A Clockwork Orange

Central Quote

"If a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man" (56).

This was spoken by the chaplain of the prison where Alex was held in response to Alex's desire to get out of jail early by participating as a subject of Ludovico's Technique. He expresses the ethical concerns toward the technique which eliminates the choice of the subject on whether to be good or bad, they are driven like an animal away from pain toward whatever will stop the pain, in this case being good. This is central to the book as it examines free will in society, ultimately after experiencing both sides and after growing older Alex decided that he does not want to do the violent acts he once enjoyed so much. By being given a choice he makes a permanent decision not fueled by outside factors, this being a much more real choice that he will ultimately stick to.

Connections

Brave New World-
A Clockwork Orange shares similarities with Brave New World in the use of technology. In both novels, technology is used to control people. In Brave New World it is used to control the entire population and conditions people to be happy with what they will be forced to do from birth. In A Clockwork Orange Alex is conditioned not to do violence through Ludovico's Technique where, "The intention to act violently is accompanied by strong feelings of physical distress. To counter these the subject has to switch to a diametrically opposed attitude" (82). This is achieved through a combination of medication to make the subject feel sick and showings of violent and brutal films, so that the subject associates the sickness from the medication with the violence. In both books the government uses techniques achieved through technology to reach their goals.

1984-
The government of 1984 is very similar to that in A Clockwork Orange; both are totalitarian based governments with minimal free will. Both can easily be viewed as evil, both using fear to control their citizens, in 1984 fear of torture and the strain of being constantly watched, and in A Clockwork Orange, fear of the brutal youth police force patrolling the streets. Both governments are only interested in upholding their position of power. In A Clockwork Orange the government cured Alex of his conditioning so that he could endorse them instead of the resistance, which as the government put it, "would be glad, yes, glad for you to be dead, for they thought they could then blame it all on the Government" (113). The government first manipulated Alex into being non-violent, which seems to be good thing to do, but then when the need arose they reversed this process without a second thought to better secure their position of power.

Slang-
In A Clockwork Orange, the nadsats (teenagers) use a different dialect to communicate with each other than the rest of the population. "'These grahzny sodding veshches that come out of my gulliver and my plott,' I said, 'that's what it is.' 'Quaint,' said Dr. Brodsky, like smiling, 'the dialect of the tribe'" (75). The use of this language is to both alienate other members of society and, just as modern slang, it is used to differentiate groups and allow only people of the same group to communicate. Anthony Burgess uses this to alienate the reader as well and makes them feel as disconnected as others when trying to understand what Alex is saying.

Visual Representation

This is a picture of Ludwig van Beethoven in nadsat dress. It is representative of A Clockwork Orange because Alex is an avid lover of classical music, Beethoven's famous Symphony Number 9 in D minor being one of his favorites. Early in the book he associates the feeling he gets when he listens to symphonies and gets good feelings like those that he gets when he does something violent. However later in the book after Ludovico's Technique is used on him he cannot listen to emotional music without feeling sick. "It was that these doctor bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence" (91). All throughout the book classical music plays a role in documenting Alex's journey, his view of music changes along with his view of the world.

Questions

Would you use Ludovico Technique on violent criminals?
Would this create a better world?
Is it possible to change someone's views? Why? Why not?
Is it an endless cycle that kids become their parents?
Is it only through experiencing things for yourself that you can make a true life choice?

Reflection

I liked this book, it is hard to get into it at first because of the language barrier but once you get past that you can enjoy the power social commentary of Anthony Burgess. The language of the book was a masterful stroke of wit by Burgess; it makes the reader feel as a citizen would when coming in contact with at nadsat. I am glad that the American version of the book now prints the last chapter; it makes the message of the book a deeper look into the human mind and not just looking at someone with animalistic instincts. The book itself is not all that long and is a powerful look into human society; I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.