Clockwork Orange Punishment

“What’s it going to be then, eh?” is the signature question in Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Novel that not only resonates with the moral identity of the anti-heroic protagonist, Alex, but also signifies the essential choice between free will that perpetrates evil and deterministic goodness that is forced and unreal. The prison chaplain and the writer F. Alexander voice the most controversial idea in the novel: man becomes ‘a clockwork orange’ when robbed of free will and tuned into a deterministic mechanism.

In today’s society, there is an evil that hides in the minds of rulers, governments-even everyday people. This evil lies in the crimes committed by thousands of people each year, the corruption of governments, and the suffering of innocent people. The laws and regulations that we live by today are put in place in order to prevent crime from encompassing everything people hold dear-to stop the bad people. In the story of A Clockwork Orange the narrator, Alex, gives us a criminal’s view of the world. Throughout the course of three years, Alex takes part in numerous robberies, murders and rapes people of all ages. In his mind, the disturbing acts he commits fill him with satisfaction and pleasure. When reading this novel through his eyes, the

Choice and free will are necessary to maintain humanity, both individually and communally; without them, man is no longer human but a “clockwork orange”, a mechanical toy, as demonstrated in Anthony Burgess’ novel, “A Clockwork Orange”. The choice between good and evil is a decision every man must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and control his future. Forcing someone to be good is not as important as the act of someone choosing to be good. This element of choice, no matter what the outcome, displays man’s power as an individual.

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

A Clockwork Orange demonstrates the philosophically issues of free will and determinism through how the main character was treated in the movie. It also addresses important issues such as ethics, philosophy of the mind, free will and determinism, and the problem of perception. Philosophers such as John Hospers, B.F. Skinner, and Jean-Paul Sartre have different views on the issue through their theories of how individuals are or are not responsible for the free will choices that they make in life. The main character in the movie was a very violent , and reckless person. He participated in sinful acts such as being a gang member, raping women, being involved in fights, etc. These actions resulted in him being sent to prison and eventually being brainwashed into doing things out of his character. The three philosophers have very different interpretations of how the main character should have been dealt with and the reasonings behind his actions.

The novel A Clockwork Orange is littered with ideologies regarding social and political messages and allegorical imagery supporting Anthony Burgess’ pessimistic approach to life during his later years. The coldness of reality, the societal ‘need’ for revenge and the importance of free will all play a large role in the philosophies given in the book. The

In popular television shows like Orange is the New Black, we can find many different philosophies of punishment played out within the show. Deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution and restorative justice are considered the philosophies of punishment. This paper will describe the five philosophies of punishment in detail and provide real world examples, discuss the methodology behind choosing Orange is the New Black, applying what has been learned about the philosophies of punishment to an episode of this show, give my opinion on the choices of philosophies displayed in the show, and explain what the future for crime control, punishment, and justice might be.

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

   Freedom and liberalism are catchwords that appear frequently in both philosophical and political rhetoric. A free man is able to choose his actions and his value system, to express his views and to develop his most authentic character. What this kind of idealistic liberalism seems to forget, however, is that liberty does not mean a better society, better life or humanistic values such as equality and justice. In his novel A Clockwork Orange (1962), Anthony Burgess portrays an ultimately free individual and shows how a society cannot cope with the freedom which it in rhetoric so eagerly seeks to promote.

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, is one of the most experimental, original, and controversial novels of the twentieth century. It is both a compelling work of literature and an in-depth study in linguistics. The novel is a satirical, frightening science fiction piece, not unlike others of this century such as George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. However, the conflicts and resolutions in A Clockwork Orange are more philosophical than social, and its message is far more urgent.

Besides presenting utter terror and an extremely innovative approach to the use of language, A Clockwork Orange manages to be extremely philosophical. As Alex encounters different people throughout his process of becoming a better person through tests and manipulation, he encounters the issue of whether or not it is better to live a life of crime than to be forced into not doing so. The question presented by these various people, the main proponent of the belief being the jail chaplain, is that if a man can no longer make that decision, one which could possibly be the most colossal decision of Alex’s life, can he be considered a man? Alex eventually answers

The technique is a scientific experiment designed to take away moral choice from criminals. The technique conditions a person to feel intense pain and nausea whenever they have a violent thought. The key moral theme of A Clockwork Orange is articulated during a chat between the alcoholic prison chaplain and Alex two weeks before he enters treatment. He reflects on the moral questions raised by the treatment that will force Alex to be good. “Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed on him?” The government experiment fails to realize that good and evil come from within the self. The Ludovico Technique messes with Alex’s internal clockwork. He transforms into a being that is unable to distinguish good from evil. The altering of his personality makes him, “as decent a lad as you would meet on a May morning, unvicious, unviolent…inclined to the kindly word and helpful act,” but his actions are dictated only by self-interest to avoid the horrible sickness that comes along with evil thoughts. He has no real choice, “he ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature of moral choice.” Being stripped of his free will, Alex is no longer a human he is the government’s toy. “Choosing to be deprived of the ability to make an ethical choice [does not mean] you have in a sense really chosen the good.”

Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, a critically acclaimed masterstroke on the horrors of conditioning, is unfairly attacked for apparently gratuitous violence while it merely uses brutality, as well as linguistics and a contentious dénouement, as a vehicle for deeper themes.

In December of 1971 Stanley Kubrick released A Clockwork Orange for the entire world to enjoy. The movie is an adaptation of the book by the same name that was written by Anthony Burgess in 1963. The story begins with the main character, Alex narrating while he and his fellow gang members Georgie, Dim and Pete sit in the Korova Milk Bar discussing what violent acts they will be part of that night. The drink of choice is milk that is laced with drugs that is dispensed from the breast of nude statues of women that adorn the bar. After Alex and his gang leave the Korova, they go on a crime spree that includes mugging, robbery, a gang fight, grand theft auto, breaking and entering and rape. The rape of the woman is especially brutal; Alex and

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, develops a fictional account of a violent futuristic society, while integrating commentary on  current political and social issues.