A Clockwork Orange Religion

The novel A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, follows the teenage narrator Alex through his years as a wild, violent, and destructive teen to the point in time where he finally decides to grow up. Alex and his group of friends enjoy stealing, bullying, beating, raping, and lying. However, the fun ends when one night Alex takes his enjoyment of beating too far when an old lady decides to fight back. Alex ends up getting arrested and while he is in prison, the old lady dies. He is sentenced to forteen years in prison. Two years into Alex’s sentence, he gets into a fight with another inmate and he kills the inmate. The next day, the prison hands over Alex to a doctor who promises to have Alex released as a changed man in less than two

The prison chaplain explains this question as, “Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness?” (Burgess 106). The books portrays a dark time where young people rule the streets preying on the old and weak. These people are the ones who will carry us into the next generation. Prisons are ineffective, and in their own way actually increase violence, “Cram criminals together and see what happens. You get concentrated criminality, crime in the midst of punishment” (Burgess 102). This is where the new program which trains people to become physically ill at the sight and thought of violence enters the story. The use of IV medication while being strapped down and forced to watch videos of violent acts is the method used to take away the choice of wrongful acts. However, even if one violent person is ‘cured’, there will always be more violence in the world. The program Alex goes through unintentionally renders him incapable of defending himself from violence that faces him. The doctors do not see this aspect as a problem, but simply assure Alex that, “Violence is a very horrible thing. That’s what you’re learning now. Your body is learning it” (Burgess 121). In a culture that is riddled with violence, is it wrong to take an offender and turn him or her into a victim? It is morally wrong to take away a person’s right to make

Burgess gives a glimpse into a potential societal outcome that would be disastrous and full of violence. A society where choice is not an option but rather, “Never again will you have the desire to commit acts of violence or to offend in any way whatsoever against the State’s peace” (Burgess 106). What makes society great is diversity of personalities, people, and lifestyles. While society would be better off without all types of violence, it does not improve the quality of living, it simply takes away the right to make negative impact decisions. People do not have improved morals or ideals. They are only capable of right and moral acts because they are violently ill. I was able to personally connect with this aspect of the message of A Clockwork Orange. It is a constant debate in politics and the media on what rights people should have. For example, a person’s right to marriage equality or a woman’s right to choose abortion over pregnancy. These are not as serious as entirely taking away a human’s right to make bad decisions. However, the fact that our society is strongly focused on what should be simply and minor choices because of freedom shows how distracted we are by control. Burgess’s novel shows an amplified version of our society and its selectively distorted views on freedom. The hope for