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
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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.
I don't want this paper to be a
What is interesting is how later in the novel, Alex happens upon Alexander's home again, forgetting exactly why it seems so familiar. Alexander gets his revenge on the poor Alex, who opens up to the horrors he suffered in prison, unknowingly telling Alexander ways to harm him. Alexander represents Burgess' desire for vengeance; Burgess is able to take out his anger on Alex, a murdering rapist.
In “The Death Penalty” (1985), David Bruck argues that the death penalty is injustice and that it is fury rather than justice that compels others to “demand that murderers be punished” by death. Bruck relies on varies cases of death row inmates to persuade the readers against capital punishment. His purpose is to persuade readers against the death penalty in order for them to realize that it is inhuman, irrational, and that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned.” Bruck does not employ an array of devices but he does employ some such as juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and appeals to strengthen his argument. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of
A Clockwork Orange, a novel written by Anthony Burgess in the 1960’s takes place in dystopian future in London, England. The novel is about a fifteen year old nadsat (teenager) named Alex who along with his droogs (friends) commit violent acts of crime and opts to be bad over good. In time, Alex finds himself to be in an experiment by the government, making him unable to choose between good and evil, thus losing his ability of free will, and being a mere clockwork orange. A “clockwork orange” is a metaphor for Alex being controlled by the government, which makes him artificial because he is unable to make the decision of good verses evil for himself and is a subject to what others believe is right. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
The author claims that Capital Punishment is a free right and is important in keeping criminals out of society. His purpose is to show the reasons why the death penalty is important to society and he does just that! Gibson shares how the death penalty serves justice for the families of the victims and how its retributive for the victim. Not to mention how Capital Punishment acts as a deterrence. Through these statements one can't help but be a little persuaded to read on.
In essence, Mr. Henderson's “The pursuit of capital punishment for Dylann Roof is a step backward” is controlling the views of the readers by creating a text that criticizes and at the same time, persuades the reader to understand that the retribution of a crime can also inflict pain if handled wrongly. The urgent and firm tone through the column makes the article stand on its own and oppose the capital
Then we tripped him he laid down flat and heavy and a bucketload of of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song not vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way." (Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, 18)This is particularly true in regards to his victims throughout the story. One of the first examples is seen in the book when he attacks an innocent old man returning from the library. However in the film, it’s a drunken tramp sitting in an alley. This minor detail entirely effects the impression Alex has on the reader, being that the innocence of the old man is less conceivable to commit vicious acts of violence against. This contrast continues and increases in vulgarity as the book progresses, he rapes two ten-year-old girls he’s gotten drunk on Scotch and soda in a horrifying chapter that escalates in casual
Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, a critically acclaimed masterstroke on the horrors of conditioning, is unfairly attacked for apparently gratuitous violence while it merely uses brutality, as well as linguistics and a contentious dénouement, as a vehicle for deeper themes.
In the classic novel, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, a theme emerges. This is the theme of free will. Through the main character, Alex, Burgess is able to convey his ideas about free will and the oppressive nature of establishments such as governments and the media. Aside from these suggestions made by Burgess the question persists: When a man ceases to choose, is he still a man?
“What’s it going to be then, eh?” is the signature question in Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Novel that not only resonates with the moral identity of the anti-heroic protagonist, Alex, but also signifies the essential choice between free will that perpetrates evil and deterministic goodness that is forced and unreal. The prison chaplain and the writer F. Alexander voice the most controversial idea in the novel: man becomes ‘a clockwork orange’ when robbed of free will and tuned into a deterministic mechanism.
Anthony Burgess's writing style in his most famous novel, A Clockwork Orange, is different to say the least. This novel is praised for its ingenuity, although many are disturbed by Burgess's predictions for the future. However, for many, it is close to impossible to comprehend without outside help. This is because Burgess created a language specifically for this novel, called Nadsat. This Russian-based language forms conversations between the narrator, Alex, and his teenage, delinquent friends. There are many assumptions as to why Burgess chose to complicate A Clockwork Orange by filling it with the confusing Nadsat language. Some opinions are that the language shows A Clockwork Orange readers
In the novel A Clockwork Orange, the author Anthony Burgess tells a story about a young man name Alex and his friends, every night they go around and start committing violent acts. In the novel Alex expresses his freedom of choice between good and evil. The freedom of choice is a decision that every person must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and to take control of his own future. This Freedom of Choice, no matter what the outcome is, displays person power as an individual, and any efforts to control or influence this choice between good and evil will take way the person free will and enslave him. In this novel the author uses this symbolism through imagery. He shows that through the character of
As a result, Adams establishes the British prisoners as those that must be saved, those whose rights are being compromised. This ties Beccaria’s quote to an element of his central argument -- that the protection of rights is the priority -- and clarifies that is the prisoners who are being subjected to tyranny. By appealing to the jury’s pathos and beliefs, who most likely feel that they themselves are victims of tyranny, he invites them to sympathize with this argument. The provocative diction -- words such as “agonies,” “fatal,” and “tyranny” are used -- triggers an emotional response from the jury, and allows them to make a connection between their own fervent defense of liberty and the liberty of the British soldiers (Ellis 2-3). Beccaria’s quote develops the logic of Adams’s argument by supporting the protection of the soldiers’ rights; it effectively plays on the values of the jury to appeal to pathos and make his claim more convincing.
Freedom and liberalism are catchwords that appear frequently in both philosophical and political rhetoric. A free man is able to choose his actions and his value system, to express his views and to develop his most authentic character. What this kind of idealistic liberalism seems to forget, however, is that liberty does not mean a better society, better life or humanistic values such as equality and justice. In his novel A Clockwork Orange (1962), Anthony Burgess portrays an ultimately free individual and shows how a society cannot cope with the freedom which it in rhetoric so eagerly seeks to promote.
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,
Robertson devotes years of his life fighting for the truth- that human rights must be maintained. Robertson portrays to the observers that a prolonged wait on death row (2 years and more) breaches Human Rights due to it being an environment where “prisoner’s personality is incredibly brutalised.” This use of high modality illustrates Robertson’s morals and views on the death penalty- being a punishment that does not support the human rights of individuals. Robertson’s morals disable him from getting a clear perception of the truth, as he does not see the benefits that exist. However the government is able to identify the benefits, and gain a view Robertson is not able to, due to their different morals. The government believes capital punishment does not breach human rights; they defend the policy of having capital punishment by referring to it as a deterrent.