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clockwork orange critical essay
analysis of a clockwork orange
elements of violence in literature
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Music, Violence, and Identity in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange
Linking the fundamental conflict between individual identity and societal identity with musical imagery in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange creates a lens through which one can recognize the tendency that violence has to destroy an individual’s identity. Although Alex clearly associates violence with his own individual identity and sense of self, he consistently reveals the impossibility of remaining an individual in the face of group-oriented violence. Images drawn from the realm of music parallel the destruction of Alex’s identity, either through conformity to a group’s style of violence or through failure to embrace the homogeneity of group actions associated with violence. As Alex’s narrative progresses, musical imagery follows the decline and re-emergence of his personal identity as a function of his involvement in violence. Musical references underscore the power of violence to negate individual identity in favor of group identity, thereby illuminating the destructive effect that violence as on the human personality.
One musical image, the "ode to Joy" from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, illustrates the manner in which violence steals the identity of an individual and replaces it with a group identity. As Alex puts on the last movement of Beethoven’s symphony, he "feels the old tigers leap in [him]" (46),1 and he forces himself on the two young girls he has brought with him to his den. The rape of these two girls by Alex appears to constitute an individual act of the self, and indeed the vocal section in the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony begins with an individual voice, without any accompaniment. Alex offers this explanation: ...
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...ty of the group. Group violence in prison leads to a dream in which Alex literally becomes an instrument of the orchestra, a material object without individual character or identity. In the final chapter however Alex departs (at least temporarily) from a violent way of life. The Lieder, or the personalized sound of a single human voice, invoked in connection with Alex’s departure from violence, announces the return of individual identity. In helping to clarify the role that violence plays in the destruction of individual identity, musical references in Burgess’ work reveal the annihilation of self as the ultimate end of violence.
Works Cited
1. Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1986).
2. Ludwig Van Beethoven, "Libretto," Symphony #9, Arturo Toscanini dir., Louis Untermeyer trans., NBC Symphony Orchestra, BGM 1990.
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.
The Australian Curriculum has been a 'long time coming', but its great that it is almost here now. The Australian Curriculum has been designed with some relation to Tyler and Skillbeck's models. It is suspected that theorists such as Piaget were also considered during the development. The Australian Curriculum relates to Piaget's stages of progression, with curriculum being designed for specific levels of maturation and development. With students of this generation, it was incredibly important that an updated, curriculum was to be designed so that it could facilitate the needs of the 21st century learners. This new generation of learners seem to be almost born with basic computer skills, so the ICT program has been completely redeveloped. The curriculum has also expanded to make way for Asian studies which will help students as they move into their careers. The Australian Curriculum has been developed to cover a broad range of topics, concerns and values that will be discussed throughout this paper.
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
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...
Without stress life is empty. No matter where we go stress will be there always. Stress is a big problem for college students. The first year of college is a new adventure, but there is few challenges to on the way. On a college campus, student’s life change — behavior, academic performance, career or major choice, and values. Faced with many kind of common stress, managing stress, finance, academic performance, symptoms of stress, stress and mental stress. "You can determine how you use your time or by default, let others plan it for you," says Beverly Coggins. Coggins believes that in order to calm college student stress we need to have a grasp on our own passions and priorities so that we’re in a stronger position to not be led around by the whims of other.
Profanity is a subject that many of us find ourselves not only intimidated by, but also unable to define. Is it simply a particular group of words that should not be uttered in polite company, or is it drastically more complicated? During the last 60 years, the American populace has found themselves spinning into what many consider to be a downward spiral with the issue of morality. In the following pages I am going to discuss what I consider to be the definition of profanity, by giving an overview of the now infamous “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” monologue performed, and written by George Carlin. I will also discuss some of Lenny Bruce’s ideology, and the legal, and public persecution both groundbreaking, 1st-amendment-advocate comedians faced. I am going to show how through these men’s actions we now have more freedoms, and their influence of the definition of profane behavior in mainstream media, and also that the idea of profanity is a farce that should be buried next to slavery, war, and marriage being between a man and a woman in the list of human idea’s that simply do not make any sense.
Glenn Altschuler addresses the difficulties and conundrums associated with entering college in his article “Adapting to College Life in an Era of Heightened Stress” He presents the experience of Kate Wilkinson and her feeling of unpreparedness for college. Glenn brings together statistical evidence to show how students are more stressed today than any time in the past. Glenn presents many solutions to decrease stress and uses Henry David Thoreau’s short story “Walden” as a basis of how stressed students should come back to a state of relaxation by meditating on what really matters in life.
4 Giancola, J.K., Grawitch, M.J., and Borchert, D. (2009). Dealing with the stress of college: A
National Health Ministries (2006). Stress & The College Student. The University of Illinois at Chicago. http://www.uic.edu/depts/wellctr/docs/Stress%20and%20the%20College%20Student.pdf
Genetically modified foods most commonly refers to the plants, which has been modified in the laboratory to enhance improved nutritional content and aimed traits created for human beings and animals. With progress in various types of technology, especially in genetic engineering, farmers and scientists have changed the way in which food is grown and made, raising questions about the methods, their risks and possible effects. It is not a secret that GMF-ed foods have spread out rapidly to the whole world. GMFs have raised concerns over their own beneficial in that they are resistant to diseases, produces greater yields, and it improves the nutrition of foods making the people unaware about their effects. Every time we go to any grocery stores or supermarkets, we would not know whether the vegetables, fruits or even meats being sold are genetically modified. To make this situation worse, most consumers do not pay much attention to what they are eating, when they are actually consuming modified foods.
Driscoll, Emily. “Stress in College: What Causes it and How to Combat it.” Online posting. 31
Stress presents itself in different ways. Some students may experience changes in sleep and eating patterns, increased frequency of headaches, increased levels of frustration and anger, being more irritable than normal, recurring colds and minor illnesses, frequent muscle aches and tightness, being more disorganized than usual, greater sense of persistent time pressure and increased difficulty in getting things done. Stressed college students may express multiple symptoms at once, which may render them incapable of completing assignments or even doing daily tasks. It is important to learn how to recognize when stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on students. They get used to it and it starts to feels familiar. Students do not notice how much it is affecting them, even as it takes a heavy toll. The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, ...
Driscoll, E. (2013) Stress in College: What Causes it and How to Combat it, FOX Business, 73(12)
Gregory.J.R, Frazer.H. (1986). An Academic Stress Scale: Identification and Rated Importance Of Academic Stressors, 59, 2-6.