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Clockwork Orange Punishment

Decent Essays

Nietzsche’s Good and Evil Taken to the Extreme in the Chaotic Society of A Clockwork Orange.

When it comes to a prime example of questioning morality in Kubrick’s films - A Clockwork Orange is a go-to case study of free will and the morality of judgement and punishment. The film is an analysis of humanity and explores topics such as aversion therapy which is not just a dystopian fantasy but exists in the real world. It analyses punishment and examines the justice system both with portraying the classic punishment method like the prison and the rehabilitation method.
Gehkre states that:
The clockwork metaphor has long been a tradition of western sciences, both physical and social. Dreams of predicting and controlling human behaviour have …show more content…

With the help of Alex’s perspective, the film also criticises the choices society makes. Going back to Nietzsche’s views on morality, it is worth noting that he condemns the Judeo-Christian morality as too strict and unhealthy. However, using that philosophy A Clockwork Orange again shows the opposite as the society and law system’s ethics are very much radical and they believe that the only way they could eradicate the crime and chaos in society is to take people’s right of choice. In their criminology analysis of A Clockwork Orange Lichtenberg, Lune and McManimon (2004) sum up the main issue concerned in the film with the statemen confirmed by the prison chaplain that: If there is no choice, there is no morality. Therefore, Kubrick’s film focuses on some important questions and problems that are shown as issues of a dystopian society but are also truly problems present in contemporary society as well such as: could the spectator blame the establishment for being cruel and immoral if they are trying their hardest to eradicate relentless crime or is taking someone’s free will and right to choose an inhuman thing to do overall? The title of the film ties in with Alex’s journey and character development as he is transformed and programmed as a machine not able to

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