Literary Analysis Of A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange Literary Analysis

What’s going to be then, eh? A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, starts with this question as it reinforces the theme of the book, the inviolability of individual moral choice and the necessity of commitment in life. Fifteen years old Alex and his friends set out on a diabolical orgy of robbery, rape, torture and murder. Alex is jailed for his teenage delinquency and the state tries to reform him- but at what cost? A Clockwork orange is a dystopian novel and black comedy about the study of free will and the social prophecy in the not-too-distant-future or as Burgess calls it “nadsat”.

The Author, John Anthony Burgess Wilson, was an English writer and composer. He was raised in considerably modest family

Deprived from their self-consciousness, the citizens would turn into clockwork oranges. Our major external conflict is society’s desire to order and the individualism that comes from human nature. Right of deciding your own choices is a problem when those choices threaten the society and government. However, if we take people’s ability to use this right, the result would be equally horrible. The necessity of evil in human nature was one of the major themes in the book as well. No one is perfect. Because, our evil sides are as important as our good sides and they make us and Alex human. Unlike many other people, Alex’s thoughts and appearance were much livelier. The second theme and also a motif in the novel is “Classical music”. Burgess was also a composer. He even considered himself a composer more than a writer. Therefore, he often uses music as a motif in his works. The work which was frequently alluded to was Beethoven’s ninth symphony, Ode to Joy. Music is the one passion for Alex apart from violence and it is the only thing that makes him a real human with feelings instead of a person that sleeps all day, then wakes up to have sex, take drugs, and use violence. During the Alex’s treatment the love of music was taken from him, just another reason why Alex turned into a human robot or a clockwork orange. The imagery of “blood” in the novel is very different from usual as well.

One who genuinely did so was Anthony Burgess, with his novel A Clockwork Orange. This novel was the first work of Anthony Burgess that I have read so far and I will definitely read Burgess’ other novels. Also, I am really curious about his works in music. When I did a research and read it carefully to find used literary devices, I found out that it has many hidden meanings under those sentences that make Burgess a social critic and a free-thinker for me. All in all, I strongly recommend you to read this novel. It will change your perspective to the world issues especially the ones which is related to human psychology and systems that control us. But be careful! It is not an ordinary book that you can consider like easy-read one. Before you read it ask yourself these question that Prison Chaplain asked himself and to little 6655321 (Alex) to prevent him from Ludovico’s Technique. “Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some ways better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard questions…”