A Clockwork Orange is widely considered one of the most important science fiction novels of the 20th century, rivaled only by 1984. A Clockwork Orange was written by Anthony Burgess and published in 1962, causing a great stir among many people for its depiction of violence and other unsavory acts. The novels main theme is the choice between good and evil, and what can happen when you remove that choice. Upon its publication, A Clockwork Orange broke new ground in the moral implications of a science fiction novel.
The novel is set in an ultraviolent future, teenagers roam the streets for the next man to attack and the next woman to rape, and yet we still sympathize with the main character, by all means an utterly despicable teen, The characters in this book are very powerful and well thought out, Alex, our main character, being one of the most deep antiheroes on record. Alex and his “droogs” speak in “nadsat” the invented language used by teenagers in this book; it is a mixture of English, Russian, and Cockney slang, producing a highly interesting but sometimes confusing reading experience. Alex, describing a rape scene is as follows, “Plunging, I could slooshy cries of agony and this writer bleeding veck got loose howling bezoomy with the filthiest of slovos that I already knew and others he was making up.” This is a good indication of how widely used the slang is.
The novel is ultimately about Alex’s brainwashing by the government and it’s implications. Near the middle of the book Alex is put through the “Ludovico Technique” in turn forcing him to only do good because he will feel physically sick if he does anything to hurt someone. This is the main moral question of the book, is it better to have a choice between good and evil or always have to do good and have no choice in the matter. The writer seems to be of the opinion that it is better to have choice than be a toy to be wound up by god or the devil, “When a man ceases to choose, he ceases to be a man" The book in the final act, wherein Alex is released into the world, a free man, further explores this moral dilemma. He is beaten and cannot defend himself and he is tortured and still cannot defend himself. Eventually he tries to kill himself to escape the torture, but is unsuccessful in his attempt. Because of this incident he is widely apologized to, and subsequently cured of his inability to do evil, by the government officials who put him through the Technique and given a cushy job as compensation.
It is impossible to refute the importance of this novel; no other novel has explored the issue of choice as skillfully and engagingly as this one. It could be especially useful in the classroom because of its subject matter; A high school student would be much more enthusiastic about reading a novel that has a teenage character who they can sympathize with. During my reading of this novel I felt like Alex felt many of the pressures I do, I don’t have the impulse to rape people but I do feel like the world is run by people who would rather the culture of my generation die out. This book is a fairly extremist way to put across its point but it has been shown time and time again that people respond best to sensationalist tactics.
A Clockwork Orange is one of the most morally ambitious science fiction novels to date. I believe that it should be read by all teenagers, if only for the connection they would feel toward Alex, and the moral questions that would be asked in the process. This book echoes the sentiment of Neitzsche of the importance of choice to humanity. Without choice we would cease to be human, a plaything to those programming our decisions.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess was born on February 25, 1917 and died November 22, 1993. Anthony was famous for his extremely prolific writing career. He wrote an amazing amount of novels and was also a regular contributor to many different periodicals, from magazines to newspapers. He was born in Harpurhey, a northeastern suburb of Manchester. He was mainly self-taught, despite having a full school career. He has lived from Britain to America and even as far as what is now Malaysia, then just called Malaya. A Clockwork Orange is his best known work but many people agree that Earthly Powers is his best novel. When he died he lived in Monaco with his wife Liliana Macellari.
Anthony Burgess’ birth name was John Burgess Wilson, Anthony Burgess is a pen name. For the majority of his childhood he was raised by his father, his mother died of the flu when Anthony was only one year old. Anthony once described his father as, “a mostly absent drunk who called himself a father.” Anthony was raised a Catholic and, despite a brief renunciation of his faith, remained a Catholic for his whole life. He graduated from the Victoria University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature. He also had a brief stint in the British Military.
Burgess’ early career was as a teacher. At the end of 1950 he took a job as a secondary school teacher of English literature on the staff of Banbury Grammar School. Burgess and his wife, Llewela Jones, called Lynne, were known to consume large amounts of alcoholic cider and oftentimes caused a ruckus. Later he received a job in what was then called Malaya, and moved to Southeast Asia. He quickly became fluent in the native language and had been known to translate literature into Malay. During his residence in Malaya he wrote what is now known as the Mayalan Trilogy.
After living in Malaya Burgess moved back to Britain for a short while where he became friends with William S. Burroughs and was a regular on the BBC. After this brief stint in Britain he moved around from Rome to America and many places in between before finally settling in Monaco. It was during this period of moving around that his wife, lynne, died of liver cirrhosis, within five weeks he had been remarried to Liliana Macellari, with whom he had been having an affair with several years before lynne’s death. His move to Monaco was due in part to an attempted kidnapping of Burgess’ stepson. Anthony moved back to London in the early 1990’s where he died of lung cancer, likely caused by his lifelong smoking habit.
Anthony burgess was an amazing writer and linguist and had seen many of the defining moments of the modern world. He lived from 1917 to 1993 and wrote in inordinate amount. He is known for plays, screenplays, novels, symphonies, and articles, all of which were of high caliber. A Clockwork Orange is one of the most important science fiction novels of all time, let alone the 20th century. He was a man of many talents, a writer, teacher, and composer and was a true world traveler, living from America to Britain to Malaysia to Monaco. Anthony Burgess truly is one of the most important writers of the 20th century.
Anthony Burgess’ birth name was John Burgess Wilson, Anthony Burgess is a pen name. For the majority of his childhood he was raised by his father, his mother died of the flu when Anthony was only one year old. Anthony once described his father as, “a mostly absent drunk who called himself a father.” Anthony was raised a Catholic and, despite a brief renunciation of his faith, remained a Catholic for his whole life. He graduated from the Victoria University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature. He also had a brief stint in the British Military.
Burgess’ early career was as a teacher. At the end of 1950 he took a job as a secondary school teacher of English literature on the staff of Banbury Grammar School. Burgess and his wife, Llewela Jones, called Lynne, were known to consume large amounts of alcoholic cider and oftentimes caused a ruckus. Later he received a job in what was then called Malaya, and moved to Southeast Asia. He quickly became fluent in the native language and had been known to translate literature into Malay. During his residence in Malaya he wrote what is now known as the Mayalan Trilogy.
After living in Malaya Burgess moved back to Britain for a short while where he became friends with William S. Burroughs and was a regular on the BBC. After this brief stint in Britain he moved around from Rome to America and many places in between before finally settling in Monaco. It was during this period of moving around that his wife, lynne, died of liver cirrhosis, within five weeks he had been remarried to Liliana Macellari, with whom he had been having an affair with several years before lynne’s death. His move to Monaco was due in part to an attempted kidnapping of Burgess’ stepson. Anthony moved back to London in the early 1990’s where he died of lung cancer, likely caused by his lifelong smoking habit.
Anthony burgess was an amazing writer and linguist and had seen many of the defining moments of the modern world. He lived from 1917 to 1993 and wrote in inordinate amount. He is known for plays, screenplays, novels, symphonies, and articles, all of which were of high caliber. A Clockwork Orange is one of the most important science fiction novels of all time, let alone the 20th century. He was a man of many talents, a writer, teacher, and composer and was a true world traveler, living from America to Britain to Malaysia to Monaco. Anthony Burgess truly is one of the most important writers of the 20th century.
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