Anthony Burgess wrote this book in 1962. This may seem like an outdated book, but its morals and principles still apply to today’s society more the ever. For this blog post I would like to analyze the book as a whole and the significance of the ending to the moral of the story.
For Burgess, the important idea is a choice between right and wrong. His book is similar to 1984 by George Orwell in that it presents a futuristic issue that society faces. Although I don’t think the type of mind control presented in the book ever came true, this kind of government control is still a possibility. His argument is that people should have the choice between right and wrong and this is a right that should be guaranteed to people.
Even though Alex is a low life who does horrible things, we root for him since his basic freedoms have been taken away and his mind crippled. When he is finally removed from his anti-violence trance, the reader is actually happy that he can commit crimes again such as beating and raping people. Surprisingly, the story ends with Alex back to his old bad habits, but the reader is left with closure that Alex’s moral choice will lead him towards good since his last thoughts are of starting a family and children. A recent online survey showed that citizens (obviously) are opposed to the type of government control presented in the book.
If you are still interested in A Clockwork Orange , checkout the Moive adaptation Be warned that it is rated “R” because of the violent acts portrayed from the book.
This site does a great job illustrating the movie adaptation with captions and then analyzing the events in terms of Burgess’s goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment