A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

ANTHONY BURGESS

1962

Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film adaptation of the novel.

Off-Broadway stage production of the novel - 2017

A clockwork orange – the title refers to a person who is lovely with colour and juice but is infact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil.

As Burgess explains, it stands for «the application of a mechanistic

morality to a living organism with juice and sweetness.»

• Youth culture

• Police force

• A dysfunctioning system

A Clockwork Orange is Burgess’s first attempt at a dystopia, and it deals with ideas of brainwashing and state control as the teenage protagonist (Alex) is stripped of his freedoms after he is arrested for violent and

murderous behaviour.

Alex is an anti-hero – a protagonist of a drama or narrative who is

notably lacking in heroic qualities of a conventional hero in which the character is admired for his bravery, strength, charm, etc. (e.g.

Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Jimmy Porter in John Osborne’s Look  Back in Anger, Darth Vader in Star Wars)

What’s the main question that the novel poses?

• Is it better for a man to choose to be «bad» than to be conditioned to

be «good»?

Alex – as short form of Alexander means protector of men

Lex in Greek means generally a rule of law binding universally on the citizens of a given state.

A(LEX) – without a law

NADSAT – its name comes from the Russian suffix equivalent of ‘teen.' In the novel, it

represents an Anglo-Russian hybrid language used by the members of a teen counterculture.

Droogs – friends Veck – man

Smecking – laughing Ptitsas – bird, feminine Rassadocks – minds

Horrorshow – good, well (deriving from the Russian word Khorosho)

What is the function of this «invented slang»?

Burgess aimed to create a timeless language to depict his dystopian future.

Burgess viewed his use of Nadsat as a «brainwashing device», something he writes about in You’ve Had Your Time (1990):

The novel was to be an exercise in linguistic programming, with the exoticisms gradually clarified by context: I would resist to the limit any publisher’s demand that a glossary be provided. A glossary would disrupt the programme and nullify the brainwashing.

The book’s editor, James Michie, had some hesitations about the density of Nadsat in the novel and stated a desire for Burgess to ‘make it gently accelerando. You can’t throw too much of it at them too quickly’. This editorial suggestion led to revisions in the first part of the novel where Alex explains the meaning of certain words. For example: ‘rooker (a hand, that is)’,

‘litso (face, that is) and ‘my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim’.

Despite Burgess’s insistence that there should be no glossary, there have now been many editions of the novel that include a glossary, including the exhaustive and meticulous one

contained in A Clockwork Orange: The Restored Edition, published on the fiftieth anniversary of the novel in 2012. (The International Anthony Burgess Foundation)

Dystopian fiction is rarely about the future. It always reflects the time in which it is

written. For the authors of Burgess’s generation, their writing was connected with their experiences of military life and events surrounding the Second World War, but as the twentieth century progressed, grand political narratives such as fascism and

communism ceased to be relevant. Dystopias began to reflect dominant concerns such as consumerism and equality, and the ever-present technological world (e.g. Kazuo

Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005) which is about a near-future boarding school for clones that provide donations of vital organs for ‘normals’, or the regular population, The Hunger Games (2008), a novel in which teenagers are set against one another in a battle to the death in a futuristic arena, overseen by the elite sections of society,

Charlie Brooker’s series Black Mirror (2011-2013) which show the possible effects of

smart phones, reality television and social networking.

Following World War II, writers were less interested in depicting

utopian societies founded on scientific advancements. The political dystopia, perhaps inspired by the tumultuous European politics of the late-1930s and early-1940s, began to flourish.

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) – a futuristic novel that

reflects concerns over societies run by totalitarian governments and

the rising power of fascism and communism – had a strong impact on

Burgess.

Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the best-known dystopia of the

twentieth century. The future world has been divided into three super-states, Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia all of which are thrown into a perpetual war. In Orwell’s world, the governments use a manipulative form of language called

‘Newspeak’, which states ‘War is Peace’ and is able to convince anyone that ‘2 + 2 = 5’. Britain monitors its citizens for the Hitler-esque leader, Big Brother.

The novel’s protagonist, Winston Smith, is the last man to possess any

concept of freedom and he futilely attempts to rebel against Big Brother only

to be arrested and ‘rehabilitated’ by the State. Orwell’s novel inspired many

other post-war dystopias, including Anthony Burgess’s 1985 (1978).

In 1958, Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited, a

reassessment of his most famous novel (BNW 1932). The central

concerns of this non-fiction book are to do with the deterioration of free society influenced by the politically chaotic mid-century.

Brave New World Revisited is an important text in the development of post-war dystopias. From his reading of this text, Anthony Burgess

produced two novels that dealt with future worlds where freedoms are challenged: The Wanting Seed and A Clockwork Orange, both

published in 1962.

PART I – Alex’s violent crimes

PART II – Alex’s imprisonment and the behavioural therapy he is forced to undergo

PART III – Alex’s desire to begin a new chapter in his life despite the

prevalence of evil in him

His love of music is what sets him apart from his friends («droogs»).

He loves Beethoven’s ninth symphony – ironically the brainwashing

treatment is called the Ludovico Method which is a play on Beethoven’s

name Ludvig van Beethoven.

Classical conditioning makes Alex feel ill whenever he sees acts of ultra-

violence.

Classical conditioning – Pavlov

Pavlov observed that dogs salivate when they taste food.

Food- the unconditioned stimulus (it is unconditioned because salivation is a natural response to the food. Then, he started ringing a bell shortly before he brought out the food each time. He called the salivation the unconditioned response (since the salivation was a natural response to the food).

Gradually, the dogs began to associate the sound of bell with food. Pavlov called the bell the conditioned stimulus and the salivation at the bell before the food arrived the

conditioned response.

In an interview Burgess stated that he was inspired by postwar youth subcultures such as the Teddy boys, and the 60s Mods, Rockers, and Skinheads whose entertainment often took the form of ultra-violence.

Burgess’s portrayal of a youth culture set in the future reveals that

youth does not change all that much over time, but he nonetheless

brings forth the oppositional stance embodied by the youthful energy.

The word «clockwork» evokes images of machines, and «oranges» of organic properties. «Orange» is close to the Malaysian «orang» which means «man».

The title evokes the image of a robotic and programmed human being

not acting of its own freewill.

Alex’s language creates a bond with his friends. It’s non-conforming and rebellious in tone.

The moral language of the prison chaplain sets a contrast to the scientific language. The priest places subjective emphasis on ideals and the moral responsibilities of human beings.

The priest was against Alex’s treatment right from the beginning.

By contrast, F. Alexander and the government’s rheotric (persuasive discussion) is

a language of insincerity and exploitation.

Burgess originally meant the book to be «an allegory of Christian free will.» He created characters that embodied the concepts of both free will and mechanised behaviour to emphasise their conflict.

Drawing upon the construction of Alex, which one of these concepts do you think the novel tends to prioritise?

Dr. Branom, Dr. Brodsky and the government presented the idea that people conditioned to behave «correctly» were assets to human society.

F. Alexander, the fictional author of A Clockwork Orange takes an opposite view, stating

that human beings cease to be human beings if they lose their basic human to choose

freely.

The novel poses a controversial question regarding what the society should tolerate:

The violence of the state OR

The violence of the individual

The idea of free will vs. crimes

Early in the novel the old drunk expresses his discontentment with the youth:

«… It is a stinking world because it lets the young get on to the old like you done, and there’s no law nor order no more.» (pp. 14-15)

The lodger whom Alex’s parents take in during his imprisonment also

complains about the criminal acts of the youth.

Burgess’s comment on the last chapter:

«The twenty-first chapter gives the novel the quality of genuine fiction, an art founded on the principle that human beings change. There is, in fact, not much

point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters….

It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may

operate… Unfortunately there is so much original sin in us all that we find evil rather

attractive. To devastate is easier and more spectacular than to create.»

Alex and his gang can be viewed as the products of England. The

motives behind their acts of violence could be attributed to the lack of material sources and their desire for power and autonomy.

• Please read «‘New Elizabethans’: The Representation of Youth  Subcultures in 1950s British Fiction» by Nick Bentley for a

comprehensive exploration of Teddy Boys in the 1950s.