A Clockwork Orange
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A Clockwork Orange
In “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, the main charater is Alex. He is a teenager and he lives with his parent. He is the leader of a gang that consists of his friends Pete, Dim, Georgie and of course him self. ItÒs a very violent gang, and they enjoy to beat up and to rape other people. Alex is a well known kriminal by the police, but he hasnÒt been to prison yet. One day when the gang is hanging at the Korona Milkbar, Alex hits Dim. Dim is really big and strong, so he gets mad. But Alex is the leader and he maintaince the control of the gang. But one day Pete, Georgie and Dim betrays Alex, and he is arrested by the police. He gets arrested because he has murdered a woman. He is sentenced to 14 years in jail.
After some years in prison he kills an inmate, and he has to try a new technique called the Ludovicos Technique, which cures criminels who likes violence. After two weeks he is cured. He no longer wants to hurt other people, and he gets sick just by thinking of it. After the treatment he gets out of jail. But he canÒt live at home any more. In the city the police catches him, and they beat him up. Afterwards he finds an author, who wants to help him. In the start of the story, Alex raped and killed a woman infront of her husband. The husband is the author. But in the beginnnig he canÒt recognize Alex. He wants Alex to help him, with destroying the government. But he tricks Alex into committing
suicide, but he survives. After the suicide attempt, he no longer fells sick when he is thinking on violence. So he joins a new gang. But one day he meets Georgie, one of his old friens, who now have a wife and a baby. After this episode Alex realises that he is an adult now, and that he also wants a wife and a baby.
The novels composition is a based on a classic
narrativ model, which comes from fairy tales. The narrative model is called the “Home – Away – Home” Model. In the beginning of the book, Alex is in his own town, and is living at home. He likes violence very much. Later he is captured and put to prison. Now he is away from home, and he is not incharge of things anymore. After getting the Ludovicos Technique treatment he no longer likes violence. He is now completely away from home, and away from the person that he used to be. In the ending, he is back home, living with his parents. He is also the leader in a new gang, which means that he is in control. He also likes violence again. But in the very last bit of the story, there is a twist. He changes from being a teenager to being an adult. This could mean that he is away again. But I donÒt think so. I think that this means, that he is finally home, and that he has becomed the person that he really is.
In book the language is primary on english. But Burgess also uses a language called “Nadsat”. This language consists of a lot of Russian words. ItÒs not used in whole sentences, but only as slang in sentences. In the story it is only the teenagers who uses it. The reason why Burgess has chosen
to used this language is, that some things in the book would be to violent and scary if it was on english. Nadsat is therefore hiding the violence a bit. It is also used to make Alex and his gang more youthfull. In many generations the youth have used a lot of slang, and therefore the youth in this book should also do it. But if there were used a lot of slang from the time where Burgess wrote this book, it would seem outdated in just a few years. Nadsat is therefore used to make the book timeless.
As said before, the main character in the book is Alex. In the beginning he is a very strange
person. He loves violence, rapping, being in charge and music. He has a passion for music, especially classical music fx Beethoven. When he is at home, he likes to ie on his bed hearing Beethoven and thinking on violence. It even turns him on. In the beginning he is the leader of the gang. When he hits Dim, and Dim protests he doesnÒt care about it. Georgie, Dim and Pete also surggests that they want the gang to be run more democratically, but Alex refuses. He wants to be the only one in charge.
But when he is prison, he loses a lot of this control and freedom. He doesnÒt like that, so he wants a way out. After killing an other inmate, he gets that other way out. If he gets the treatment he will be released. Alex thinks that he can easily handle the treatment, but he canÒt. Now he loses more and more of his control and freedom. He can`t think on violence any more without getting sick. The thought of this makes him even more sick. When he is realised from prison, he can`t live at home. This also means that he loses more freedom and control. And that he is beaten by some old people and by the police dosenÒt help. Earlier he was the leader, now he is in the bottom of the food chain. He is the weakest link. His situation get more worse for each day that goes by, until he reaches the bottom. He tries to commit suicide, but he fails. After this episode he gets cured from the treament in prison, and he becomes a leader again. But this isnÒt good enough for him anymore. Now he wants something else. He realises what it is, when he meets Georgie and his family in the end. Now Alex knows that he is an adult. When he was a teenager, he thougt that he was free, but now he has reached the true freedom.
Dim, Pete and Geogie are minor important characters in the story. In the beginning they are all under Alexs “dictatorship”, but they all becomes adults before Alex. Pete doesnÒt becomes one because he dies in an young age. F. Alexander is also a minor important character. But he has much influence on Alex. In the beginning it is F. Alexander who is Alexs victim, but in the end it it Alex who is F. Alexanders victim.
The major theme in the