A Clockwork Orange Essay: New Testament for American Youth?

Anthony Burgess has been heralded as one of the greatest literary geniuses of the twentieth century. Although Burgess has over thirty works of published literature, his most famous is A Clockwork Orange. Burgess’s novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government. The main character, Alex, is an "ultra-violent" thief who has no problem using force against innocent citizens to get what he wants. The beginning of the story takes us through a night in the life of Alex and his Droogs, and details their adventures that occupy their time throughout the night. At fifteen years old, Alex is set up by his Droogs—Pete,

In Part 1, Chapter 4, Alex and his “droogs”, broke into a writer's home who ironically was writing A Clockwork Orange and raped his wife. HOME, signifies a memory that delineates to Burgess’s life. In 1944, Burgess’s first pregnant wife, Llewela Jones, was raped and beaten by American drunk soldiers, while Anthony was stationed in Gibraltar. Unfortunately, she had miscarried and later died-Burgess since then, believed the attack was the reason why she

Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Orange, presents a struggle between animalistic urges and mechanistic society by way of the motif of a clockwork orange. Many would agree that a clock and an orange share little in common other than the fact that they may both be round. However, the organic nature of an orange combined with the precision and mechanics of a clock curiously imitates the way people respond to everyday influences. Anthony Burgess capitalizes on the differences between these two seemingly unrelated objects to present the connection between morality and conformity within the confines of the novel’s narrator, Alex. Throughout the three parts of the novel, it becomes more apparent that every seemingly harmless life can be manipulated by the clockwork of society. Alex is a young boy living in the near future, whose obsession with the brutality of the world around him causes him to act violently. The portrayal of the character Alex as both a protagonist and an antagonist highlights the psychological turmoil associated with conforming to society by sacrificing either morality for individuality or individuality for morality.

San Francisco Confidential is a collection of short stories that focus on the major events that have helped shape the city to the concrete jungle it is now. The author orders the events chronologically, starting off with the bloody gold rush. He quickly progresses through the story, describing how people began prostitution as a source of income when gold was not found. Then it evolves to city officials murdering each other, the hippie era, drugs, alcohol, and sex scandals. Later, as the city becomes more modernized, the author describes the discrimination against gays, the increasing homeless population, and the city’s treatment of the homeless.

During fight scenes it is apparent that Alex enjoys the pain he inflicts upon others. Because fighting is a frequent occurrence, he tries to make each one more pleasurable, interesting, and artistic. When Alex and his droogs come across Billyboy who is raping an innocent girl with his gang, this fight scene is depicted artistically by Alex, the narrator. Even though it is evil, horrible, and violent, there is gracefulness present through his actions. He states, "but for my own part [I] had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva which, at that

While, on one hand, the language Burgess’ uses is meant to allow the reader to immerse themselves in Alex’s world, it is also meant to disorient in a certain way. To comprehend all of what is happening in a language that is unrecognizable to a reader is nearly impossible and, personally, most attempts at using a glossary proved to hurt the effort instead of help it. As a reader, I found that one of the only ways to truly understand the novel was to, in a sense, stop trying to understand it. Though it sounds contradictory, the text seemed more comprehensible the less I focused on what the unfamiliar words meant and the more I simply accepted that I couldn’t fight it which speaks volumes about the theme itself. While the main character as well as the citizens of The State go through their own mindless struggles to unknowingly conform to their government with little to no question from most of the population, the readers themselves enter a mindless state of attempting to adapt to the new language put in place to disorient and distract them from many horrific things that occur both in the plot and in Alex’s own thought processes, a sort of veil put between them and traditionally appalling

     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).

Immigration, it is one of the biggest steps in life than an individual could take. To immigrate, one must essentially leave behind the life they they know, for a new one. Many immigrate for a variety of different reasons that include the seeking of wealth and success, more freedom, or a better life overall. It takes a lot to drive somebody to leave their life completely behind, and the driving factors must be significant ones to influence this immigration. I plan on looking into the reasons that Koreans choose to immigrate to America, why do they pick America, and where they specifically settle (state-wise) and why. I would expect that the seeking of riches and possibility is one of the biggest drivers of immigration to America, in a seeking

In his life, Anthony Burgess never had anything handed to him. He had to work for what he wanted. Although he wanted to be a musician, the University of Manchester would crush that dream, leaving him with his consolation prize of being an English major. This chain of events would lead to Burgess deciding to become an author, leading him to pen his most famed novel A Clockwork Orange. Throughout the novel, Burgess would implicate the youth as the troublesome faction, with Alex, the sadistic anti-hero, taking pleasure in callous crimes. Although the dystopian classic discusses numerous problems in the violent world, Burgess continually returns to how characters in the novel would rather choose to be a wicked person instead of being forced against

Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange has been placed under much scrutiny by literary critics and readers everywhere. Furthermore, this highly criticized novel contains a myriad of ways to engage with the work, whether it is from the psychological or ethical perspective. Through College Literature Journal’s article “O My Brothers”, the unnamed author draws interesting connections between the main character’s development and how pseudo-families and pseudo- self plays a part on this said development. The author of this article generates an association between Alex’s pseudo-families who have not accomplished what families are expected to accomplish in one’s life, and the way that Alex behaves because of it. Interestingly enough, the author

At only 15 years old, Alex was accustomed to robbing, raping, and disrespecting the those living around him. Alex and his “droogs” felt that they were above everyone when they were committing these crimes. Elders living in the society felt that they didn’t “. . . want to live anyway, not in a stinking world like this one. . . there’s no law nor order no more” (Burgess 17). The orderless society had become the new normal; this “culture is what created the criminal” (“A Clockwork Orange Analysis”). Alex committed these crimes only to feel satisfaction from the pain he was causing his victim. As Alex’s crimes became more severe, his droogs, or devilish friends, took a turn towards conforming to the government when they set Alex up during one of their home invasions. Alex’s friends wanted to find their higher calling in society, which required them to give in to the law officials. While serving for his crimes in jail, Alex was presented with the opportunity to go through the Ludovico treatments. The government felt it was easier to fix a criminal than to face the real issues happening in their society (“A Clockwork Orange Analysis”). During the treatments, Alex received harsh drugs while they forced him to watch hours of disgusting crime videos. The citizens under this government were oblivious to the fact that the treatments were a scam; they truly believed that the criminals undergoing the treatments came out cured. In this case,

What is the cause of Alex’s behavior? Is it his double-crossing “droogs?” His ignorant, unconcerned parents? Conversely, it

In Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange, Alex the narrator grows up in a near future English city that develops his inner moral disconnect and sociopathic tendencies. These characteristics mirror and grow from the corruption of his city, originating with its lack of resources and culminating in the great cultural divide between teenagers and adults, emphasizing the importance of perspective in decision making and acting.

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,

"A Clockwork Orange" is a film that focuses on reformation, nature, and control. These words mean nothing by themselves, but their meaning comes from many places and details in the work that need delving into in order to solve its true meaning.