Violence And Violence In Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange

The use of the phrase “viddy him swim in his own blood while we counted the takings”, shows how criminals such as Alex and his “droogs”, can get away with such vicious acts of crime so often that it has become a hobby for them as they take so much enjoyment from the acts. Also the casual tone depicted from the text suggests the careless nature that Alex has towards the vulgar acts. These combined together add to the theme of corruption in society in ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

Anthony Burgess’ novel presents commentaries upon the design of society as a whole, questions of societal placement being indicative of moral righteousness, what it means to be a man, and the deeper, more primal urges of every individual. The Clockwork Orange’s gratuitous use of violence together with the intense reputation of Kubrick’s work raises questions of the purpose of this violence. The question is how is violence demonstrated as art within Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange?

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

Often times, violence is prevalent in literature. It is captivating, it enhances the plot, and it creates feelings of suspense and tension within the reader. However, in well-crafted works of literature, scenes of violence serve an even greater purpose. Violence is frequently used in order to contribute to the meaning of the complete work, and Ernest Hemingway utilizes violence in order to highlight the meaning in The Sun Also Rises. In the novel, Robert Cohn verbally attacks protagonist Jake Barnes and his friend Mike Campbell after questions arise pertaining to the whereabouts of widely-coveted Lady Brett Ashley. Jake then strikes Cohn, and a fistfight between the three men ensues. Hemingway utilizes the violence between the men in order

Antisocial Personality Disorder ( ASPD) is a mental illness with various causal factors such as genetic predispositions, environment, parental neglect, gender, brain abnormalities, etc. The factors presented affect the character Alex DeLarge from Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange (1963). Despite Alex not being diagnosed, it is evident that he suffers from ASPD, it is clearly expressed through his behaviors and mentality. Eventually, Alex is incarcerated preceding a murder he committed, in order to be released early he enlists himself to a treatment so that he could be cured. The events that follow include his participation in the Ludovico Technique, an experimental form of aversion therapy which leaves him unable to fulfill the needs of his mental illness.

Violence is implying physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone. In America every human being is treated differently because of their race, gender, and sex unless you have power or money. For example all the rich white straight male are well respected and has more power than everyone else. This happen during slavery where all the white people had more freedom than African American. Many individuals were put in harm by physical abuse of a higher class because of their physical images.

Alex from A Clockwork Orange would be given the diagnosis of Conduct Disorder. His behavior demonstrated in the movie greatly matches the DSM-V criteria of the disorder. Portion A of diagnostic criteria states that one must have persistent and repetitive violation of rights of others and the societal norms one lives. These symptoms are manifested by the at least three of the fifteen criteria points given. Alex is shown to have intimidated others (A1) and often starts fights with others (A2) such as with his friends when they questioned his authority and the gang led by Billyboy. He is cruel to people (A4) like towards friends when they wanted more equality in their group and towards F. Alexander by crippling him and raping his wife. Alex had

Character in both novels use unsuccessful escape methods to cope with their loss of identity. Alex, the protagonist in A Clockwork Orange, turns to classical music such as Beethoven when his gang members question his hierarchy within the group. Alex describes his bedroom where he goes after an argument with his gang members : "the little speakers of my stereo were all arranged round the room, on ceiling, walls, floor, so, lying on my bed slooshying the music, I was like netted and meshed in the orchestra." (Burgess. 37). We see Alex return to his bedroom many times after confrontations where his identity is disputed. Eventually, Alex is conditioned to feel sick whenever he hears classical music so Alex loses this escape method as he can no longer listen to classical music. Also, Alex relies heavily on the use of drugs when he is unable to deal with his loss of identity, " officially sanctioned "milk bars" that serve a variety of drug tonics to send one off on incoherent fantasies" (Gottlieb). These "milk bars" are locations where young

Compiled upon the movie-galvanized image of the novel, the handiwork of ignorant critics cements Orange's reputation as a phantasmagoria of sex and violence. An anonymous reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement once labeled the tome "a nasty little shocker" (qtd. in Burgess, "A Clockwork Orange: A play with music"), and the pithy epithet now graces the cover of the novel's most recent American printing. Yet, through it all, the author maintains that he took no pleasure in documenting Alex's brutality and even invented Nadsat in an effort to make the violence symbolic (Burgess, Contemporary Literary Criticism 38). He never seeks to justify Alex's actions and believes that his crimes "must be checked and punished" in a "properly run society" (Burgess, Contemporary Literary Criticism 38). In addition, Burgess bases the most horrific scene in the novel -- the rape of the writer's wife -- on personal experience. During a

In a society where raping, murdering, and robbing happens very often, it is hard to determine what the best method is to lower the crime rates. Alex, one of the many teens who commit violence on a regular basis, has done many crimes. Five different methods have been used on Alex and each has its own benefits and drawbacks. “Clockwork Orange” argues that letting him be is the best method for Alex because he starts to get tired of violence, wants to start a family, and learns to show genuine care for others with nothing in return. However, too much free will is unreasonable and will not allow Alex to realize violence is bad.

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

The use of music as a motif in (Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange 1962)] creates a lens so that the viewer is able to recognize the trend that violence has to destroy an individual’s identity. Although Alex (Malcolm McDowell) clearly associates violence with his own individual identity and sense of self, he consistently reveals the impossibility of remaining an individual in the face of group-oriented violence. The images that music create coincide the destruction of Alex’s identity, either through compliance to a group’s style of violence or through failure to embrace the similarity of group actions associated with violence. As the movie progresses, musical imagery follows the exit and return of his personal identity as a role of his

The created patch-work language of Nadsat in the novel, A Clockwork Orange, satirizes the social classes and gang life of Anthony Burgess's futuristic society. The most prominent of these tools being his use of a completely new language and the depiction of family life from the eyes of a fifteen year old English hoodlum. Burgess effectively broke arcane traditions when he wrote A Clockwork Orange by blending two forms of effective speech into the vocabulary of the narrator and protagonist, Alex. Burgess, through his character Alex, uses the common or "proper" method of vernacular in certain situations, while uses his own inventive slang-language called "Nadsat" for others. Many

Along with a distinctive style, Kubrick films tend to have some very definitive themes going on within them. One of the most prominent themes is his treatment of the protagonist. In conventional filmmaking, the protagonist tends to be the “good guy”. In Kubrick’s films, however, the main characters (always male) tend to be not very likeable. This theme can be seen in virtually every Kubrick film. In The Killing, the ensemble cast of characters is planning a heist, each with their own agenda. In Lolita, Humbert Humbert is an English “gentleman”, oh and also a pedophile. A Clockwork Orange’s Alex is a young, violent, uncaring product of society. The thing that Kubrick does, however, is play with the audience’s morals and emotions. He attempts, sometimes successfully, to get you to empathize and sympathize with these miscreants of society. We feel sorry at some point for poor Humbert as his Lolita, the love of his life, is taken away from him. And Alex, poor Alex, he is a victim of the system and is ruined by the unorthodox treatment. We eventually come to our senses, but for a brief moment or longer, we become victims of Kubrick’s manipulative filmmaking power.