Free Will In A Clockwork Orange

In Brave New World Aldous Huxley, creates a dystopian society which is scientifically advance in order to make life orderly, easy, and free of trouble. This society is controlled by a World State who is not question. In this world life is manufactured and everyone is created with a purpose, never having the choice of free will. Huxley use of irony and tone bewilders readers by creating a world with puritanical social norms, which lacks love, privacy and were a false sense of happiness is instituted, making life meaningless and controlled.

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

Previous research suggests that Alex DeLarge, a fictional character created by Anthony Burgess, was the epitome of evil. However, previous research has not considered the environmental, socio-economical, and physiological dispositions that molded him into the person he became. Hence, in this paper, it is argued that Alex DeLarge is at a greater risk for Antisocial Personality Disorder than most members of the general population. This is important because it allows us to view beyond the theatrics and the metaphors into a character that is mentally unstable not a villainous caricature in the eyes of the audience.

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

Many see the idea of free will as a saving grace of human existence, the choice to do as one pleases, to make up our own minds to forge our own destinies. It is true that free will is the greatest gift afforded to an individual as they are able to decide how they will go through their lives. However with free will comes with the price of the possibility of chaos. So in a way free will is one of the roadblocks for a utopia to exist. Some argue that sacrificing free will can create a utopia as everyone will be forced to be equal and not have a choice to do otherwise. However this is a flawed idea because in essence you are not creating a utopia you are only creating a lie. This idea of free will preventing paradise is explored throughout the

Alex loses his sense of purpose, and becomes a machine that is fed instructions from The State. Humans are able to make their own decisions and Alex is not. Alex refers to himself as a clockwork orange because he believes he is only a clockwork toy to be wound up and controlled.

In the classic novel, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, a theme emerges. This is the theme of free will. Through the main character, Alex, Burgess is able to convey his ideas about free will and the oppressive nature of establishments such as governments and the media. Aside from these suggestions made by Burgess the question persists: When a man ceases to choose, is he still a man?

“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.

At birth, there are certain needs that are required to be met in order to survive and fulfill any lifetime goals. Once these basic needs are met, the more complex the level of needs becomes. These levels eventually result in the bigger picture which is self-actualization. Throughout Anthony Burgess’ novel “A Clockwork Orange”, teenage rebellion is reoccurring between the protagonist, Alex, and his gang. Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the root of the boys’ rebellion is due to their basic needs not being met. Thus preventing them from ever reaching the highest level being self-actualization. With the struggle to reach the highest level of needs, it is clear within the novel that there are numerous factors that help shape Alex and the droogs’ unruly behavior.

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.

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 had a loose theme of the necessity of not only good, but also evil in human nature. Alex may have been selfish and deviant but his character and the characters like him did seem to have a strong grasp on the concept that life was for living. Without the ability of choice to commit evil acts which was an impulse inside of him, his ability to act human was affected. The freedom of making these choices seems to be what makes us human. Hence without this freedom he is driven to attempt suicide.

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

   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 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