freeclo Violence and Free Will in Anthony Burgess' 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’.

         What is interesting is how later in the novel, Alex happens upon Alexander's home again, forgetting exactly why it seems so familiar.  Alexander gets his revenge on the poor Alex, who opens up to the horrors he suffered in prison, unknowingly telling Alexander ways to harm him.  Alexander represents Burgess' desire for vengeance; Burgess is able to take out his anger on Alex, a murdering rapist.

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

Alex is caught (page 70): Alex had held firm in his belief that it was better to run oneself by feeling as opposed to thought, and this was exhibited by his rash actions of violence. Additionally he used his youth to his advantage to remain out of trouble with the authorities but his youth was actually a large part in his capture. He hadn't really considered that he might ever get caught, hadn't truly believed that his drools would really betray him because he thought so highly of himself. However, in this part of the book this false belief crumples apart as he accidentally kills the old woman, and is left to the millicents by George and Dim.

The life of Alexander Supertramp is marked with a number of events that can be used to analyze and characterize his personality from different perspectives. McCandless is born in a prosperous middle-class family and does not lack money or respect in the society. However, from the early years of his adolescence, he may be characterized as possessing “a streak of stubborn idealism” (Krauker, 1996). According to Campbell’s pattern, this idealism can be a distinctive feature of a hero, who lives in the ordinary world, but feels the inner protest against some of the environmental rules (Vogler, 1985). It is impossible to define his behavior as simply right or wrong as each human personality is distinctive from another and has different needs. Although some people consider him as courageous and noble, for others he is “a reckless idiot” searching for media attention (Krauker, 1996). Nevertheless, the call for adventures that followed his steady way of life is the basis for the life story that made him the protagonist of

Towards the end of the book it is adoring how appreciative and emotionally mature he had become. Alex learns to depend on Beijing natives for the duration of his struggle to escape. The soldiers react violently

“What’s it gonna be then, eh?” This is the iconic line that opens Anthony Burgess’ brilliantly horrific novella, A Clockwork Orange. This controversial classic is narrated by Alex, a man reflecting on the crimes committed by he and his posse of “friends” as teenagers.While multiple people, places, and objects reappear throughout his account, one alone stands as having the most significance: milk. Indeed, this simple white substance that both opens and closes the novel represents more than just a cold, delicious beverage often coupled with cookies. Rather, in A Clockwork Orange, milk follows Foster’s principal of “everything is a symbol” as it has significant meaning: it represents Alex’s journey from boyhood to adulthood.

“A Clockwork Orange” starts with Alex posing the question: “what’s it going to be then, eh?”. Burgess begins the story by demonstrating that Alex

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 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?

When the words of Peter Singer are taken into consideration, “[Society can] never be justified in depriving someone of [his or her] free will, no matter how gruesome the violence that would thereby be prevented” (Singer), along with Anthony Burgess’ own words that, “It is inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is that moral choice may operate”(Burgess xiii), it can be conclude that the novel, A Clockwork Orange, is Anthony Burgess defense to the world for the preservation of every human beings’ right to free will. In a world where terrorism and violence are constantly in the media, the use of a “morality pill” (Singer) may not be as absurd as it sounds, or as far off from reality as society may like to think it is. Even back in 1962 when Anthony Burgess wrote, A Clockwork Orange, he believed any type of conditioning performed on even the worst criminals was immoral and stripped them of their free will. The novel, A Clockwork Orange, suggests that free will is a quality which a person a citizen of the human race and no thing-- no individual, no government, no generation- should be able to interfere with a fellow human’s right to be a rightful citizen of the

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,

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 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

Similarly, the character of Alex McDowell and his actions are presented with methods comparable to that of Bonnie and Clyde. Stanley Kubrick stresses the violence in A Clockwork Orange as a way to show the full extent of his harmful maniacal ways. Narration alone can only tell us so much about his personality and isn't able to comprehensively encompass the significance of the violence attributed to Alex. It isn't until we see the crimes being committed in vivid detail that we are able to recognize the true nature of Alex’s moral extent. This illustrates him as the character he is meant to be as per the novella written by Anthony Burgess. We learn through wide angle shots of the moments leading up to the raping of a helpless woman, that Alex is entirely comfortable with the sadistic action and even finds it amusing. Upward facing camera angles that specifically place his face as the focal point are used during this scene and many others like it to enunciate his sinister appearance. They are used to show that as a person, Alex enjoys these all to pernicious behaviors. The excessive realness of the scenes only supports our understanding of his lack of humanity. Alex’s aggressiveness is magnified by the way he senselessly beats the old man under the bridge and the husband of the raped woman. Incorporating an undisturbed shot of him doing so allows it make a greater impact on the audience's perception of the character. Just as in Bonnie and Clyde, violence is shown with no