A Clockwork Orange Essay

American philosopher Corliss Lamont once said, “I believe firmly that in making ethical decisions, man has the prerogative of true freedom of choice” (BrainyQuote). In A Clockwork Orange and Atonement, the protagonists of each novel make ethical decisions that fundamentally change the plot of novel and the characters themselves. Anthony Burgess’ book A Clockwork Orange features a fifteen-year old delinquent by the name of Alex who continuously looks for trouble, but when he tries to assert dominance over his gang, he is betrayed. After getting caught by the police, he spends sometime in jail before getting brainwashed and becoming incapable of doing anything evil. Meanwhile, Atonement written by Ian McEwan stars a thirteen-year old girl named Briony Tallis who falsely accuses Robbie Turner of being Lola Quincey’s attacker. After Robbie spends time in jail and eventually dies in WWII, Briony is never able to live down the guilt she feels for accusing him. A Clockwork Orange and Atonement are similar books in that both of the stories’ protagonists illustrate the themes of maturity and establishing moral principles.

It is interesting how one's free will can be so easily altered by the people around them, but also how necessary it is to have your own commitments that shape your own standards. Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange, revisits the theme of free will and commitments to life commonly in his novel. Fifteen-year-old Alex takes advantage of his free will until suddenly, acts of betrayal from people around him whom he used to trust, steer his life in a very different direction. If Alex was given the opportunity to choose his life path, unaffected by others, he would have never accepted what he was led to. Acts of betrayal upon Alex contribute to the overall theme of the inviolability of free will and the necessity of commitment in life.

Ultra-violence, Controversy, and Reformation of Youth in Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess’s controversial novel, A Clockwork Orange, depicts the life of a teenage gang leader, Alex, as he storms through the streets of a “near-future” society with his “Droogs,” or friends. Alex chooses to live a criminal life, until he is arrested by the government and chosen for an experiment that aims to eliminate his violent and aggressive tendencies with a controversial process known as Ludovico’s Technique. After the procedure successfully “cures” Alex, he is released into the streets as a harmless man. Yet, he is also left defenseless and Alex soon becomes victim to the violence of others. Ultimately, the procedure is reverted when

The grace of evil in A Clockwork Orange is a recurring paradox throughout the novel and also implies a deep religious connotation. The main foci are the several aspects of evil, violence, and sexual acts committed by Alex and his gang members. However, Anthony Burgess has cleverly incorporated similar paradoxes to that of grace and evil, along with a different dialect to aid in masking the true harshness that lies underneath the violence. The other paradoxes include the extremes of night and day, good and bad, and black and white.

In Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange, he depicts a dystopian future by uses elements of literature that almost let reader see what is happening, but the film can take it further. Stanley Kubrick’s version of A Clockwork Orange differs from the novel by featuring visual and musical elements that are not described in the books but are metaphoric in cinematography. Both the novel and the film still follow the same plotline. The protagonist and narrator, Alex, is a violent young boy who would go into the night with his friends to commit heinous crimes to anyone they come across.

A Clockwork Orange -Duality as the ultimate reality Harriet McLean “Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” Anthony Burgess’ disturbing yet confrontational novel “A Clockwork Orange” entices it’s audience, demanding them to question strong controversial social issues comprising of the right of free will, the fundamental need for commitment in human life regarding the consequences of apathy and neutrality and the corruption and manipulation of the government. This twisted but simply marvelous dystopian novel creates a conflicting debate within yourself between morality and the connections you form with these sadistic characters. Regardless of the controversial themes present in this dark comedy, I am undoubtedly certain that “A Clockwork Orange” demands to be read by a diverse audience and unquestionably deserves to be regarded as one of the 100 greatest novels written.

   As both the protagonist and narrator of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, the character of Alex is an intriguing study from start to finish. Specifically, in comparing part one and part three of the novel, Alex's world, internally and externally, his characterization and travails are shown to be mirror images of each other, both identical and reversed. Where Alex was the soulless victimizer in part one, he finds himself repeatedly a victim in part three. Where he was once welcome at the story's start, he is cast out at the close. What gives him pleasure at the beginning, in part three gives him pain. This neat symmetrical structure clearly and symbolically portrays how much Alex

Anthony Burgess's writing style in his most famous novel, A Clockwork Orange, is different to say the least. This novel is praised for its ingenuity, although many are disturbed by Burgess's predictions for the future. However, for many, it is close to impossible to comprehend without outside help. This is because Burgess created a language specifically for this novel, called Nadsat. This Russian-based language forms conversations between the narrator, Alex, and his teenage, delinquent friends. There are many assumptions as to why Burgess chose to complicate A Clockwork Orange by filling it with the confusing Nadsat language. Some opinions are that the language shows A Clockwork Orange readers

The book A Clockwork Orange was a very well written book. The author Anthony Burgess had many strengths throughout his story and most being the way he has structured it, how he was very descriptive in order to give a very good visualization of what was going on, and also how he used the theme of Evil with Human Nature. All of these things a major role throughout the whole book.

Anthony Burgess’ novel, A Clockwork Orange, depicts a somber and disconsolate future that is filled with violence, rape, and destruction. Burgess challenges the loyalty of the reader towards the narrator and main character, Alex, throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning, the reader does not have an emotional connection to Alex; however, as the novel progresses and Alex begins his course of ruthless, violent acts, the reader builds up a sense of loathing toward Alex. Despite this, by the end of the novel, the reader almost begins to develop a sense of solicitude for Alex. Throughout Alex’s narration, Burgess manages to transform the reader’s loyalty towards what had previously seemed like an evil character.

The time is the 1960’s, it is the middle of the cold war and people are still feeling the aftershock effects of the second World War. People around the world are uneasy and scared of the implication of a communist takeover. Anthony Burgess’s examines many features that revolve around this topic and many others, most notably in his novel A Clockwork Orange. The novel can be divided into three main sections, his time in the streets, his time in jail and the experimentations, and finally his time after rehabilitation and his return to form. The novel tells the story of a delinquent leader in a dystopian run society where it is the norm to perform heinous acts of violence. The teen is than betrayed by his gang mates, captured by the government

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 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, Alex, the protagonist is a fifteen-year-old boy who commits ultra-violent acts out of pure pleasure. The allegory present throughout the novel shows that Alex is ruthless and does not feel pain when experiencing the deaths of others. Throughout the journey of a small portion of Alex’s life, vivid representations of settings are used to portray the dark deeds done by Alex and his friends. Burgess also uses distinct dialect to individualize Alex and his friends from the rest of the community to represent their violent actions with their dialect. He uses a configuration of symbolism to represent the violent nature of Alex’s surroundings which cause him to commit these violent actions throughout the story. Through the use of these elements, Burgess proves how violence becomes a crucial element of surviving amongst society.

Imagine having stolen, raped, and even murdered all at the age of 15. The new canon of dark literature and controversy has finally hit the stage. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess written in 1962 could only be described in the old cockney expression “queer as a clockwork orange”. Meaning it is bizarre internally, but appears natural on the surface. The story begins with the protagonist and narrator Alex a 15-year-old boy, who sets the bar for the most cold-blooded and callous characters of literature. His droogs, Pete, Georgie and Dim, who was really dim, would spend their time in the Korova Milkbar drinking drug laced milk. After a good drink of the milk-plus mesto, Alex and his three droogs were ready to commit the good old

Burgess emphasize the thought that man can not be completely good or evil and must have both in order to create a moral choice . The book is based on revamping a criminal with only good morals and programing an automated response to evil. “If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange-meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or State"(Burgess ix). “ Burgess believes