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"But, brothers, this biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns me into a fine laughing malchick. They don't go into the cause of goodness, so why the other shop?"
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| | 1 | 8/29/2011 2:40 PM | The Chaplain While at first glance it may not seem like so, I think the chaplain serves an important purpose in the book. He is the only morally sound individual in the book, or at least the only one who makes it evident. Alex and his friends obviously have issues, with raping and beating being a common occurrence. The government, Dr Brodsky and his assistant are willing to strip a person's ability to have free choice. F. Alexander proves to be a hiypocrite, using Alex as a pawn in his war against the government. Alex's parents were too scared and timid to impose morals on their child. The chaplain, however, voices his morals, which many reader's view as the "right" morals. Also, Burgess uses the chaplain as a vehicle to convey his theme. Burgess argues, through the chaplain, that a person's freedom to choose should not be stripped. I believe the chaplain is a vital character to the book, without him, no sense of morality and stability would be present. | | | | 0 | 8/26/2011 6:45 PM | A.C.O. movie showing @ Main Art Theatre This is a bit short notice, but I just wanted to let everyone know that A Clockwork Orange is playing at the Main Art Theatre tonight (August 26th) and tomorrow night. It would be a great experience to see Kubrick's adaption, especially in such a horrowshow place as downtown Royal Oak! | | | | 8 | 8/24/2011 10:02 PM | The 21st Chapter The 21st chapter, it seems to me, goes along with the story line of most American movies and books. We are idealistic people who need to see a happy ending to every story, we need to see that the characters we've come to know and (not always) love have learned something in the course of the story, and that they are better people because of it. It's common to see in foreign movies and books that the main character doesn't end up with the picturesque "happy ending", and so I was surprised that when this book was published in the US, the final chapter was omitted, while elsewhere it was included in the printing.
However, it makes sense on another level, because the American culture leans toward the more violent, less wholesome stories.
Anthony Burgess apparently has created a very contradictory novel! | | | | 16 | 8/24/2011 2:21 PM | The New Alex When the new, transformed Alex is put in front of the panel of judges of sorts, he makes a complete fool of himself. It struck me as very surprising that Alex fears the feeling of being sick and hurt more than he does being a good person. He offers to lick the one man's shoes clean just so that he will not hurt him anymore. What was once the boy that would have beaten the life out of this man was now on his knees begging for mercy, all because of a little drugs and some movies. The new Alex can't even think about hurting a fly (literally) without feeling sick, and has to think of keeping it as a pet and taking care of it to make himself feel better. My question is, how long can movies and drugs last before they are out of your system and off your mind? Can a violent, cruel, rapist/murderer really be permanently changed because of 2 weeks of this special treatment? I say no amount of this type of treatment can change a person so evil, at least not permanently. | | | | 1 | 8/24/2011 2:17 PM | Alex Alex, who is the leader of his "droogs" comes off as a very cocky, sick, and twisted boy. I would discribe him as a psychopath enjoying his time in his own wonderland. It seems as if he has no worries or problems at all. When his friends question his power of them he really makes them regret it. When he gets caught and tossed in jail he throws his friends under the bus without thinking twice. I mean what goes around comes around, it was Dim who didn't do what Alex said and left him on the steps to get caught. I've got to hand it to him though, he is pretty intelligent but he uses that intelligence for evil. | | | | 1 | 8/24/2011 2:13 PM | F. Alexander
I found this character to be quite interesting. When he is introduced in Part 1, he was typing a work called A Clockwork Orange. This is significant, obviously, because it is also the title of the book, which allows the reader to safely infer he is coming up in the book later. Surely enough, he does. What I found interesting about him is his hipocrisy. Initially, he appears to be a man fighting for freedom and justice, as in his book he is obviously against the kind of treatment Alex was given, evident from the part of the book Alex read aloud before tearing it to shreds in the beginning of the novel. He continues to appear genuine as he lets Alex into his home and comforts him. His true intentions are revealed soon, however, when F. Alexander's friends come over to discuss their plan. It becomes evident that he is just using Alex in his battle against the government, as Alex is called a "weapon" and "device" in his company. I find it ironic that F. Alexander is trying to stop these dehumanizing treatments by the government, while he is treating Alex like a machine, like a tool; he is doing exactly what he set out to destroy. | | | | 2 | 8/24/2011 2:05 PM | Alex the Martyr This is a topic that not many people have touched on and I think it is a turning point for sure in the novel.
When this happens in part three chapter five, Alex is absolutely at the end of the line in his mind. His family has deserted him, his friends, even the government who had promised him this freedom that he thought would be so sweet. This part of the book was very emotional not only because of the idea of suicide but because he had to do something in order to be recognized. His parents didn't come back into his life until he was laying in a hospital and the government even came to him as well, only to save themselves, but it was still attention.
This made me realize that Alex's character is a martyr, almost dying for the cause for that anti-government group and trading his passion, if you will, for his freedom. | | | | 3 | 8/24/2011 1:55 PM | The Title
I'm surprised that the title has not been discussed thus far, as I believe it is a very important element to analyze. To me, a clockwork orange is an interesting pairing of words. One is mechanical, while the other is natural and organic. This paradox surrounds one of the central conflicts of the book, the one between Alex, or societal youth at large, and the government. This conflict is present within Alex after his treatment as well. The government is so determined to have its citizens under control that it is willing to condition them to lose the ability to choose. People become so predictable, and the governmental panel knew exactly how Alex was going to respond when he was tested at the end of his treatment. People will act the same way every time, because they have no other choice, like clockwork, like a machine. This conflicts with a person's inner reactions and feelings, which are suppressed by the government. This conflict between choice, which has the potential to be abused, and forced "goodness" is one which the book revolves around. | | | | 2 | 8/24/2011 12:45 AM | Alex and music The addition of Alex's love of music makes him appear more human, which was a good idea on the part of Burgess, considering the main character in this book is a major antagonist. When we see the government ruin music for Alex it made me feel incredibly sympathetic for him, and I almost started rooting for him. This human element that was added makes this story a little more complex because suddenly you begin questioning who is right and who is wrong. Alex who brutally attacked, killed, etc. many people, or the government who are brutally torturing a poor misunderstood boy? In my opinion this book really helps illustrate that there really is no right or wrong, but there are moral and immoral choices that everyone can make. Alex is the product of his environment, and the government is the product of the out of control people in the environment. | | | | 10 | 8/23/2011 11:40 PM | Chapter 1: The Jersey Shore meets A Clockwork Orange? The narcissistic, unruly, self-righteous, underground droog minority of 1963, as told in A Clockwork Orange, may very well be our generation. Has the tale the novel turns no longer a futuristic nightmare of social revolt, but a current revolution in human behavior? Bloggers and scholars alike agree that the new MTV generation will surely change the course of human relations, for better or for worse. Everyone’s favorite example for juvenile recklessness in the 21st century is the cast of The Jersey Shore. The pseudo Guido’s go on all night binges of sex, violence, and their deviant taste in music. Even as a somewhat fictional cast, The Jersey Shore displays behaviors not unlike teenagers and college-aged kids looking for an adventurous night on the town. What was once a social, cultural shock in 1963 has become a complete reality for pop culture in 2011, and the boundaries are pushed every day. If you don’t exactly understand where I am drawing this from, reread the very first chapter of the novel, and reread my post. If you were not originally shocked by Alex’s apathetic, anarchical attitude, you may want to consider auditioning for the fifth season of The Jersey Shore. I believe we should be concerned for our generation, and how the line between sociopath, individualism, and party animal is being quickly blurred. A Clockwork Orange is an excellent starting point for those who search the past for a proxy in order to learn about the evolving next generation. | | | | 1 | 8/23/2011 10:44 PM | Nadsat When I began to read the book, I was not expecting such a foreign vocabulary to be spread across each page. The first few pages actually required re-reading, as I had little clue as to what was going on in the story because of these new words and phrases. After awhile I started to naturally translate the "Nadsat" words to what they really meant, and each new word would make me stop and dig deeper into the book just to decipher it's meaning. After doing a little research, I discovered that Anthony Burgess actually created this language using Cockney (which is like a British slang), Russian, and his own word creations. Incorporating such a different writing style into this book not only made it confusing and tricky to understand, but also darker and more menacing. It plunges us into Alex's evil and twisted mind, allowing us to see the world through a true criminals eyes. | | | | 0 | 8/23/2011 10:03 PM | Nadsat After I read the first page of A Clockwork Orange I was beyond confused. I thought I had the book in a different language until I came to discover it was suppose to be that way. After the first chapter it became fun to disect each sentence and guess what the words meant. When worse came to worse I could always look up the word in the convienent "Nadsat Glossary" in the back of the book. Apparently he used Nadsat to make the book not seem as vulgar as it was. So you could say it was a code. I kind of wish more author used a crazy style of writing like Burgess's, but then again that's what made him so unique. | | | | 0 | 8/23/2011 9:53 PM | Language The way Burgess incorporated his own language along with an already colorful vocabulary really made the book come together. The imagery is very discriptive and paints a clear picture of the characters and their surroundings in my head. This book is really unique and I've never read something quiet like it. Since the words are so crazy, it takes time to understand what's going on all the time. After spending that time I get a good grasp of what is happening. I'm very curious to how Burgess came up with some of the stuff in the book. He is so creative and strange, but that's what makes the book so intresting to read because it is so unordinary. | | | | 4 | 8/23/2011 9:50 PM | 21st chapter!! I actually saw the 21st chapter as a more disturbing ending than the original one. The 21st chapter shows that all of the torturous techniques were successful in changing Alex to be good, meaning that this "happy ending" was achieved through horrible means. I miiiight be reading too much into this though...
Also! I thought it was interesting the way that Anthony Burgess wrote this novel in a fragmented made up language, and so I Google searched to find out why. Apparently, the language is an English/Russian mixture, which kind of makes sense considering the negativity associated with Russians during the time this book was written etc. | | | | 5 | 8/23/2011 9:19 PM | Headline Quote "But, brothers, this biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns me into a fine laughing malchick. They don't go into the cause of goodness, so why the other shop?"
I just wanted to bring attention to this quote that Mr Chisnell was so kind to include. It made me smile when I read it, as it truly is an interesting paradox. Why is it that society focuses so much on what leads people to criminality, but seem to ignore what causes people to behave properly. I'd imagine that if we focus on how people are inherently good, and how to control such a mannerism, we would be better off. | | | | 5 | 8/23/2011 9:06 PM | Major themes in A Clockwork Orange I am simple, in that for me to understand things I like to simplify them. There's a lot of interesting discussion about questions or topics in the novel that seem to weave in and out of eachother. I've started to gather (in my head) a few big themes in the novel that we've started to talk about. I'll list them here. Please object, add to them, or don't even respond.
-Free Will
-Roll of government/state/authority in society
-that's all I can think of right now... | | | | 3 | 8/23/2011 6:28 PM | A Clearer Look at Alex's Motives
Alex meets his demise in these chapters, first fighting his friends and almost cutting Dim to the point where he bleeds to death. The boys then venture on to rob the Manse which is where Alex meets his fall.
In chapters six and seven, Burgess gives life to the government. It is clear that Alex is the protagonist at this point when he is up against the police and even P.R. Deltoid treats him poorly by spitting in his face. It almost feels as if it can be justified as to why Alex wants to be everything the government does not want. He is content with his bad ways as demonstrated in this quote “ if all you bastards are on the side of the Good then I’m glad I belong to the other shop.” That quote is powerful enough because it not only proves that Alex is content in his ways but it expresses his view on the government and world he lives in.
| | | | 2 | 8/23/2011 11:48 AM | Satire/Humor Not only does A Clockwork Orange contain more up front humor (as said in my last post), it contains a dark humor and satirical side. The fact that Alex is being tortured in order to make himself a better person is completely ironic. In some ways, the doctors who were treating/torturing him are worse than Alex. They are putting another human being through terrible pain and suffering-which is exactly what Alex did-in order to make him a good person, which is completely ironic and satirical. This use of satire is the dark humor side of the book, nothing to be actually laughed at, but something that is so alarming and odd to think about that it strikes one as slightly comical. As the saying goes, "Sometimes the cure is worse than the affliction", in this case the cure and affliction both being forms of torture. | | | | 4 | 8/23/2011 10:49 AM | The Humor of A Clockwork Orange My Dad was the first one to point out to me that as gruesome as this book is, there is also a humorous side to it that often goes unnoticed. I discovered this again from a quote about the book from William S. Burroughs, who also stated that the humor in the book may go unnoticed. After hearing about this, I read more carefully to try and find the humor in it and see what I thought. One of the comic elements I found very present in the book was Alex's droogs. The droogs are not the brightest people in the world, especially Dim. They follow Alex blindly (for the most part) and rarely think for themselves. The group almost resembles Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle from the Harry Potter series. Draco being the wiley Alex, and Crabbe and Goyle being Alex's droogs who are more brawn than brain. Dim's stupidity and classic "haw haw haw" laugh take a bit of the tension out of the extremely violent scenes, acting as sort of the comic relief in the book. | | | | 3 | 8/22/2011 6:09 PM | The Outsiders, and A Clockwork Orange... After reading this book, I felt like I was having deja-vu from an early book that I had read in 8th grade. The seemingly narcissistic tone is portrayed through both this novel, and The Outsiders. While A clockwork orange may be a bit more in depth and way more violent, the books seems to shadow each other completely! Let me explain, The Outsiders is the story of a rivalry between two gangs the Greasers and the Socs, as seen through the eyes of Ponyboy, a 13 year old Greaser. The two groups are distinguished simply by their backgrounds, with the Socs being the rich kids in town and the Greasers as the "hood rats" (I guess you could say). We also learn that the violence of the gangs can be associated with either a lack of adult influence, as in the case of the Greasers, or an excess of parental attention as in the case of the Socs. This to me makes my mind conjure up images now from this novel, and how Burgess uses this same type of theme in A Clockwork Orange. | | | | 7 | 8/22/2011 2:55 PM | Nadsat: uses and origins Nadsat was techinically included in the novel for nothing more than a register for Alex and his "droogs" to use. After all, such a strange "slanguage" must belong to such a strange horde of boys. In this sense, Nadsat is especially powerful to a first time reader, inflicting even more brutality and mystery for us to assimilate. As for how Anthony Burgess developed Nadsat, I believe it had less to do with the Red Scare, but rather Burgess' talent for linguistics. Burgess was a multi-linguist, or polyglot, who was fluent in Russian, the language on which Nadsat was primarily based. In fact, the word "nadsat" even comes from the Russian suffix "nadtsat" meaning "teen". This combined with standard English (which we see Alex can perfectly speak) and Burgess' native Cockney slang is not only slightly tongue-in-cheek (is it just me rattling through passages of Nadsat with a bit of a devilish smirk on my face?), but futuristic and constantly fresh, which is part of the reason why the novel never slouches into a Bond-type dramatic lull. The use of Nadsat is nothing less of important to A Clockwork Orange, the development of Alex's character, and the cult following surrounding the novel. | | | | 11 | 8/22/2011 1:57 PM | Alex and his Music I think Alex is a lot more complex then the rest of his friends. The police see him as just another hooligan, but there is so much more to his personality. Underneath, there is actually a civilized person capable of feeling compassion. There are hints all over the book that, while Alex seems like a tough guy, he wants the acceptance of his parents. He wants them to think he is good and he wants their love. That's why he was so upset by the thought of Joe taking his place. Another hint into Alex's real personality is his love of music. You never think of a bully going home and falling asleep to the beautiful sounds of Beethoven. Why did Burgess include this love of music? Just to prove that Alex had a deeper side? Or was it something more? | | | | 5 | 8/22/2011 12:47 PM | "It may be horrible to be good." When Alex is chosen to be "made into a good boy" through a new experiment, he tells the Prison Chaplain that he is looking forward to becoming a good person. The Prison Chaplain thinks otherwise, and states that it may be horrible to be good. He asks if God wants goodness or the choice of goodness, and is a man who chooses bad better than than a man who has good imposed on him. These two questions really make you think about good vs. evil, and how there is so much more behind such simple ideas. As Shakespeare put it in his play Hamlet, "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." Depending on who you are and how your conscience is structured, good and evil may be totally backwards as they are for Alex. He gets extreme pleasure from burglary, violence, rape, and even the sight of blood, while most others find these things repulsive and sickening. Being turned good for Alex is like the average person being turned into a murderer or rapist in a matter of days, which is even awful to think about. In Alex's case, it may actually be horrible to be good. | | | | 1 | 8/21/2011 8:48 AM | What's It Going To Be Then, Eh? As we know, the book is separated into three different parts. Each part opens with the same question though,
"What's it going to be then, eh?"
Each time this question is asked, it is a different person asking or it is directed at diffrent people. But I have noticed that this question represents a lot more than "What's it going to be then, Eh?" it represents where Alex stands in his life.
The first time it's directed at Alex's 'droogs' which shows that Alex is in charge, that he is the leader. He asks the questions and approves the answers but the second time it is asked it is directed at Alex which shows that he has lost that control and that power and in a way is foreshadowing the whole second part of the book which is Alex's reformation that essentially leads to him not being able to choose anymore. The third time it is asked, Alex is asking himself which is showing that he has realized he is on his own and that his fate lies in his own hands. | | | | 4 | 8/20/2011 11:21 PM | Question to ponder The peculiarity of the language in A Clockwork Orange, I have realized, is not only confined to Burgess' use of Nadsat that Alex and his friends use on a daily basis, yet also it seems to echo that of Shakespearean language, such as : "Never worry about thine only son and heir, O my father", " Fair, but a pity, my lords...", and etc.
For what is the use of adding a Shakespearean tone to the characters voices in this book? Also, I have seemed to notice that this undertone of Shakespearean language is mostly used when Alex is talking to his elders, like his father, and what seems to be his (now of days) "parole officer" (?). | | | | 5 | 8/19/2011 12:14 PM | A Clockwork Time Period When reading this book, I made connections similar to Lauren's. It did contain many of the same storyline aspects of The Outsiders. My brain struggled the most at picking out a time period. The styles, parenting skills and gangs were consistent in both A Clockwork Orange and The Outsiders, and if I didn't know any better I would assume that they were both set in the same time period. Although they were published around the same time, A Clockwork Orange is supposedly set in the "future." I am a visual learner, so picturing the story is a huge part in understanding it. Therefore, the most interesting aspect of the book for me was not the ultra-violence or the thought provoking theme, it was reading a book set in the future, but written in the past. It not only hasn't existed yet, it never will exist. It has already passed, yet it never came. Burgess' world is a mash what he saw in 1960's England and what he imagined for the future. Fairytale lands and even parallel dimensions are easy to picture because you are supposed to use your imagination. I just had a hard time wrapping my head around a place that seemed to be in the past, but never was. | | | | 0 | 8/10/2011 11:02 AM | 21st Chapter When reading the introduction to this book, and at first being a bit weary as to weather to read this book or not, the thought that a publisher taking away what the author thought was a pivotal chapter in this book seemed a bit upsetting to me. Thinking as though, "If i was writing a book, and knew that this last chapter was what weaved the whole book together, and tied it all up, would i ever go with a publisher that would take it away!?"
Anyways, after reading, and thinking endless of why, and reading what other classmates had said about their view on it, I realized that perhapes, given American "mores" and morality, the publisher may have thought that having Alex, actually of his own free will this time, becomeing "good" wasn't the right thing and so he snipped that important information from the final chapter, but was completely opposite to me. Personally, after reading it it gave me closure. I've heard some people say that they think it ruins that book, and it didn't do it justice, or totally contradicts the book... blah blah blah. It truly is the only chapter that shows our protagonist-narrator having growth. Also, it balances out the book, with having three parts, and seven chapters in each part.
So I'm sorry to say to all of you that disagree with the use of the 21st chapter, that it really was a pivotal point, and the best way to end this great book. | | | | 0 | 8/3/2011 9:39 PM | The Twenty First Chapter Response As for my two cents in this twenty firstst chapter discussion, here goes: The novel was first published in Great Britain in 1962, and in America in 1963. Yes, we all know that the final chapter was somewhat omitted from the American printing, but why? Our "happy ending" may be exactly what the American government didn't want us to read, even to this day. Through the 1950's and the early 1960's, Senator McCarthy lead the whole nation on a Red Scare hullabaloo, twisting tales of commies lurking overseas, in Congress, and on Sunset Boulevard. Did this craze influence Burgess' infamous New York publisher to present him the novella that "had only twenty chapters" as a result of his own political brainwashing? Had the American public read the twenty first chapter, and God forbid develop their own opinions, would they suspect their own government of covering up the brainwashing of individuals with the accusation of the USSR brainwashing pro-democracy nations into their master commie-domination? In the end, Burgess sold out. "I could, of course, have demurred at this and taken my book elsewhere, but it was considered that he was being charitable in accepting the work at all, and that all other New York, or Boston, publishers would kick out the manuscript on its dog-ear. I needed money back in 1961, even the pittance I was being offered as an advance, and if the condition of the book's acceptance was also its truncation - well, so be it," said Burgess of publishing his book Stateside. Because of this 1987 essay and numerous "so be it" responses from the author, we may never know why American publishers were the only to never give an A-OK to the twenty first chapter. The only immediate gratification, the true happy ending Americans crave, we can receive is again from Burgess himself, "there is a profound difference between A Clockwork Orange as Great Britain knows it and the somewhat slimmer volume that bears the same name in the United States of America." | | | | 0 | 7/14/2011 12:44 PM | The 21st chapter! If you are not aware, the original British publishing of this book contained 21 chapters. Publishers in the states did not want to include that last one, so it was initially published with only 20. It was not until fairly recently, I believe, that it was published in it's entirety in the states. The movie (which i think is British as well?) is based upon the American 20-chapter version. If you have not read that far yet and plan on it, I suggest that after you finish chapter 20 you stop and let it sit for a day or so. Wait a little while to read the final chapter and notice how drastically this last chapter changes the mood of the ending and even the entire plot of the book. Anyone have any observations? | |
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