Theme Of A Clockwork Orange - 1815 Words

Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange follows Alex as he violently navigates the streets of a futuristic, totalitarian state with his friends Pete, Georgie, and Dim. After a night of beatings and robbery, Alex and his gang break into the country house of an author and his wife. They attack the author whose manuscript, â€Å"A Clockwork Orange,† condemns any suppression of free will, and force him to watch as they rape his wife. The following night Alex attempts to assert his authority over the gang, and breaks into the house of an old, wealthy lady. In the struggle, Alex kills the woman and his friends leave him to be captured by the police. After serving two years of a fourteen-year sentence, the Minister of the Interior chooses Alex to be a†¦show more content†¦Alexander believes that by removing man’s free will, he is turned into nothing more than a clockwork orange, a hollow machine with only the appearance of organic life. This is highlighted, by Alex ander’s continued support of this belief, despite being the victim of Alex’s free will. Burgess expounds upon the importance of free will when Alex is chosen to undergo the Ludovico’s Technique. The prison chaplain provides a distinctly Christian view on the inviolability of free will as he says, â€Å"What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?† (94). The chaplain explains to Alex that an action can only be considered morally righteous if it is committed with one’s own free will. An act that is forced upon someone, even a good act, has no moral value because the one who acts has no choice. The chaplain comes to believe that the Ludovico’s Technique is in fact more evil than sin itself, as it strips away the very elements that constitute one’s humanity. Alex’s Reclamation Treatment forces the reader to question whether it is better to choose evil or to be forced to choose the good. Through the words of the chaplain, the reader understands that Burgess believes good behavior is meaningless without the ability to be wicked. The most prominent example of free will is shown through Alex’s attempted suicide. As Alex is tortured withShow MoreRelatedThe Theme Of Immorality In A Clockwork Orange1299 Words   |  6 PagesImagine every night being the blackest of nights, where even the police do not stop the criminals lurking in the corners. This is the world in Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, where a dystopian society in which juvenile delinquents roam free to terrorize the night is chronicled. Your Humble Narrator, Alex DeLarge, is a member of this appalling culture of teenagers. Over the course of the novel, he performs unspeakable acts of ultraviolence with his droogs, which land him behind bars in StajaRead More What Title? Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pages A Clockwork Orange : Chosen Evil vs. Forced Morality nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;What becomes of a man stripped of his free will? Does he continue to be a man, or does he cease? These are questions that Anthony Burgess tries to answer. Written in the middle of Burgess’ writing career, A Clockwork Orange was a reflection of a youth subculture of violence and terrorization that was beginning to emerge in the early 1960s. The novel follows Alex, a young hoodlum who is arrested for his violent actsRead More A Clockwork Orange Essay612 Words   |  3 Pages A Clockwork Orange nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;To leave out the final chapter of A Clockwork Orange is to change the entire meaning of the novel; as Burgess says in the introduction, his story is transformed into a fable. Without the last chapter the reader is left with a dark and pessimistic theme, that absolute good and evil exist in this world and it is possible for a man to be pure evil. Alex is conditioned and unconditioned, and in the end all indications point to a malicious life of crimeRead MoreComparing Kubrick s Film And Burgess Essay1494 Words   |  6 Pagesthe film narrative is perceived as less powerful as the novella. In the book, Alex’s narration accentuates his cruelty, pleasure, and lack of remorse. His pleasure is highlighted in the book displaying his dark thoughts, making the novella A Clockwork Orange appear to be a more grotesque piece in language than the film. This is evident in an act of violence, the raping of two ten-year-old girls. In the film, Alex has what appears to be consensual sex with two women around or a few youngers than himselfRead More A Clockwork Orange, by Stanley Kubrick Essay example1522 Words   |  7 PagesA Clockwork Orange is a Stanley Kubrick film from 1971. Kubrick directed the film and wrote the screen play based on the 1962 novel from author Anthony Burgess. A Clockwork Orange was originally rated, â€Å"X† and nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay, but lost in each category to William Friedkins The French Connection (filmsite.org). The set design is by John Barry, costume design by Milena Canonero, music by Wendy Carlos and cinematography by John AlcottRead MoreAnthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange987 Words   |  4 PagesImagine existing in a world run by sadistic and insane street gangs who reek havoc on innocent civilians, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Anthony Burgess created this world through his novel, A Clockwork Orange. Anthony Burgess w as born in 1917 and died in 1963. A lot of social changes occurred during this period of time, such as: the roaring twenties, prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and many more. Burgess not only lived through thoseRead MoreA Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess1034 Words   |  5 PagesImagine having stolen, raped, and even murdered all at the age of 15. The new canon of dark literature and controversy has finally hit the stage. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess written in 1962 could only be described in the old cockney expression â€Å"queer as a clockwork orange†. Meaning it is bizarre internally, but appears natural on the surface. The story begins with the protagonist and narrator Alex a 15-year-old boy, who sets the bar for the most cold-blooded and callous characters of literatureRead MoreAnalysis Of George Orwell s A Clockwork Orange 1611 Words   |  7 PagesAre you really free? Slaves to a cooperate world with pre-deter mined life plans and ‘choices’. Always connected but never truly free to do as we please. Or is this the path we are heading towards? 1984 and ‘A clockwork orange’ show a projection of a harsh dystopian future where the people are ruled over and oppressed by dictatorial governments. The minority who are brave enough to rebel are quickly brought to a halt and then conditioned to fit back into a ‘perfect’ society. In George Orwell’s novelRead MoreThe representation of youth in a clockwork orange and If....1437 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿The representation of youths in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘If†¦.’ I will be investigating how youth is represented in the films A clockwork orange (1972) and If†¦. (1968) and how the films affected the views of the time and how the films influenced youths. I have chosen to investigate these films because of how both films were released at the time of the relaxation of violence in cinema. I also chose these films because the similar themes in both films, as both films focus on youths in societyRead More A Clockwork Orange Essay: New Testament for American Youth?1139 Words   |  5 PagesA Clockwork Orange – New Testament for American Youth? In Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, he observes a characteristic of youth that has been documented from the story of Icaris to the movie Rebel without a Cause. Through his ingenious method of examination of this characteristic, the sci-fi novel, he has created an aspect of what he chose to observe: Rebellion. Our hero, Alex, begins the novel by explaining his mischeviouse exploits in a manner not far from nostalgia, that is tainted