Analysis Of A Clockwork Orange By Anthony Burgess
Author Background and Historical Context
According to Roger Luckhurst, Anthony Burgess was inspired to write A Clockwork Orange after his wife, Lynne, was attacked and sexually assaulted by four American soldiers during an air raid in London in 1940. Many believe that A Clockwork Orange is so violent and gruesome because of the tragedy that his wife experienced. Also, during this time the “U. S. was worried about zoot-suited urban youths and biker gangs creating social disorder”, which is why many people believe that a part of Anthony Burgess’s inspiration for writing the novel stemmed off of this. It is because of the violent behavior of teens and the corruption of the government that is involved in the book, that many people denied their children the right to read it. It has also been banned many times throughout the years, and in 1971 when the movie adaption was released, the only way to watch it was illegally (Luckhurst).
Plot and Conflict
Alex is a troubled teenager who goes through town raping and beating strangers through the night. He skips school and hides from the cops as much as he can get away with. The authorities eventually catch up with alex and throw him behind prison walls where the government finally has the final say in his behavior. The night alex is caught he is found stealing in the home of an elderly woman. “You filthy old soomka, upped with the silver statue and cracked her a fine fair tolchock on the gulliver and that shut her up real horrorshow and lovely. ” (Burgess 59). This old woman is found dead after this blow of a hit and leads Alex to the hands of society.
In punishment for two years, Alex goes through the prison life and the new “Ludovico’s Technique” that is introduced by the government. Yet, when Alex is released he finds himself meeting a group of men that want to use him to knock the government out and screw up the elections. Though, things do not go according to plan and Alex finds himself in the hospital where his old friend, Minister of the Interior or Inferior from the “Ludovico’s Technique” comes and pays a visit. After putting him through this torture, the Minister of Interior or Inferior makes his way in and apologizes for the men that wanted to use him against the government and shakes hands like everything will be peaceful once again. “Because you are helping us. And then he took my rooker. ” (Burgess 168). Yet, little does the Minister know just what state of mind little Alex is in.
There are three other teenagers, Georgie, Pete, and Dim, that make an appearance alongside Alex. These three are also the cause of the next conflict and plot. It all starts when Alex goes and throws a punch at Dim for “being a bastard with no manners” (Burgess 26). Being that Alex is the leader of the group he feels that there is no harm done, but Dim feels differently and he ends up expressing his feeling to Alex. Georgie and Pete seemed to brush the hit off, though not agreeing to the action whatsoever. After words were said, they parted ways till later that evening and while Alex slept, the three boys talked and planned behind his back.
One of the first words Alex speaks when they are reunited is an insult towards Dim, and Pete and Georgie do not seem too fond of this—”No more picking on Dim. That’s part of the new way. We wanted to have things more democratic like. ” (Burgess 48). Naturally, Alex is appalled by this, yet lets the boys continue talking and goes with the flow till they head on out to the next victim that night. As they are on the way to the destination, Alex picks a fight with Dim and regains his rightful place as the King of his followers. What Alex does not realize though is the fact that these so called “friends” go and turn their back on him not too long after he regains his authority.
Character
Alex is a fifteen-year-old teenager who is also the narrator of the book. Alex lives more in the carefree mind and has more than just a passion for violence. He strives to always have authority, and despite his violent ways, he has a great deal of respect for classical music. Throughout the story, Alex is found to go through many changes, and even comes full circle by the end. In the beginning, Alex is living life the way he knows best, through violence and terror, “I thought, slooshying away to the brown gorgeousness of the starry German master, that I would like to have tolchocked them both harder and ripped them to ribbons on their own floor. ” (Burgess 31). To translate, Alex wished he could have dealt a great deal more of pain to his victims that what he had done. The later stage that Alex enters into is after he goes through the new treatment by the government. “I’d have to be real skorry and get my cut-throat britva out before this horrible killing sickness whoosed up and turned the like joy of battle into feeling I was going to snuff it. ” (Burgess 117). The reader can tell from this textual evidence, the treatment Alex was put through worked dramatically. He feels sick just thinking about committing the acts he was once so fond of. Alex finally meets his violent dangerous self once again near the end of the novel--”Carving the whole litso of the creeching world with my cutthroat britva. I was cured all right. ” (Burgess 169). So throughout A Clockwork Orange, Burgess’s audience rides on this twisty roller coaster ride with Alex’s personality that contributes so much intensity to the story.
Dim on the other hand, does not play such an impactful part in this story--more of a minor character. As Alex describes him on page three, “Dim being really dim. ” Dim seems to be the bait of many of Alex’s criticism and usually does most of the “dirty work” when the teenagers are out doing “business”. Though he is only a minor character, Dim definitely takes a major change in the story. He goes from being a boy who takes all the criticism and is “used” for his strength to finally becoming a boy who stands up for himself and tells how he feels. “What natural right does he have to think he can give the orders and tolchock me whenever he likes? Yarbles is what I say to him and I’d chain his glazzies out soon as look. ” (Burgess 26). This moment is when Dim finally shines and stands up to Alex about how he is treated. Though he may not be the most important character in the book, Dim has that touch to a character that adds just enough to make the atmosphere complete.
Theme
As the reader discovers, the neighborhood and society that Alex lives in is not the cleanest, nor safest place to live. Burgess expresses throughout the book just how violent society can be--teenagers run wild and do what they please, cops sit back and prisons complain when the cells start packing up like sardines in a can. On page 14, Burgess gives a glimpse at the violent side of the teenagers and just how “normal” this seems to the teens, “We gave him the boot, then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way. ” The idea of not being able to trust anyone also comes into play during the story. There are many times in the book that marks Alex calling people “traitors” and “liars”. The audience finds how the characters all turn on Alex and leaves him able to rely and trust in no one. Burgess shows his readers that this is what the real world is about in a violent, twisted, attention grabbing tale; not everything is sugar coated and not everyone likes you.
Setting
A Clockwork Orange takes place in the future where violence seems to be the answer to everything. The teenagers are found running wild and doing what they please and the prisons fill up fast. Most of society lives in dangerous, run-down neighborhoods and everyone is required to work. The cops and government are dirty and seem to be unreliable. With all these aspects, Burgess brings a very specific taste to the story; without them, the story would not be found so chiling and violent.
Point of View
The story is told in the first person point of view of a teenager named Alex, or how he addresses himself many times throughout the book, “Your Humble Narrator. ” Since Alex is only a teenager, the reader witnesses the action through a violent teenager view. With the narrator being so infatuated with violence, Alex makes sure to give in great detail the acts he commits. The issue about this point of view, the reader finds that Alex is mostly worried about himself and understands that he has not fully understood the world or how the government works with society yet. An example of his blood craving and the confusion happens between a dialogue of Dr. Brodsky and Alex, “You are being made sane, you are being made healthy” and Alex responds “That I will not have, nor can understand at all. ” (Burgess 103). Alex is basically stating that the craving for violence will never leave him and it also shows the uncertainty of the government he has.
Irony
The first example of irony used in A Clockwork Orange is situational. Alex, with the assistance of his friends, brutally beat the author of A Clockwork Orange and beat and rapes his wife to death. When Alex is finally set free from punishment he finds himself into a little bit of a pickle as he is taken by two cops, who is discovered to be an old enemy and friend, and beaten and left in the middle of nowhere. The irony comes into play as Alex is looking for someone to help him. Out of all the houses he could have stumbled upon, Alex finds himself at the same house and at the hand of the same author whose life he destroyed two years ago. This categorizes as irony because it is no coincidence that Alex happened to come across a house that he dealt so viciously too. With this irony, it shows how the past can come back and haunt--how it can rekindle old thoughts and feelings. This situation could have ended on a much better note if the past did not strike up old revenge.
Another piece of irony, which is also situational, deals while Alex is still in prison. There are words that are talked about in the prison walls that there is a new treatment going around that has said to let a prisoner free in just a fortnight. As Alex thinks that anything is better than where he is now, he jumps at the chance to express his feelings and eventually his wish is granted to take on this new treatment. Once Alex is in the hands of the government, he sees that the treatment was nothing that he imagined; this treatment being more harsh and cruel than the prison he was locked away in before. This situational irony shows the behind the scenes of the government’s mind and the violent acts they undergo to “cure” a troubled sinner--fixing the violence with violence.
Symbol
A symbol used not heavily, but definitely a major factor in the story, is the Ninth by Ludwig Van. As the story progresses, Alex, the narrator, expresses how much music means to him and it usually appears when he is in thought of his previous violent acts and the thoughts of new ones. The Ninth seems to be one of his favorites, as it is a place to get him to his comfortable dangerous side where the only that he craves is blood. A Clockwork Orange is also a significant symbol. The book is not only significant because it is the title of the story, but also because the audience follows Alex as he starts and ends with this book in the story. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to the author of this book and finds that Alex commits violent acts against him and his wife and then he ends by meeting this man again when he finally arrives home from his punishment. The narrator finds A Clockwork Orange is written about how the people are just little machines produced by the government who has taken their will of choice away--which is the type of society Alex is now living in himself.
Style
Burgess brings many stylistic approaches to A Clockwork Orange. One aspect that draws attention to the reader is what he brings to the start of each part in the book. The first sentence the reader comes upon is, “What’s it going to be then, eh?” With this unique approach, Burgess has his audience recalling to previous parts in the book because they have seen this question before. Another choice that Burgess brings to the table is one that sets the atmosphere of this story--the word choice. The audience finds that the word choice used in this book is not the typical foreign languages usually used. Burgess introduces to his readers is the “Nadsat” language, “Nadsat” meaning “teenager”. Within the first page, the audience finds that a Nadsat-English Dictionary would be very helpful; being how heavily he relies on this language to give his story more depth. Without the use of this mysterious language, the theme would lose all meaning to the characters and storyline; without the use of this diction, the story would come across completely different due to the fact that the narrator of the story is a teenager himself.
Personal Evaluation
As I started off with this book, I was fearful that I would struggle getting into it as much as I would like, with the use of the ‘nadsat” language and such--I had to keep referencing the dictionary. After I started to learn what the words meant though, I absolutely fell in love with this book. Burgess added just enough violence to keep me flipping those pages, and provided enough imagery for me to understand the clear picture in my head. He hid the theme underneath the tip of the iceberg and I loved questioning each motive and situation that happened to Alex throughout the book. With the work Burgess put into this story, I now feel that I have a very good understanding of A Clockwork Orange.
Works Cited:
- Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. Accessed on 8 Nov. 2019.
- Luckhurst, Roger. “An Introduction to A Clockwork Orange. ” An Introduction to A Clockwork Orange, The British Library, 13 Dec. 2016, https://www. bl. uk/20th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction-to-a-clockwork-orange. Accessed on 5 Nov. 2019.
