines open a poem about Guy Fawkes and a band of revolutionaries who planned to blow Parliament and King James I sky-high on November 5, 1605. However, the plot was thwarted and to this day, Guy Fawkes Day is a day of remembrance.

November 5 is commemorated around the world but primarily in England. The holiday is celebrated with bonfires, dating back 408 years. James I allowed for the bonfires to take place to rejoice how the revolutionary plot had been foiled, and the House of Lords was not destroyed, after all.

There are many reasons for this celebration of sorts. If you ask an Englishman they will likely say they are celebrating that the Catholic, Fawkes, did not succeed in his ploy to overthrow Protestant King James I. Or, ask those who have read the comic book series or seen the movie V for Vendetta and they’ll probably respond Fawkes is to be celebrated for standing up against a tyrannical government and doing everything within his power to stop it.

In popular culture, Guy Fawkes masks are seen in rebellions around the world, such as in Egypt, France and America’s own Occupy Wall Street movement.  In Saudi Arabia, where the masks are banned, it is illegal to buy or sell them.

Fawkes has morphed into the father of the populous movements and is revered as the most identifiable figure who thumbed his nose at the establishment.

In reality, Fawkes was one of 13 conspirators to attempt the assassination of James I. He was caught guarding the explosives in a cellar adjacent to Parliament. Upon capture, he was tortured in the Tower of London.  At the moment Fawkes was taken to be drawn and quartered, he managed to throw himself off the platform and he fell to his death when he broke his neck.  Thus, he became a martyr for the cause of liberty and limited government.

Whether the modern view of Fawkes is correct, there is no doubt his face is associated with the will of the people and a limited government.

Although Fawkes may be a character who has been co-opted by pop-culture and Hollywood, the final line of the movie V for Vendetta powerfully resonates with everyone in the movement for liberty.

“Beneath this mask there is more than flesh…beneath this mask there is an idea, and ideas are bullet proof.”