The meaning behind the War Boys’ hand gesture in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
Far too many modern franchises dedicate far too much time to over-explaining every aspect of their mythologies, but George Miller’s Mad Max continues to thrive while refraining from exposition in favour of allowing audiences to figure it out for themselves, with the War Boys a pivotal extension of the lore.
Essentially, the armed forces of the Citadel, Immortan Joe’s minions are handpicked at a young age to become indoctrinated to the ruthless warlord’s cause. Blindly following every order tossed their way, they’re happy to ride straight into the face of danger with the worst case scenario being a glorious death.
Once welcomed into the fold, the War Boys are rechristened with new identities and steeped in the knowledge of the cult of V8, where anything mechanical is borderline deified. If things go their way, they’ll be welcomed into Valhalla, having made the ultimate sacrifice, with anything less being viewed as a titanic failure of existence.
The War Boys play a significant part in Miller’s prequel Furiosa, too, making them one of the most important new additions to the sprawling saga alongside the future Imperator herself. The world of the Wasteland has its own set of rules, regulations, laws, and hierarchies, of which the cult of V8 is king.
It’s been hammered into them from a very young age that this is the only life worth living, and the signature hand gesture made by the War Boys is indicative of their commitment to the cause. Interlocking their hands to create a V-shape with eight fingers protruding, the symbolism may be obvious, but it’s integral to who they are.
“In this culture, the sign of the V8 engine is not even fetishised,” Miller explained on the Truth & Movies podcast. “It’s almost seen as a religious part of it.” What is a cult other than a religion than any other name, really? Beyond that, though, the desire to worship the mighty engine runs much deeper.
What is the cult of the V8?
The cult of the V8 is effectively the society of the Citadel, with the War Boys treating the engine as a symbol of power. Immortan Joe is basically a god in their eyes, and as such, they view him as the only person who holds the metaphorical keys guaranteeing entry to Valhalla.
With technology and fuel being so scarce in the Wasteland, anyone either in possession of such rare resources or possessing the ability to worship at the feet of somebody who transforms the V8 from being something used to power a car into a godlike creation that contains the very essence of what the War Boys live for.
Why do the war boys worship the V8 engine?
Other than ‘because they’re told to from a very young age’, the reasons the War Boys worship the V8 stems from how Immortan Joe has drilled it into them that the engine has near-mythic properties.
Thanks to the rhetoric they’ve been exposed to since childhood, it’s been indoctrinated into the War Boys that the V8 is a conduit between the living world and Valhalla, which is partly why they can often be found referring to themselves as ‘half-lives’.
The first half of that life is on the mortal plane, but the second doesn’t begin until they die in combat with a V8 close to hand, sending them straight into Valhalla to enjoy the eternity of the afterlife.
