This essay will examine the novels A Clock Work Orange, written by Anthony Burgess and Misery written by Stephen King in conjunction with the novels respective films directed by Stanley Kubrick (A Clock Work Orange) and Rob Reiner (Misery). Both of these works share several themes in common with one another, as do the main characters within them. However the two themes I intend to work with are the themes of speech and violence as modes of expressing critiques, and the theme of non-conformity and its consequences. I intend to prove, using these themes, that conformity and critiques of it breed social outliers, contrarians and non-conformists. These people often act out through violence, and unacceptable actions. In order to prove this thesis correct I will be utilizing material from both novels, evidence from specific quotes and scenes within the films as well as notes from our class discussions and lectures.
Alex from a Clock Work Orange is a prime example of a youth who is resistant of his surrounding environment and society. He expresses himself through violent actions as described in the novel and seen in the film when he and his “droogs” take part in a gang fight, several instances of rape, breaking and entering into two different residences through force, one of which resulted in a murder and the assault of a homeless man for no particular reason to name a few. In order to deconstruct Alex’s behavior we have to examine the society he exists in. Alex exists in a society and culture which appears to be a highly consumer oriented culture which leads to conformity amongst the citizens of that society. Alex seems to have no interest in what is popular, whether it is material goods, music of the time period, or ideologi...
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...fusing to conform to what is readers and agent want. It is not an apparent them in the novel or film that Paul is attempting to be non-conformist, but we do know that King wrote this character as a vehicle to express the frustrations that many writers face when dealing with pressures from fans, publishers and book agents.
In conclusion both the characters of Alex and Annie Wilkes, use speech and violence to express their criticisms of their respective environments. Neither character seems to recognize the possibility of consequence and are only concerned with either rejecting the environment/culture in which they and attempt to alter or control the aspects of it with which they disagree.
Works cited:
Burgess, Anthony. A Clock-Work Orange. New York: Ballantine, 1963. Print.
King, Stephen. Misery. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking, 1987. Print.
Both Alex and Clinton struggle with problems of their family and others. Alex feels as if he is treated different when hes is, but thats not what he wants everyone to treat him as,by his family, Jennifer, and other people. Clinton is treated as an outcast, his friends don’t want to hang out with him no more and his little sister treats him as a monster. He begins to realized what he ha...
There have been many books published solely on philosophy, and many more than that solely written about human nature, but very infrequently will a book be published that weaves these fields together as well as A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. In this Book Burgess speculated on the fact “the significance of maturing by choice is to gain moral values and freedoms.” He achieved this task by pushing his angsty teenaged character, Alex, through situations that challenge the moral values of himself and his friends. In the novel, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, Alex himself, must choose good over evil in order to gain moral values which will allow him to mature into a “man” in the latter of his two transformations.
to read. A Clockwork Orange is an interesting book, to say the least, about a young teenager, named Alex, who has lost his way, so to speak, and commits several serious crimes. These crimes that Alex and his “droogs” commit include: murdering, raping, beat downs, robbery, etc.
In the film A Clockwise Orange, Alex is an avid drug user and also an avid drinker that causes his to lash out at the littlest things that set him off. He does things that the normal human being would consider to be crazy or socially wrong. After a night of nearly killing Mr. Alexander and raping his wife the following day he is out as if nothing had ever happened and he is warned by his probation officer to keep a low profile. That night he visits a store where he picks up two girls and brings them home with ...
Although the 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner, Ray Bradbury, has written many remarkable novels, the one novel that captured both my eye and my interest was Fahrenheit 451. The metaphors in this novel I will gladly explain to my classmates about the themes such as resistance, the metaphors, and the characters within the novel. I believe that the overall violence and resistance will be a major key as to why there are conformity and fear within the society. Bradbury had written this novel after a series of previous novels such as, The Pedestrian, leading to this and was inspired by not only the 1950s television generation but also by an incident that occurred, “when he and a friend were stopped by members of the Los Angeles police for walking.” (Seed “Ray Bradbury” 84) In this paper, I will analyze Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, and clarify the novel’s content.
Society often pressures individuals within it to conform to different ideals and norms. This stems from the fact that individuals in a society are expected to act in a certain way. If a person or group of people do not satisfy society’s expectations, they are looked down upon by others. This can lead to individuals isolating themselves from others, or being isolated from others, because they are considered as outcasts. The emotional turmoil that can result from this, as well as the internal conflict of whether or not to conform, can transform an individual into a completely different person. This transformation can either be beneficial or harmful to the individual as well as those around them. The individual can become an improved version of himself or herself but conversely, they can become violent, rebellious and destructive. The novels Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess both explore the negative effects experienced by individuals living within the confines of society’s narrow-mindedness. In A Clockwork Orange, protagonist Alex was the leader of a small group of teenage criminals. He did not have a healthy relationship with either one of his parents or with others around him. Instead he spent most of his time alone during the day and at night roamed the streets in search of victims he could mug or rape. In Fight Club the unnamed protagonist was an outcast in his community. He chose to distance and isolate himself from others and as a result had no friends, with the exception of Tyler Durden and Marla Singer. Due to his isolation, he often participated in nightly fights that took place in Fight Club so that he could relieve his anxiety and stress. In this way, Alex and the unnamed protagoni...
In A Clockwork Orange, Alex is the main person responsible for most of the violence in his society. His crimes go from rapping to beatings, to murder. When introduced to the Ludovico treatment, later on in the story, events reveal that other members of his society are also capable of Alex’s similar behavior. People who were affected by Alex’s actions are the ones that give an understanding of how their society is. They get their vengeance later on in the story.
To begin, Alex and his group of friends go about the night to wreak havoc and act rebellious. You would thing Alex would have parents who don’t really car about him but that is quite the opposite. He just lies to them and tells them that he has a job and that’s why he is out late. Early in the novel we see right off the bat that he and his friends take hallucinogenic drugs that are placed inside of milkshakes. This along with Beethoven symphony pushes him and his friends to roam the streets terrorizing the elderly, rob convenience stores, and rape women. On one occasion they come across an old man in the streets and they torment him, beating and kicking him until he starts to vomit. On another occasion, the droogs break into a house, raid the pantry, destroy the husband’s literature, and even rape the wife. Soon after, he gets in a fight over dominance in the group with Georgie. Cutting hi...
Conformity plagues one’s existence and stature in today’s society. Due to government intervention in citizens’ daily lives, many writers have questioned the morality of conformity in a society by the means of control. When control becomes rampant fascist and totalitarian governments are formed, and because of the rise in fascism and totalitarianism, many people were led to conform social ideals. Therefore, George Orwell critiques conformity within society through the use of Big Brother, Proles, and Winston.
Society has always functioned on the premise that a person must adjust their behaviour in accordance with what is deemed socially acceptable at that time. If administrated to the fullest extent, the theme of conformity can be detrimental to the stability and growth of a community. Through analyzing the dystopian narrative elements of Sherri Jacksons’ works, readers are able to distinguish how the theme of conformity is still prevalent to humans today as it expresses the need for order and organization, eliminates fear of the unknown, and promotes society functioning as a whole with limited individuation. The author depicts this reoccurring normative event, to stress the notion that there is something fundamentally wrong with society.
Anthony Burgess integrates many social issues today between the Government and People into Clockwork Orange. Many of the issues that Alex faces along with the government are relatable in today’s society. Within the story Anthony Burgess teaches us how people act and how the government works in a more brutal way, The Clockwork Orange expresses this through free-will, maturity and karma, and treatment of people.
As teenagers deviate from the constraining grasp of their parents, they begin to establish their own identity through decisions; however, their development of self-identification is frequently hindered by manipulation of societal institutions such as: justice system, religion, and media. Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, establishes the idea of freewill and how it is suppressed when Alex, the main protagonist, undergoes the manipulative Ludovico's technique, religious lectures, and social norms influenced by media- used to instill pain when Alex's desires violence/music and finding salvation, which is similar to the treatment of criminals in our society; ultimately utilized to mitigate crime, but also suppresses freewill through repercussions, fear, police officials, indelible ads, and the law. Therefore, American citizens are not privileged with the power of choice because the hindering paradox that exists in society: possessing the ability to consciously establish identity is entwined with manipulation, subliminally.
Banned for social reasons in many conditions and in many school systems, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange first seems to pierce the mind with its bizarre linguistic orgy of debauchery, brutality, and sex, and for some, refuses to affect them above the level of pure voyeurism and bloodlust (either for reveling in it or despising it). Sadism seems to twist the male protagonist; his mind becomes alive with brutal fantasies whilst listening to seemingly innocuous classical music ( “There were vecks and ptitsas, both young and starry, lying on the ground screaming for mercy, and I was smecking all over my rot and grinding my boot in their litsos.”). Many arguments have been made about the censorship of this novella which “glorifies sex and violence;” however, these elements are clearly manipulated for plot development and character development, and ultimately, the story does pose a moral lesson.
The novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by Anthony Burgess is set in a dystopia, a society that cannot truly exist, and is usually a depiction of what the author believes the future will, heavily emphasizing negative aspects of society. The novel is set in an ultra-violent dystopia, in a society in where he government lacks power to control the youth who regularly terrorize the civilian populations. The author describes these gangs with great detail, using their slang (Nadsat) throughout the novel, and describes with excruciating detail the pain and torment that the victims of the crime go through. However, the victims of his ultra-violence are not the group that is marginalized in this text, the feelings and opinions of a largely forgotten yet important group within the society and throughout the novel as a whole are being suppressed. Even through Alex and his ‘droogs’ assault a multitude of people, seemingly, the gang prefers one group within the dystopian society, namely the group that is marginalized, women.
All Alex knew was to be violent due to the failure and lack of family structure, the school system and the law. The lack of these assertive institutions Alex couldn’t properly generate proper moral values and social norms. According to Mead he analyzed that a child gets some sort of understanding of how to act properly by how others act toward the child. Later on in the child’s development he/she learns and understands “the generalized other”, values and cultural rules (textbook). Alex was never pressured into going to school, there is one scene where his mother wakes him and tells him to get ready for school and Alex tells her “he doesn’t feel like going today” and that was the end of it. With Alex missing out on school he never really self-aware and knowledgeable. His family is absent also. Again with Alex telling his mother he doesn’t feel like going to school and his mother just lets it go shows the carelessness of his parents. Alex can pretty much do whatever he wants when he wants. With their lack of parenting he never truly gained proper values and morals and instead he created his own by the morals and values his “droogs” know. He had many run in’s with the police even before he was