Humanity In A Clockwork Orange

         Burgess does not characterize Alex as just a murderous rapist.  To come to terms with his wife's death, he had to believe that it is inhuman to be totally good or totally evil (Burgess ix).  In the final chapter, Alex undergoes a moral transformation; "he grows bored with violence and recognizes that human energy is better expended on creation than destruction" (vii).  Burgess could not believe that the men who raped his wife were totally evil, so Alex had to redeem himself by living a normal life.

Readers of A Clockwork Orange may be sickened by Alex’s description of red red krovvy (blood) flowing “beautiful,” by his unrepentant attraction to the depraved. However, the depiction of demonic teens in Kubrick’s movie version of the novel spawned many copycat crimes, proving that there really is something about ultraviolence that appeals to people. Burgess explained

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

The Ludovico technique that is used on Alex is an example of how immoral practices are used in this world. With this technique, he is injected with drugs to mess with his brain biologically. He is then forced to watch disturbing movies, which enhance the drugs previously injected into him to make him feel sick. The goal of this is to make him revolute at the sight of violence. After the first round of “treatment” Alex says: “ I do not wish to describe, brothers, what other horrible veshches I was forced to viddy that afternoon” (Burgess, 119). Alex, the ultra-violence loving teenager is so shook by what happened to him, he is unable to even explain what he saw. This shows that even the evilest of people can be affected by this practice. The background music that is in the films Alex is forced to watch is of his liking, which angers him because now he will associate the sick feeling with the music he loves. Dr. Branom, talking to Alex about this, says: “’Each man kills he thing he loves, as the poet-prisoner said. Here’s punishment element, perhaps. The Governor ought to be pleased.’” (Burgess,128). The doctors feel no remorse for taking away the pleasure of listening to the music alex likes, which show how other inhumane actions are done, not just in medical

Whilst in treatment, I came to discover that my feelings of hatred towards Alex was because I didn’t fully comprehend the subject of suicide and depression. In the book “Beauty For Ashes,” it explains that staying in bondage is pretty much the last thing a person would want to be in. “I do not want to suffer anymore, but I will do so rather than stay in bondage. As long as I am in bondage, I am suffering anyway, but it is a type of suffering that has no end (Meyer, 203).” I was a slave to sadness, and regret, pain, sorrow, grief and any other negative emotion there is. I was in bondage with negativity. I hadn’t realized how much suffering I was

The insane asylum has continued to pose as a site of mystery and wonder for decades. Bare walls, hospital gowns, distressing atmosphere, and overbearing staff epitomize the mental institution. American Horror Story has an entire season dedicated to analyzing the ongoing conundrums within an asylum. Many other forms of entertainment use the asylum and all that it stands for in their works. However, it seems that one work officially started all the “crazy” talk. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey sets the stage for the interior atrocities conducted in an institution. The various symbols used within the text help further elaborate on how horrible and grotesque an asylum can truly become. Symbolism elevates a work to an entirely different level. Fog, machines, whales, and countless other objects serve as symbols in Ken

     Ludovico’s technique is the main vehicle for Burgess’ purpose. The technique attempts to turn Alex onto the right path by taking away his ability to do wrong. In blunt terms, it obliterates his free will. Alex is forced into exhibiting acceptable behavior, from fear of becoming physically ill at the thought of wrongdoing. So now, in the eyes of society, he is an acceptable human being; human, being the operative word. Is not the essence of humanity the

“A Clockwork Orange” starts with Alex posing the question: “what’s it going to be then, eh?”. Burgess begins the story by demonstrating that Alex

Imagine every night being the blackest of nights, where even the police do not stop the criminals lurking in the corners. This is the world in Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, where a dystopian society in which juvenile delinquents roam free to terrorize the night is chronicled. Your Humble Narrator, Alex DeLarge, is a member of this appalling culture of teenagers. Over the course of the novel, he performs unspeakable acts of ultraviolence with his droogs, which land him behind bars in Staja, the state jail, for a prescribed fourteen years. After failing to reform, Alex receives an experimental corrective cure called Ludovico’s Technique, which induces a vicious physical reaction to acts of violence. When finally healed of his violent

Alex is forced to submit to the police’s orders and is charged with murder. This is a turning point in A Clockwork Orange because Alex finally gets a taste of his own medicine. He has to deal with daily abuse from the police for two years and it is apparent that Alex is still unable to change his evil ways until he volunteers to take part in the government’s new “behavior” experiment to speed up his sentence. Alex’s ethical transformation is seen in the twenty-first chapter where he finally grows up and realizes that there’s more to life than violence (Davis and Womack). The violence in this novel is not just distasteful, but also has a comedic effect.

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

In the novel A Clockwork Orange, the author Anthony Burgess tells a story about a young man name Alex and his friends, every night they go around and start committing violent acts. In the novel Alex expresses his freedom of choice between good and evil. The freedom of choice is a decision that every person must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and to take control of his own future. This Freedom of Choice, no matter what the outcome is, displays person power as an individual, and any efforts to control or influence this choice between good and evil will take way the person free will and enslave him. In this novel the author uses this symbolism through imagery. He shows that through the character of

The society of A Clockwork Orange is constructed upon struggles for power. Crime is a part of the everyday. Violent street gangs seek power through anarchism, direct authority is represented by a network of corrupt police, and on the highest social level a struggle for political and administrative power is fought. Alex reflects: "Power, power, everybody like wants power." As a microcosm of the social mentality, he seems to fit the notion of being a product of his environment.

     A Clockwork Orange is a novel about moral choice and free will. Alex’s story shows what happens when an individual’s right to choose is robbed for the good of society. The first and last chapters place Alex in more or less the same physical situation but his ability to exercise free will leads him to diametrically opposite choices—good versus evil. The phrase, “what’s it going to be then, eh?,” echoes throughout the book; only at the end of the novel is the moral metamorphosis complete and Alex is finally able to answer the question, and by doing so affirms his freedom of choice. The capacity to choose freely is the attribute that distinguishes

Similarly, the character of Alex McDowell and his actions are presented with methods comparable to that of Bonnie and Clyde. Stanley Kubrick stresses the violence in A Clockwork Orange as a way to show the full extent of his harmful maniacal ways. Narration alone can only tell us so much about his personality and isn't able to comprehensively encompass the significance of the violence attributed to Alex. It isn't until we see the crimes being committed in vivid detail that we are able to recognize the true nature of Alex’s moral extent. This illustrates him as the character he is meant to be as per the novella written by Anthony Burgess. We learn through wide angle shots of the moments leading up to the raping of a helpless woman, that Alex is entirely comfortable with the sadistic action and even finds it amusing. Upward facing camera angles that specifically place his face as the focal point are used during this scene and many others like it to enunciate his sinister appearance. They are used to show that as a person, Alex enjoys these all to pernicious behaviors. The excessive realness of the scenes only supports our understanding of his lack of humanity. Alex’s aggressiveness is magnified by the way he senselessly beats the old man under the bridge and the husband of the raped woman. Incorporating an undisturbed shot of him doing so allows it make a greater impact on the audience's perception of the character. Just as in Bonnie and Clyde, violence is shown with no