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Essay a clockwork orange
Discuss the importance of free will / choice in the novel A Clockwork Orange
A clockwork orange free will
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A Clockwork Orange, a novel written by Anthony Burgess in the 1960’s takes place in dystopian future in London, England. The novel is about a fifteen year old nadsat (teenager) named Alex who along with his droogs (friends) commit violent acts of crime and opts to be bad over good. In time, Alex finds himself to be in an experiment by the government, making him unable to choose between good and evil, thus losing his ability of free will, and being a mere clockwork orange. A “clockwork orange” is a metaphor for Alex being controlled by the government, which makes him artificial because he is unable to make the decision of good verses evil for himself and is a subject to what others believe is right. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess utilizes contrast, symbolism, and the first person narrative point of view to illustrate and enhance the theme of free will, because a person who lack’s the ability to choose between good and evil, is not really a human being. Therefore, for the duration of Part One, Alex possesses the ability of free will yet decides to be evil by committing violent ...
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.
There are many books that have been banned or challenged, but the one that is being presented in this paper is Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. The topic of this paper is to inform you of many things and when you have finished it will have you leaving asking yourself one question. First, a summary of A Clockwork Orange will be shared with you, so that you can have an insight as to how the rest of the paper relates to the book. Second, you will find out where, why and when the book was banned and/or challenged and you will discover what the book contains that would “offend” people. Finally, you will discover the literary merit of this book, which means you will discover if is a work of quality.
“In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.” A quote by Eugene V Debs in his speech in Canton, Ohio, on June 16, 1918. Enter dystopia. In a universe already tarnished by future time and changing, pessimistic ideals or unconventional social standards, tyrants have the tendency to act as the main antagonist who enforce the moral laws of their worlds upon the innocent. And in George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the authors explore the ideas of dystopic tyrants though antagonists O’Brien and Mustapha Mond, who portray their ability to control through their individual societies’ extreme ideals
The film, “A Clockwork Orange,” is, to me, an almost exact replica of today’s society. Basically, one kid, who seems to have come from a financially sound home and community, goes through about three stages--1. He violates the laws society has set forth to maintain order. 2. He is caught and punished for his crimes against society. 3. He feels remorse for his violence and sexually deviance (although, at the end of the film, he’s back to his old, delinquent self).
Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World, George Orwell 's 1984, and Anthony Burgess ' A Clockwork Orange all present a distinct, multi-faceted dystopia. Elements of the human psyche are exploited in order to preserve each civilization. Any threat of defiance is thoroughly investigated and the three governments engage strategies to handle them. Although the customs and laws are different in the respective societies, each demonstrates the extremes of behavior, the power of conditioning, and the innate need to belong.
Simions, Minodora O. "FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND MORAL CONSEQUENCES IN ANTHONY BURGESS’ A CLOCKWORK ORANGE." (2013): 65-68. Web. 21 May 2013.
Who controls your memory you or the government? In the novel 1984, written by George Orwell, the main character Winston Smith lives in a totalitarian controlled country with strict unwritten rules about showing emotion or thought. He starts a rebeling love affair with Julia, a highly sexual being with a cunning spirit, that leads him to O'Brien who reveals secrets of The Brotherhood. Throughout his story history is manipulated to suit the present and destroy the past. All reasons are to make the government have more control over their citizens of Oceania.
George Orwell's 1984 and The Lego Movie, are two texts which develop the theme that if one desires to obtain control one feels the need to alter feelings, capabilities and even the world seen in reality, which can result in a artificial society lacking the presence of human nature. In 1984 the Party of Oceania and the antagonist, President Business in The Lego Movie portray similar characteristics and goals which connect to the theme. In 1984 the ideology of thoughtcrime and the cotton swab in The Lego Movie portrays similar meanings which connect to the theme. In both the pieces of literature, there are totalitarian controlled communities. They are both controlled by hierarchies who's only determination is perfection and complete control over their society. In 1984, the Big Brother and the Party have total control over their society by asking the citizens to perfect the ideology of thought crime. They have the perfect vision of a society where people only love and worship the Party. In the Lego Movie, President Business wants to have a perfect society who only follows the rules given to them by him; if what he wills is not fulfilled he uses a cotton swab to perfect the blemish which would make his society perfect. In this society there are TVs everywhere displaying propaganda and there is also a 24/7 surveillance system. The two hierarchies illusion of a perfect society to obtain control, requires the loss of human nature and human creativity. This consequently involves the sacrifice of freedom of thought, speech and the expression of emotions .
The book 1984, by George Orwell is based on the theory of “Big Brother” and how he is always watching you. In the book, the Oceania government controls their citizens by saying and ordering them into not doing certain things. Which then forced their citizens to deceive their government by going in to hiding. When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Japanese-Americans were ordered to do certain things as well. Both of these two events prove that the government can force their citizens to do anything under their power. I think some parts of the government abuse the right of their power and manipulate their citizens into doing unlawful events.
Amidst a population composed of perfectly conditioned automatons, is a picture of a society that is slowly rotting from within. Alex, the Faustian protagonist of A Clockwork Orange, and a sadistic and depraved gang leader, preys on the weak and the innocent. Although perhaps misguided, his conscientiousness of his evil nature indicates his capacity to understand morality and deny its practice. When society attempts to force goodness upon Alex, he becomes the victim. Through his innovative style, manifested by both the use of original language and satirical structure, British author Anthony Burgess presents in his novella A Clockwork Orange, the moral triumph of free will within the controlling hands of a totalitarian society.
Today’s modern world may not be exactly like 1984, but there are some issues that are very similar to it. Some of the biggest issues that is becoming compromised today is the issue of privacy, which in the book 1984 was something that the people did not have much of because of things like telescreens. Not only is our privacy compromised but the government is also being too controlling. Ways today’s privacy is being compromised are through things like game consoles, phones, social media, and drones and not only is our being compromised through these things but the government is also gaining too much control by compromising our privacy.
In the dystopian themed novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, all have ideas that directly relate to each other. The connecting threads woven throughout the books is symbolism, the rebellious anti-heros, repression of sexulaity, and the parallels between the unwanted individuals in each novel.
The novel 1984 by George Orwell presents the readers an image of a totalitarian society that explores a world of control, power, and corruption. The main idea of government control presents itself in the novel by protecting and listening to the people of Oceania. However, Orwell suggests giving too much power to the government is a mistake because eventually the decisions they make will not be about the people anymore but rather themselves. In 1984, the power and corruption the party has is overwhelming for the people. There are no ways around the beliefs of the Party, the party attempts to control and eventually destroy any mental or physical resistance against their beliefs. The agenda for the party is to obtain mind control over its people and force them to adore their leader. The methods the Party uses to achieve its goal are: the use of constant propaganda and surveillance, the rewriting of history, and Room 101.
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.
In the novel A Clockwork Orange, the author Anthony Burgess tells a story about a young man name Alex and his friends, every night they go around and start committing violent acts. In the novel Alex expresses his freedom of choice between good and evil. The freedom of choice is a decision that every person must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and to take control of his own future. This Freedom of Choice, no matter what the outcome is, displays person power as an individual, and any efforts to control or influence this choice between good and evil will take way the person free will and enslave him. In this novel the author uses this symbolism through imagery. He shows that through the character of Alex, and the first person narrative point of view to prove that without the ability to choose between good and evil person becomes a slave.