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A Clockwork Orange Essay: Blindness in A Clockwork Orange

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Blindness in A Clockwork Orange

In the novel, A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess has tried to show the importance of individual freedom over doing the right thing. He has taken an extreme example of violence and perverse acts to accent his strong belief. It is my opinion that Burgess has been blinded to some essential truths in his quest to ensure personal freedom.

Personal freedom can be described as acting upon your own accord and not becoming restricted by the social paradigm in which you live. This is definitely a noble cause, all men should have the right to choose the path of their own lives. You may have the right to choose your own actions, but you are not allowed to impose your freedom on others. This is the point at which …show more content…

A parallel to this is written in part three of chapter 2:

“This is not a reward. This is far from being a reward. Now, there is a form here to be signed. It says that you are willing to have the residue of your sentence commuted to submission to what is called here, ridiculous expression, Reclamation Treatment. Will you sign?” “Oh, yes sir...” p.93

Alex is so quick to agree, because he sees the chance for his freedom. The warden warns him that this is not a gift being handed to him, but instead perhaps a curse. Alex accepts this consequence much like he must accept the consequences set upon him by society for the lifestyle he chooses to live.

It is popular to argue on what is right or wrong as judged by society, and I myself believe that a lot of popular views are not true, but a moral sense that has been inherent in human nature since the dawn of time is a very difficult view to challenge. Keeping these morals in mind, I would mark Alex as a very disturbed man. As I stated earlier Burgess took an extreme example of imposing personal freedom, and in its extremity it deserves to be neutralized. Imposing someone else’s ideas on the individual, like was done in the book, is not the right thing to do. Changing the man to fit your wishes is a crime as great as the one’s Alex committed. In this case capital punishment should be exercised. There is no question of freedom in this action just an end.

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