a Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess has been heralded as one of the greatest literary geniuses of the twentieth century. Although Burgess has over thirty works of published literature, his most famous is A Clockwork Orange. Burgess’s novel is a futuristic look at a Totalitarian government. The main character, Alex, is an "ultra-violent" thief who has no problem using force against innocent citizens to get what he wants. The beginning of the story takes us through a night in the life of Alex and his Droogs, and details their adventures that occupy their time throughout the night. At fifteen years old, Alex is set up by his Droogs—Pete, Dim, and Georgie—and is convicted of murder and sent to jail. At the Staja or state penitentiary, Alex becomes inmate number 6655321 and spends two years of a sentence of fourteen years there. Alex is then chosen by the government to undergo an experimental new "Ludovico’s Technique." In exchange for his freedom, Alex would partake in this experiment that was to cure him of all the evil inside of him and all that was bad. Alex is given injections and made to watch films of rape, violence, and war and the mixture of t

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He is a depiction of the ‘bad element’ of society that England was dealing with at the time that Burgess wrote this novel (Malafry). He uses this surreal method of therapy (which was actually being discussed at the time) to show the dangers of this type of ‘human experiment’. Alex does not treat his friends as equals and is only satisfied with complete control and a dictator-like position, at one point even referring to one of his droogs as ‘Dim the soviet. He states that he does not steal for the want of money, but for the pleasure it brings him. He once again has freedom of choice. It is the mutual responsibility of God and the individual to reach moral perfection; the one giving moral freedom and removing original sin and the other rightly exercising the freedom to include acceptance of God’s forgiveness for willful sin (Hausey).

Another characteristic of this novel is the blurring of normal understanding, or the frustration of accepted expectations (Kris). She died about a month after the incident from internal bleeding, along with their unborn child, who was killed during the assault. This writer believes that this method robs the recipient of freedom of choice and moral decision, therefore depriving him of being a human at all. The last chapter of the novel which was omitted from the American version and from Stanley Kubrick’s film shows Alex’s realization that he is growing up and out of his ultra-violent ways on his own. To be forced to do good is truly wrong. Burgess, through his use of satire, rebukes the suppression of freedom. The inspiration for A Clockwork Orange came while during World War II, when his wife was assaulted while he fought. He is no longer a human clockwork orange. Burgess was a composer of music since the age of sixteen years.

Common topics in this essay:
Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, Humble Narrator, Ludovicos Technique, Kris Alex, Burgess WWII, Kris Burgess, Alex Alex, Hausey Aside, Dr Brodsky, clockwork orange, anthony burgess, alex droogs, novel alex, moral choice, free choice, freedom choice, alex eventually, willful sin, kris alex,

Approximate Word count = 2141
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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