Yesterday, was Guy Fawkes Night here in the UK. A night where we light bonfires and send fireworks into the black sky. But why?

Guy Fawkes was a member of a religious group of 5 that in the 1600’s attempted to blow up the House of Parliament before its opening in London. They sought to achieve this by digging a tunnel under the parliament buildings with 20 barrels of gunpowder. An act of rebellion now known as “The gunpowder plot.”Before he and his co-conspirators could carry out the plot, however, they were captured, tortured, put to trial and eventually put to death by being hung, drawn and quartered.

After this, there was a yearly celebration put in place to celebrate the foiling of the gunpowder plot where bonfires are set alight with “guys” (effigies of Guy Fawkes) within them on stakes and fireworks sent into the air.

In the modern age, Guy Fawkes night is a day of almost active by peaceful rebellion, with various media portraying Guy as the hero of the story rather than the prevention of the plot. With novels such as the comic (and film) “V for Vendetta” being ever more the inspiration behind the evening. Masks similar to the one worn by the character V in the story are worn widely to bonfire night celebrations.

This year the activist/ hacktivist group Anonymous, staged a “million mask march” on November the 5th 2016 to show peaceful protest against the government of today. The event page states “People should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of their people” which is again, a quote from the comic book character V.

Personally, I do believe that on the whole Guy Fawkes was “the last honest man to enter parliament.” The government of the UK evolve to be more pro elite while also seemingly less for the equal treatment and quality of life to the population as a whole.

“Behind this mask is an idea and ideas are bulletproof.”