A Clockwork Orange Narcissism Analysis

Moreover, both Alex and Patrick are defined as narcissists in that they snap at the smallest insults to their sense of superiority. Within ‘A Clockwork Orange’ the reader consistently is confronted by Alex’s sense of superiority. This is because the novel is narrated through the perspective of Alex. The violence that Alex and his “droogs” are involved in is seen through the mindset of the narcissist (Alex). In the beating of the drunk by Alex and his “droogs” Alex states “I could never stand to see a moodge all filthy and rolling and burping and drunk, whatever age might be.” Moreover, Alex jabs at Dim when Dim howls and pokes fun at a woman at the Milk Bar, it is not done out the fact that the woman was insulted but due to the fact that his

I’m an asset.” This very quote links into how Bateman and his friend Price, are obsessed with securing the dream of many Americans in the 1980s which was to be invaluable and superior than others. This very desire to be better than others pushes Patrick to jealousy, paranoia, rage, and a lust for prestige and domination which in effect leads him to acts of murder, torture, cannibalism, mutilation and necrophilia. Just like Alex, Bateman gets insulted over little things. When Bateman and his associates discuss the miniature details of their business cards (e.g. the colour, font type, layout and the card stock, it becomes clear that they represent their masculinity at stake. Bateman receives a few compliments on the “elegance of the color and the classy type” of his card, but this is soon diminished when Price states that Van Patten’s card is better than Bateman’s - “I cannot believe that Price actually likes Van Patten’s better. Dizzy, I sip drunk then take a deep breath”. This quote quite clearly depicts Bateman’s inability to control his temper, as he observes his card described as nearly as not nice then the others, which fuels his ferocious rage and feelings of insignificance. For Bateman superiority and dominance is essential for him to achieve his dream, his desire for this can be seen in his violence and verbal abuse. He kills a homosexual man because he violates Bateman’s views on sexual

In ‘A Clockwork Orange’, if you were to apply psychoanalytic lens to the text is becomes clear that Burgess has constructed Alex as a malignant narcissist, who he utilizes as a tool to project his concern that society is shaping the human race into becoming like Alex. Burgess in his novel describes a society which is at the beginnings of totalitarianism. Alex is an interesting protagonist as he doesn’t seek to revolutionize his society. By committing horrendous crimes, it enables him to feel emotion in an ordered world. Both Heller and Kiraly argued that “..._A Clockwork Orange_portrays a detached, uncaring society where ultraviolence is the only method of saying, ‘I am alive’”. Despite the fact Alex’s crimes are abhorrent; the reader regard with empathy Alex’s struggle to seem alive within a disaffected society. The narcissistic nature of the character has derived from being surrounded by society that is corrupted and fails to acknowledge its