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. Before I get into all the specifics I’m going to give you a summary of the book I picked 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. However, Alex is eventually caught and is sent to jail. After killing a fellow cellmate Alex is chosen to undergo a new “treatment” that the State has developed to “reform” criminals. After the State strips him of his choice to choose between good and evil, Alex can only do good now and even thinking of doing something bad makes him violently ill. Then, Alex is “rehabilitated” considered “rehabilitated”. Afterwards Alex is released where he encounters an “ex-droog” and one of his enemies, they beat him to a pulp and leave him out in the middle of nowhere. After coming to his senses, Alex makes his way to a house and in that house, right before Alex went to prison, h... ... middle of paper ... ...ts to think it’s all rainbows in sunshine when it’s not. But defiance of authoritative figures, and a dystopian society, how is the offensive? In the book Alex defies everyone; the law, the millicents, his parents, his parole officer, and the societal norms(for our society). People are shocked by the violence Alex commits and “the apparent lack of moral condemnation of it by the author.” (Gordon) They are offended by the dystopian society because of the chaos and the violence and the fear and everything else that comes with a dystopian society. Where no one is good and it’s a dog eat dog world, a “kill or be killed” kind of world. People hate conflict and they don’t like to see the truth. They would rather believe everything is sunshine and rainbows instead of what it truly is chaos, destruction, a persistent battle between good and bad, violence, degradation, etc.
In conclusion it is seen that Alex has effectively changed into a man and has become a morally sensitive individual. He, for himself has chosen good
Very few modern or even classical novels present a psychological tale like that presented in Anthony Burgess's magnum opus and controversial novel, A Clockwork Orange. The novel follows the protagonist and narrator, Alex, who is not a given a surname until the film adaptation. Alex, while the protagonist of the novel, is a violent person up to the second to last chapter of the novel. However, the underlying psychology behind every one of Alex's actions rings true and presents a compelling argument about the nature of free will, violence, and what makes a man human.
discussion with the higher officials in the prison, Alex is chose to be a guinea
Anthony Burgess wrote a few sci fi books over the span of his life. Clockwork Orange and Earthly Powers being the most popular. Clockwork Orange was later adapted to a movie in 1971 by Stanley Kubrick. Burgess hated the movie adaptation because it wasn’t exactly what he pictured and felt it was very dramatic. Even if Kubrick followed the plot, his visions were colorful and sexual escapade brought to life.
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.
When he meets his friends he notices that there is some kind of tension between them. Then the start a new tour were they find a great house for playing a trick. They play the same trick but at that time the old woman in the house is suspicious and doesn’t open the door. So Alex goes alone through the window. While he steals some things, the woman phones the police. As they meet each other they start fighting. Alex quite kills the old lady and the police arrest him. He is found guilty for murder and should go to prison for fourteen years.
A Clockwork Orange was claimed by many to be Burgess's greatest accomplishment. The main character, Alex, is a young teen with a drive for violence, rape and general rebellion without remorse, yet he still has a charming intelligent quality. The law finally catches him and he is convicted of murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. After two years he becomes aware of a route to early release and after killing a cellmate he is elected (almost voluntarily) to be the first to travel it. However, the process is not at all what he expected it to be. He soon finds himself being subjected to immoral films and induced illness to condition him to become ill at even the thought of a "bad" act. When conditioning is complete, A...
Within the confines of the seventies Londoner. The character, Alex is created as the ultimate juvenile delinquent leading a small gang. Living within his own world the use of old Londoner language and attire reflect the non-conformity with society. Let loose within a large metropolitan, Alex is engulfed in the affairs of several criminal practices, from rape to aggravated assault. As a juvenile delinquent, Alex is finally caught and seen as an adult offender. Like all offenders he promotes his innocence and sets blame upon his companions. "Where are the others? Where are my stinking traitorous droogs? One of my cursed grahzny bratties chained me on the glazzies. Get them before they get away. It was their idea, brothers. They like forced me to do it".
Adapted from Anthony Burgess’ 1962 novel, A Clockwork Orange is in part a response to psychological behaviorism and the age of classical conditioning. While in prison, Alex is selected for a special treatment that will cure him of his impulses to rape and brutalize. The treatment is in fact a simple conditioning process—Alex’s eyes are propped open and his body restrained so that he must watch a series of graphic images while experiencing an injection induced illness. The illness becomes his conditioned response to brutality, rape, and, accidentally, his much beloved Beethoven’s 9th symphony....
A Clockwork Orange is written in the first person by the main character, Alex. This makes the story more personable by allowing the reader to see into the mind of Alex as he goes through the many changes that he does. Three of his friends or droogs that help him in his crimes are Dim, Pete, and Georgie. Throughout the story the author creates his own language called nadsat, which is used by the youth of the futuristic world and is at the height of fashion. Nadsat is a mix of Russian, English, and the slang words of both. It is meant to set the violence apart from reality, making it almost cartoon like.
Petix, Esther. "Linguistics, Mechanics, and Metaphysics: Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange (1962)." Critical Essays on Anthony Burgess. Ed. Geoffrey Aggler. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986. pp. 121-131.
As stated in many other summaries and analogies of the book, the ethics derived from the book revolve around the topic of choice. Is a person truly moral if their “benevolence” comes from forced conditioning as opposed to their personal choice for compassion? Does programmed decency towards people ultimately possess superiority over a natural psychosis? It can be argued that programmed decency protects the happiness of the main population, but natural psychosis comes from the choice of the individual, and protects their happiness (if the psychosis served as a source of joy for the individual to begin with, not insanity that brings about manic-depression and whatnot). Building the character of Alex to fully express the story and the questions the book will eventually pose doubtlessly requires the use of savage raping, theft, and the vicious, bloody beatings administered to many common people; these portions of A
A “clockwork orange” can be described as something that has a convincing outer appearance yet in the inside is merely controlled by outer influences, such as a clock set in motion by its owner. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess takes us into the future where violent criminals are forced to be “good,” and introduces us to Alex, a young teen who engages in a life of rape, ultra-violence, and Beethoven with his “droogs,” or friends, and talks in the slang language of “nadsat.” He goes through various phases in his life, evolving into a more mature level of thinking; each of these phases can be seen as clockwork orange. What makes this novel so realistic however, is how real Alex really is and how each of his phases into maturity represents a part of us.
Alex, the protagonist of A Clockwork Orange, is a textbook example of the bad boy stereotype. The night time, with sufficiently decreased police patrol, is his prime time. He and his “droogs” spend their nights assaulting citizens, robbing corner stores, and raping women. Unfortunately for Alex, on one of these nights, while robbing the home of an elderly woman, he is betrayed by his “droogs” and arrested by the police. His life is completely turned around. While in prison, he is frequently beaten by guards and has to fight off other inmates trying to sexually assault him. However, Alex escapes these threats by being chosen for a new correctional program for prisoners. This program, called Ludovico’s Technique, involves the
Alex is back to his old self again, thinking bad thoughts, crasting, and doing a bit of the ultra-violent. However, he quickly grows tired of his old lifestyle. When he comes to this realization, Alex says, “…now I felt this bolshy big hollow inside my plott, feeling very surprised too at myself. I knew what was happening, O my brothers. I was like growing up.” Even though he as regained the freedom of choice, can choose badness if he wants to, Alex exerts his freedom in a new way, he chooses goodness. He is truly cured.