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.
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Consequently, citizens have unconsciously fallen into a passive vacancy of satisfaction, unaware of the shocking growth of a violent and destructive youth culture. The novel is divided into three parts. In the first section you are following the protagonist Alex and his "gang", who all lack a complete sense of morality, through a first person narrative. As section two commences, we transition into the "Ludovico" technique used on Alex by the government in an attempts to brainwash him into being a "model citizen". Effectively, this denies him the opportunity to be a "moral agent" and freely have the choice between what is right and what is morally wrong. Thus Burgess opens the debate of freedom against invoked obedience and what others believe is the best for
This is a quote from the Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. Its significance is found in the fact that the girl, Hazel, is battling with a serious cancer, and yet the boy, Augustus Waters, thinks she is wholly perfect and beautiful despite any complications. My piece uses visual rhetoric to give you a brief gist of what takes place. When you first look at the picture, you see Hazel, due to her blue jacket. You see her face, as well as her breathing tubes. You notice the smile on her face, which leads you to the smile on Augustus’s face. His beaming smile takes you down to the quote highlighted in white, to set it apart. The font emphasizes key words. When read, it clearly states that Hazel is beautiful, and that Augustus
Alex DeLarge is a vicious fifteen-year-old droog whose thirst for ultra-violence is his main catalyst in A Clockwork Orange. His savage characterization is clearly illustrated through his thoughts and actions in Anthony Burgress’ original novel, as well as Stanley Krubrik’s film rendition. However, while both interpretations follow corresponding objectives, they differ dramatically in the way they are perceived by the audience. The most prominent distinction between the two pieces of work is the way Alex is perceived by the audience throughout the story.
“The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my sword-pen,” Anthony Burgess in his novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’, which happens to be a scathing critique of totalitarian government, through the character of F. Alexander. Burgess is attempting to criticize the type of governments that try to limit the freedom of an individual through science and technology. To be more specific, the use of ‘Ludovico technique’, is one example of the government using technology to establish control in the dystopian world of the text. Although the government, in its defense, prioritizes the safety and well-being of society, it is imperative to note that this use of technology turns Alex, the protagonist into a creature devoid of moral choices. This is what Burgess is referring to by the term ‘mechanical creation’, Alex goes on living his life as a machine, his criminal reform is marked by his inability to make conscious moral decisions. How then, is this scientific measure of criminal reform pursued by the government justifiable? Good and evil are intrinsic part of any human being. An individual always has the moral conscience and choice of picking between the two, and this is what makes him human.
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.
‘A Clockwork Orange’ - How does Stanley Kubrick create reference to the duality of ‘the fool’? A Clockwork Orange (1971) is one of Stanley Kubrick more notable endeavours, based on Anthony Burgess’ novel. Both film and book depict the simultaneous humanity and inhumanity of Alex and his ‘droogs’. This duality is key to my interpretation of these characters as representative of ‘the fool’.
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, develops a fictional account of a violent futuristic society, while integrating commentary on current political and social issues.
However, youth like Alex cannot be caught in the expected rubric of life and hence, they retaliate. Nevertheless, one cannot justify Alex’s actions worth applauding but Burgess seems to favour their actions as the only possible outlet for suppressed angst. In the first act, fourth chapter, Alex says,
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.
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.
Alex's world is characterized by class collectivism and dullness. For him the middle class remains behind closed doors enjoying the commodities of televised entertainment, while the working spend most of their time at work or asleep. Demarcated from the society by its own language, nadsat, the violent Modern Youth lives in a different world. Thus no accepted form of social identification exists for Alex, and life in
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
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
Before reading the story, I thought certain ideas about society. After reading the “Song of the Trees” by Mildred Taylor, my opinions changed and I thought differently. First, I thought that people gain self- respect for standing up for their beliefs. After reading the story, the story proved that my thought was true. When Cassie’s mother and father stood up for the trees on their land and what they wanted, they earned respect from the others in their family.
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.”
Must we live through something to be able to understand it, and help resolve the problem? I grew up with two hard working parents that could not seem to make ends meet no matter how hard they worked. Yet they still provided me with everything I needed and more than I deserved. Both of my parents are recovering drug addicts, which is one reason I strived my hardest not to go down the same road and to further my education. That way I could always have a career, rather than a job that was unpredictable. My brother unfortunately followed their foot steps and has been lost in his addiction for over three years now. I hope that one day my career choice will allow me to find him the help he needs. As a family we relied on food stamps to keep