A Clockwork Orange
"What's it going to be then, eh?" This question, which the narrator repeatedly asks throughout the novel, sets up the thematic frame of the book. This subject of free choice, which is the main topic of Anthony Burgesss' A Clockwork Orange (1962), is a significant problem that Alex, the protagonist, must deal with. He is robbed of his capacity for free choice and condemned to be mild, whether he wants it or not. Although Alex and his "droogs" rebel against the conventions of society, his choice to do evil is better than the forcing of goodness because having the freedom of choice one of the most important aspects that makes one human and not a clockwork orange. Burgess' definition of moral freedom is the ability to perform both good and evil, for evil must exist along with good in order for there to be a choice involved. In his introduction, he states that if one "can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or the Almighty State" (ix). Good beings may cause evil, and moral freedom only requires that one knows a possibility is evil before one chooses i
However, this is no guarantee against crime in the midst of punishment. Burgess calls such beings 'clockwork oranges' and further says that they are 'inhuman. In a sense, Alex actually becomes a walking prison, and the government is making a senseless machine out of him, taking away his freedom to do as he wishes. " (83) Alex has no choice but to be good upon completion of this reclamation program, and hence, it is not good at all. The immature Alex was a mixture of good and evil possibilities with evil taking the upper hand. Pierre Bourdieu, the author of "Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action," understands Alex's mindset, for he argues against the assumption that "the principle of action is well-thought-out economic interest and its objective is monetary profit, posed consciously through rational calculation. He states that he does not steal for the want of money, but for the pleasure of it. While behind bars, his circumstantial freedom, the freedom to do as he pleases, is taken from him. The moral protest to such conditioning is based on the fact that no human has a right to say who should be conditioned and who should not. " (Bourdieu, 79) It is entirely evident that Alex fits into this contention: he is not stealing for the money itself, and his actions are not what you would call a 'rational calculation. Attempts to do so will only result in a conditioned type of clockwork orange, a coerced goodness, and not a natural or chosen one. Human governments cannot make individuals morally perfect. Miranda continually abuses Ferdinand and Alex still commits violent acts in jail.
Common topics in this essay:
Technique' Alex,
Devil Almighty,
Theory Action,
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Ferdinand Alex,
,
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Miranda Alex,
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Miranda's Burgess,
moral freedom,
freedom choice,
Pierre Bourdieu,
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psychological realm,
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Acceptance Essays
