Examination of the Use of Language in “A Clockwork Orange”
The created patch-work language of Nadsat in the novel, A Clockwork Orange, satirizes the social classes and gang life of Anthony Burgess’s futuristic society. The most prominent of these tools being his use of a completely new language and the depiction of family life from the eyes of a fifteen year old English hoodlum. Burgess effectively broke arcane traditions when he wrote A Clockwork Orange by blending two forms of effective speech into the vocabulary of the narrator and protagonist, Alex. Burgess, through his character Alex, uses the common or “proper” method of vernacular in certain situations, while uses his own inventive slang-language called “Nadsat” for others. Many experts believe that the use of these two types of language and the switching from one to another indicates a social commentary that Burgess is attempting to convey. Burgess also uses the device of the pseudo, or surrogate, family to reflect on Alex’s deep rooted desire to have some place where he can feel safe and whole.
The use of language, or that is to say the effective use of language, is a widely utilized and commonly called upon tool of literary device. People generally grasp that language is an essential component when one is trying to convey something in the form of a novel, but most people do not understand the full sense that the use of language can convey. While developing this new language to write the novel, A Clockwork Orange, Burgess looked mainly to the Russian language. Don D’Ammassa states in St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th ed:
“Burgess developed and incorporated an entirely new slang to enhance the story's atmosphere. It is loosely based on Russian, but is thoroughly logical and sounds "right," providing an even greater texture to the work. Although some editions include a glossary to explain the various words, this was an unnecessary concession to lazy readers; the sense is apparent, and the ease with which the reader adjusts to the new speech patterns is a testimony to the author's skill.” (St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th ed 1)
Burgess doesn’t just throw together some imaginative if not sloppy language from fantasy, no. Burgess’s actual goal in creating the semi-Slavic slang used by Alex and his droogs, ...
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....” Refrence Guide to English Literature, 2nd ed. Ed. D.L. Kirkpatrick. St. James Press, 1991.
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“A Clockwork Orange.” Novels for Students. Vol. 15 (2002)
settled in Monaco, where Burgess remained a prolific writer through 1980. Burgess’ writing career was at its peak while Llewela was in the hospital. Durring this emotional time he was able to write such books as A Clockwork O...
Munro, Alice. ìPrue.î The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 6th ed. Ed. Micheal Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St.Martinís, 2002. 467-469.
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.
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 ...
First published in 1962 (McNamee), follows fifteen year old Alex. The novel starts with Alex recounting a typical night of "ultraviolence" that he and his "droogs" participate in. The night includes drinking, drugs, and violence of the worst kind including rape. Eventually this lifestyle catches up to him, and Alex is arrested (Burgess 67). He is offered the opportunity to participate in an experimental procedure that it is believed will cure him of his violent behavior and his sentence is reduced (82). When he is released, Alex realizes that the treatment has rendered him effectively unable to make his own decisions about whether to do the right or the wrong thing as well as sucking pleasure out of every day things he used to enjoy such as music and art (156). Alex finds himself at the mercy of a man he had crossed in the past (167) and attempts to commit suicide (169). In the original British edition of the book, the final chapter reveals that after waking up in the hospital, Alex's went on to finally grow up and settle down, however in the first published version to reach America this final 21st chapter was left out so that the novel ended with the failing of the conditioning and Alex returning to his old ways (Jarvis).
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Although these literary works have a bleak perspective that societal values are insuperable, the characters in “The Garden Party” and “Shooting an Elephant” feel guilty for ignoring their personal moral obligations. In contrast, the main characters in “A Cup of Tea” and “July’s People” remain blissfully unaware of their blatant disregard of an ethical code; they cannot even recognize the immoral nature of their actions as it has become second nature.
As Madeleine L’Engle aptly said, “because to take away a man's freedom of choice, even his freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as though he were a puppet and not a person,” taking away freedom of choice is equivalent to stripping off humanity. Mankind has evolved to have the ability to use the mind for reason and understanding, which separates humans from beasts and machines. It is this ability that allows man to analyze and formulate different choices, and have the freedom over them. Despite the knowledge that freedom of choice is fundamental in making humans human, social control has always been one of the leading reasons to justify the removal of that freedom. Through showing the need for the loss of freedom for social stability and the resulting problems, both The Unincorporated Man and A Clockwork Orange highlight the conflict between control and freedom.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.
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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.
In A Clockwork Orange, Burgess uses unique language, contrast between day and night, and the final chapter to explore the communication gap and the generational cycle that exists within society.
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