A+Clockwork+Orange

**A CLOCKWORK ORANGE** **BY ANTHONY BURGESS** “If [a human being] 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.   --Anthony Burgess



 
 * About the Author**

Anthony Burgess, born and raised in Manchester, England, began writing when he was first diagnosed with a brain tumor in an effort to support his wife after his death. Although he later discovered he was misdiagnosed, he continued writing books, including his famous novella, //A Clockwork Orange//. Burgess was raised Catholic, and the morals of good and evil pervading //A Clockwork Orange// reflect Catholicism’s influence. A visit to Leningrad in 1961 inspired Burgess to write this novella when he encountered the //stilyagi//, Russian teenage gangs. This experience was an obvious inspiration for his teenage characters in the book. While Burgess disapproved of Russia’s Communistic ideals of sacrificing individual freedom for the public good, //A Clockwork Orange// also serves as a satire of Britain’s own willingness to sacrifice individuality for social stability, America’s corrupt law enforcement, and behaviorism. Major Characters ** **//Alex//** - A violent fifteen-year-old droog who is the ringleader of his gang that wreaks havoc at night. He and his friends speak in a fictional slang throughout the book as they roam the dark streets leaving victims in their wake. Eventually caught for his crimes, the government tries to “reform” Alex into a “good” citizen. Alex’s Droogs **
 * 
 * //Dim//** - A vicious fighter, his name accurately reflects his nature as a dimwitted and violent follower.
 * //Georgie//** – Although he initially follows Alex’s lead, he grows tired of being a follower and at one point tries to lead the gang instead.
 * //Pete//** –He follows Alex’s lead but often rebukes Alex for his violence.

//**Prison chaplain (charlie)**// - He is one of the few who disapproves of the government’s method of “reform” for Alex, serving as Burgess’s voice in the novella. //**Dr. Branom**// – Alex describes him as a fat man, one of the co-founders of the Ludovico Technique. //**Dr.**//  //**Brodsky**// –Initially, Alex takes a liking towards the friendly man until he uses the Ludovico Technique on him. //**F. Alexander**// –The author  of the novel, //A Clockwork Orange//, he uses Alex to prove the harmful effects of the Ludovico Technique.  //“What’s it going to be then, eh?”//
 *  Summary **

//“...and then we began to filly about with him. Pete held his rookers and Georgie sort of hooked his rot wide open for him and Dim yanked out his false zoobies, upper and lower. He threw these down on the pavement and then I treated to them the old bootcrush, though they were hard...being made of some horrorshow plastic stuff.”//

//A Clockwork Orange// revolves around a violent but intelligent fifteen-year-old named Alex. Alex and his friends (called droogs) rule the night in the streets of a future Britain, brutalizing innocent citizens on the streets and in their homes. Alex speaks in an invented slang Burgess calls Nadsat, terms derived from Russian, Gypsy, French, and Cockney slang. When Alex eventually is caught for his criminal acts, the government uses him as a guinea pig for their method of “reforming” criminals into “good” citizens.  



//“What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”//

The prison chaplain serves as Burgess's voice in the novel. This quote illustrates the driving force behind Burgess's novel, the questions concerning the morality of forcing a human being to be “good.” Burgess acknowledges that human beings are violent by nature but are presented with the choice of good and evil and the capacity to recognize good and evil. Forcing someone to be good violates nature and strips away the humanity of a person, leaving something no bett er than a machine or a puppet. While Alex is reformed, he only behaves to serve his self-interests rather than because he chooses to be good.

//“What is h////appening to you now is what should hap////pen to any n////ormal healthy human organism contemplating the actions of the forces of evil...You are being made sane, you are being made healthy.”//

This quote reveals the contradiction of the idea behind the Ludovico Technique. While Alex's society regards being good as normal at any cost, Alex's reformed nature is unhealthy and artificial. His violent nature is replaced with something worse, a shameless machine, more forced to be good rather than being able to "contemplate" his evil actions.

While Burgess's novel was brutal and dark, the Nadsat slang lessened the horrors of Alex's crimes and allowed for a more sympathetic view of Alex's story.
 * A Quick Guide to Nadsat Slang **

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 * Horrorshow** - good, pleasing, "awesome"
 * Viddy** - see
 * Glazzy** - eyes
 * Litso** - face
 * Sloosh** - hear

 media type="custom" key="3793479" <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The Ninth," I said. "The glorious Ninth."

<span style="font-size: 70%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> ** Amen. And all that cal. **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Viddy these sources:<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> [|"A Clockwork Orange" Stills] [|About Anthony Burgess]