A Clockwork Orange Essay: Existentialist Analysis

Alex matures and grows through his experiences in China and is now aware of the human consequences that war has. Alex’s growth and maturity is shown when his dad is captured by PLA. Proof of this is when Alex and his dad are talking over the two way radio before Ted gets captured. He is very concerned for his Dad at this point in the book. This event is the beginning of Alex’s awakening. This event hits Alex hard and makes him realize the reality behind war. Another event that helps Alex articulate his new vision of war is when he sees Lau Xu die right in front of his eyes. He even describes the details of the shooting when he says “Crack! Lau Xu spun around, his arms flung skyward. Before he fell the AK 47 spit flame again and the burst blew Lao xu off his feet” (Bell 114). Another example of Alex’s growth leading up to his epiphany of hating war is when Xin-hua gets shot. This happens when Alex starts to beg the officer to let her go and says” Please let me talk to your commanding officer. I just want to-...CRACK. The sound of a single gunshot. I turned to look into the trees where they had taken Xin-Hua. Oh God no, I moaned. No, No ,Nooooooo!” (Bell 183). Alex is now fully aware of the horrible consequences of war after witnessing the death of his friends and his father getting

Alex Johnson was moving to Hollywood, California. He moved there because his dad had recently died in a police shooting,his mom had lost her job as a manager for a bank, and he was having trouble in school. Alex just wanted to restart his life.When they moved Alex thought he would never fit in.

In part one of the novel, we witness the ability of free will that Alex possesses and his ability to choose between good and evil through contrast presented by darkness of night and lightness of day. At the beginning of the novel, Alex and his droogs (friends), Pete, Georgie, and Dim are at the Kovova Milkbar, roaming the streets and committing violent acts during night. Alex and his droogs encounter an old man who is drunk and is singing a sentimental song. Alex instantly chooses the path of evil with the free will that he encompasses, and along with his droogs they beat the old man while laughing at his misery. The old man complains about the “stinking world” and says, “It’s a stinking world because it lets the young get on to the old like you done, and there’s no law nor order no more.” (Part 2, Chapter 2, Page 12) At night, Alex uses violence and chooses to beat, rape, and murder innocent people because it shows that he has freedom of choice and has authority and power in society. Alex’s interpretation of darkness and night is, “The night belonged to me and my droogs and all the rest of the nadsats (teenagers), and the starry bourgeois lurked indoors…” (Part 1, Chapter 4, Page 33). In contrast,

Alex realizes that at eighteen he is no longer a child, but rather an adult who has not yet amounted to anything. He comes to realize that he would like to start a family of his own, with a wife and son like Pete. He makes a comparison between youth and a windup toy, saying how they continue moving forward in one direction until there is something to block its path. He says that this is a fundamental fact of youth: youth will always make mistakes, as he has, and that this is what leads to the growth into an adult. He realizes the connection that exists between violence and youth, and that free will is more than just violence but making choices based on morality and thought rather than

First, I have a couple of questions for this book. My first question is why did the people come after Alex? I processed it over and he was doing illegal actions. The law was cracking down on unlawful behavior. My second colossal question is why was he sentenced to the most security prison? He did a smallish crime

Then we tripped him he laid down flat and heavy and a bucketload of of beer-vomit came whooshing out.  That was disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song not vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot.  Then we went on our way." (Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, 18)This is particularly true in regards to his victims throughout the story. One of the first examples is seen in the book when he attacks an innocent old man returning from the library. However in the film, it’s a drunken tramp sitting in an alley. This minor detail entirely effects the impression Alex has on the reader, being that the innocence of the old man is less conceivable to commit vicious acts of violence against. This contrast continues and increases in vulgarity as the book progresses, he rapes two ten-year-old girls he’s gotten drunk on Scotch and soda in a horrifying chapter that escalates in casual

Previous research suggests that Alex DeLarge, a fictional character created by Anthony Burgess, was the epitome of evil. However, previous research has not considered the environmental, socio-economical, and physiological dispositions that molded him into the person he became. Hence, in this paper, it is argued that Alex DeLarge is at a greater risk for Antisocial Personality Disorder than most members of the general population. This is important because it allows us to view beyond the theatrics and the metaphors into a character that is mentally unstable not a villainous caricature in the eyes of the audience.

Alex is a young man who seems to be very well educated but does something that gives him the allusion of a "nutcase." Since he seems to be well educated, Alex has probably lived most his life studying and staying in school to learn but never got a chance to experience life outside of his town.The book states that he had not talked to his parents for two years for reasons unknown and it could be suspected that he then realized that this was his chance to escape into the wilderness and live off the land for as long as he wanted to. He seems determined and excited to finally be out on his own which means that he wont give up easy and unfortunately might push himself past his limits and lead him to death. His lack of care about the rules of the

Alex is naive with his friends, family, and actions. Not really caring about what his father has to say about him. Papapa tells how he doesn't want Alex to be with his friends. Alex then remembers his own dream. "Which

In modern society there is much value placed on the concept of individual freedom. However, too much freedom can provide an individual with the power to interfere with the happiness of others, thus a balance between freedom and state regulated order is required. The concept of an individual struggling against an order focused society is a common topic in texts. In Aldous Huxley’s 1933 novel Brave New World, this concept is explored by John, an outsider in a dystopian world society that places high value on stability rather than individualism. In Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, which is based Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel of the same name, a similar dystopian society is explored by the aggressively individualistic Alex.

Although attacks on A Clockwork Orange are often unwarranted, it is fatuous to defend the novel as nonviolent; in lurid content, its opening chapters are trumped only by wanton killfests like Natural Born Killers. Burgess' Ted Bundy, a teenage Lucifer named Alex, is a far cry from the typical, spray paint-wielding juvenile delinquent. With his band of "droogs," or friends, Alex goes on a rampage of sadistic rape and "ultraviolence." As the tale unfolds, the

However, youth like Alex cannot be caught in the expected rubric of life and hence, they retaliate. Nevertheless, one cannot justify Alex’s actions worth applauding but Burgess seems to favour their actions as the only possible outlet for suppressed angst. In the first act, fourth chapter, Alex says,

. . there's no law nor order no more" pg 14. He takes on a role of authority in a society of anarchy. Although he is impervious to the choice of good, Alex does not remain ignorant to this choice throughout the entire novel. In the beginning, he believes that violence is the only way to prove his control. This then leads to his loss of control through the loss of his ability of choice. Only in the very end Alex finally become a well-rounded character. He realizes that he does not have to choose evil and abuse his position to prove his right of choice. "But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers? pg 148. Alex now knows that his future is open for his choices to lead him. For good or for evil, it is his right to decide, and this is what truly proves his freedom of choice.

The use of music as a motif in (Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange 1962)] creates a lens so that the viewer is able to recognize the trend that violence has to destroy an individual’s identity. Although Alex (Malcolm McDowell) 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. The images that music create coincide the destruction of Alex’s identity, either through compliance to a group’s style of violence or through failure to embrace the similarity of group actions associated with violence. As the movie progresses, musical imagery follows the exit and return of his personal identity as a role of his

Linking the fundamental conflict between individual identity and societal identity with musical imagery in the story “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, creates a lens through which one can recognize the tendency that violence can destroy an individual’s identity. The main protagonist and narrator of the story is Alex and although he 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 associate with violence. As Alex’s narrative progresses, the 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.