A Clockwork Orange

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"Clockwork Orange" redirects here. For the film, see A Clockwork Orange (film). For other uses, see Clockwork Orange (disambiguation).
A Clockwork Orange

Dust-jacket from the first edition
Author Anthony Burgess
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Science fiction novel
Publisher William Heinemann (UK)
Publication date 1962
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) & Audio Book (Cassette, CD)
Pages 192 pages (Hardback edition) &
176 pages (Paperback edition)
ISBN ISBN 0-434-09800-0 (Hardback edition) &
ISBN 0-14-118260-1 (Paperback edition UK)

A Clockwork Orange is a speculative fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, and was later the basis for a 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Stanley Kubrick.

The novel was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot introduction

[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

Anthony Burgess wrote that the title was a reference to an alleged old Cockney expression "as queer as a clockwork orange".¹ Due to his time serving in the British Colonial Office in Malaysia, Burgess thought that the phrase could be used punningly to refer to a mechanically responsive (clockwork) human (orang, Malay for "man").

Burgess wrote in his later (Nov. 1986) introduction, titled A Clockwork Orange Resucked, that a creature who can only perform good or evil is "a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil; or the almighty state."

In his essay "Clockwork Oranges"², Burgess asserts that "this title would be appropriate for a story about the application of Pavlovian, or mechanical, laws to an organism which, like a fruit, was capable of colour and sweetness". This title alludes to the protagonist's positively conditioned responses to feelings of evil which prevent the exercise of his free will.

[edit] Point of view from one person

A Clockwork Orange is written in first person perspective from a seemingly biased and unreliable source. Alex never justifies his actions in the narration, giving a good sense that he is somewhat sincere; a narrator who, as unlikeable as he may attempt to seem, evokes pity from the reader through the telling of his unending suffering, and later through his realization that the cycle will never end. Alex's perspective is effective in that the way that he describes events is easy to relate to, even if the situations themselves are not. He uses words that are common in speech, as well as Nadsat, the speech of particular younger generation subcultures.

[edit] Plot summary

[edit] Part 1: Alex's world

Set in a dystopian near future, the novel opens with the introduction of protagonist, fifteen-year-old Alex, who, with his gang members (known as "droogs") Pete, Georgie and Dim, roam the streets at night, committing violent crimes ("ultraviolence") for enjoyment.

Essentially, the first part of the novel is a character study of the protagonist. We learn that Alex and his "droogs" (Russian for friends) have their own language known as Nadsat, and their own hierarchy, in which Alex is the leader. There is a general disregard for the law and for older generations—creating an image of a youth movement that is taking control of this fictional future. (This of course being the exaggeration of the concern that came with the changing values of the 1960s, in which teenagers were becoming decidedly more unruly and rebellious.)

Part 1 involves Alex reflecting on his illegal activity (such as beating strangers, inciting gang fights, the seduction of two 10-year-old girls, and the rape of the wife of writer F. Alexander). It describes the treachery of his droogs, resulting in Alex's capture and prison sentence for the unintentional murder of an old woman.

The use of lyrical language and Nadsat somewhat masks the horrible imagery of Alex's actions, and, to some extent, Alex is able to draw empathy from the reader, through his friendly nature towards his audience (referring to them as his "only friends," and to himself as "Your Humble Narrator," etc.).

[edit] Part 2: The Ludovico Technique

After being caught for his crimes Alex is sentenced to 14 years for murder. Alex gets a job as an assistant to the prison chaplain. He feigns an interest in religion, and amuses himself by reading the Bible for its lurid descriptions of "the old yahoodies (Jews) tolchocking (beating) each other", imagining himself taking part in "the nailing-in" (the Crucifixion) of Jesus. Alex hears about an experimental rehabilitation programme called "the Ludovico Technique", which promises that the prisoner will be released upon completion of the two-week treatment, and will not commit crimes afterwards.

Partially by taking part in the fatal beating of a cellmate, Alex manages to become the subject in the first full-scale trial of the Ludovico Technique. The technique itself is a Pavlov-style form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is given a drug that induces extreme nausea while being forced to watch graphically violent films for two weeks, one of the films has a soundtrack of Alex's beloved Beethoven (last movement of the 9th symphony), and though he pleads with them to remove the music, they refuse, saying that it is for his own good and that the music may be the "punishment element".

A few weeks later, the clinicians conduct an experiment in front of an audience (including the prison chaplain) in which a man begins to taunt and hurt Alex, with Alex unable to defend himself, for each time he tries he feels extremely sick and nauseous. Eventually Alex resorts to licking the man's boots to appease him. They then bring in a beautiful, naked woman, and Alex is unable to think of touching her without feeling ill. They thus demonstrate that the treatment has been effective.

[edit] Part 3: After prison

The third part of the novel concentrates mostly on the following punishment to which Alex is subjected after his treatment. Alex encounters many of his former victims, all of whom seek revenge upon him. He finds himself powerless to defend himself against them, due to feelings of sickness and fear of death, as a reaction to the violence. He finds that his parents have replaced him with a lodger in his own home, and wanders into the public library, only to be attacked by an aging old man whom he had beaten up with his droogs in chapter one. The police are called by the librarian and when they arrive, he sees that the police are no other than his old 'droog' Dim, and arch-enemy Billy Boy. Taking advantage of their positions, they take Alex into a rural part of town to beat him up, and then leave him to his own devices. While looking for solace, Alex falls into the hands of F. Alexander, the husband of the woman he raped at the beginning of part one. Friends of the writer intend to use Alex as a weapon against the political party, exposing the terrible things that have been done to him. Although it is not clear whether the friends of F. Alexander intend it, their playing of a symphony by the fictional composer Otto Skadelig next door to Alex's locked room drives him to throw himself out of a window instead of enduring the sickness of the treatment's conditioning. Alex's suicide attempt fails, and leads to his being cured, after the bad publicity for the political party that follows.

Touching on themes of the power struggles between old and young generations, the corruption of the police, and also politics, and attempted (but failed) suicide, the third section of the novel is the most reflective of the troubles of future society, mostly shown through the final chapter, where Alex reflects that he and his friends have either been killed (Georgie), fallen victim to the state (Dim's becoming a police officer) or outgrown their destructive behaviour (Pete). Alex finds that he no longer finds pleasure in "ultra-violence" and yearns for a wife and a child of his own. Alex knows that the generation after his will probably be just as destructive, and the one after that,"...and nor would he be able to stop his own son, brothers. And it would itty (go) on till the end of the world..." — perhaps revealing Burgess's ultimate deliberation on the unruly youth.

[edit] Characters

Alex—The novel's anti-hero and leader among his droogs. Alex often refers to himself as "Your Humble Narrator." At the point of seducing two ten year old girls in a music shop, Alex reveals himself as "Alex The Large." This was later the basis for Alex's surname DeLarge in the 1971 film. However, following the attempted suicide the newspapers state his name as 'Alex Burgess' very clearly.[citation needed]

George or Georgie—A droog of Alex's. Georgie attempts to undermine Alex's status as leader of the gang.

Pete—A droog of Alex's. The more rational, democratic and least violent of the gang.

Dim—A slow-witted droog of Alex's. He is the brute force of the gang.

P.R. Deltoid—A social worker assigned to Alex, who monitors his progress through reform schools.

The Prison Chaplain (also called the 'prison charlie,' a take on Charlie Chaplin) The character who first questions whether or not forced goodness is really better than chosen wickedness. The only character who is truly concerned about Alex's welfare; he is not taken seriously by Alex, though.

The Governor—The man who decides to let Alex "choose" to be the first reformed by the Ludovico Technique.

Dr. Brodsky—One of the co-founders of the Ludovico Technique. He at first seemed like a friend to Alex, and then introduced him to pain. Plays the "Bad Cop" role when talking to Alex before and after his sessions in the theater.

Dr. Branom—The other Co-Founder of the Ludovico Technique. He says much less than Brodsky and is interpreted as the "Good Cop" role when addressing Alex.

F. Alexander—An author writing, at the beginning of the novel, his own novel called A Clockwork Orange. His wife is raped by Alex and his droogs, and subsequently dies. He later takes Alex in and subjects him to his extremist friends. Shortly after meeting it is possible that the droogs try to kill him using the weaknesses caused by the Ludovico Technique.

[edit] Differences in U.S. editions

Although the book is divided into three parts, each containing seven chapters (echoing a symphony's arrangement - Alex's love of classical music is a major plot point), the 21st chapter was omitted from the versions published in the United States until 1986. The film adaptation, which was directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows the American version of the book, ending prior to the events of the 21st chapter. Kubrick claimed[citation needed] that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, but that he certainly never gave any serious consideration to using it.

[edit] Slang

The book, narrated by Alex, contains many words in a slang dialect which Burgess invented for the book, called Nadsat. It is a mix of modified Slavic words, Polari, Cockney rhyming slang, derived Russian (like "baboochka"), and words invented by Burgess himself. For instance, these terms have the following meanings in Russian - 'droog' means 'friend' ; 'korova' means 'cow'; 'golova' (gulliver) means 'head'; 'malchick' or 'malchickiwick' means 'boy'; 'soomka' means 'sack' or 'bag'; 'Bog' means 'God'; 'khorosho' (horrorshow) means good, 'prestoopnick' means 'criminal'; 'rooker' is 'hand', 'cal' is 'crap'; 'litso' is 'face'; and so on. One of Alex's doctors explains the language to a colleague as "Odd bits of old rhyming slang; a bit of gypsy talk, too. But most of the roots are Slav propaganda. Subliminal penetration." Some words are not derived from anything, but merely easy to guess, e.g 'in-out, in-out' or 'the old in-out' means sexual intercourse and 'cutter' means money.

In the first edition of the book, no key was provided, and the reader was left to extrapolate the meaning from the context.

Droogism refers to the portrayal of violence that is not utilitarian, i.e. violence for its own sake. Kidnapping a young salesman to demand ransom may be a crime, and violent, as well, but it does not qualify as droogism until the person kidnapped is tortured or killed, thereby becoming counter-productive to the reason the person was kidnapped in the first place.

[edit] Ultraviolence

The term "Ultraviolence", referring to excessive and/or unjustified violence, was coined by Burgess in the book, which includes the phrase "do the ultra-violent." The term's association with aesthetic violence has led to its use in the media.[2][3][4][5]

[edit] Awards and nominations

  • 1983 - Prometheus Award (Preliminary Nominee)
  • 1999 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
  • 2002 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
  • 2003 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
  • 2006 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)[1]

[edit] Other adaptations

 This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

The best known adaptation of the novel to other forms is the 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick, but there have been others. The earlier 1965 film by Andy Warhol entitled Vinyl was an adaptation.

Excerpts from the first two chapters of the novel were dramatized and broadcast on BBC TV's programme Tonight, 1962 (now lost, believed wiped).

After Kubrick's film was released, Burgess wrote a Clockwork Orange stage play. In it, Dr. Branom defects from the psychiatric clinic when she grasps that the aversion treatment has destroyed Alex's ability to enjoy music. The play restores the novel's ending: Alex deciding to start a family. One of Alex's early victims, a bearded trumpeter who plays "Singin' in the Rain" at the Korova milkbar, is modeled on Stanley Kubrick.

In 1990, a second play, titled A Clockwork Orange 2004,[citation needed] was written for the Royal Shakespeare Company. It makes no references to the film version, yet does away with the novel's ending. The performance was scored by Bono and The Edge of U2.[6] In 2001, UNI Theatre (Mississauga, Ontario) presented the Canadian premiere of the play under the direction of Terry Costa. http://mirateca.com/archives/archives/unitheatre19972001/default.aspx In 2002, Godlight Theatre Company presented the New York Premiere adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange' at Manhattan Theatre Source. The production went on to play at the SoHo Playhouse (2002), Ensemble Studio Theatre (2004), 59E59 Theaters (2005) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2005). While at Edinburgh, the production received rave reviews from the press while playing to sold-out audiences. The production was directed by Godlight's Artistic Director, Joe Tantalo.

In the "Hard-Core Convert" sequence of the 1995 film Tales from the Hood, a character undergoes a similar rehabilitation technique.

[edit] Release details

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Complete List | TIME Magazine - ALL-TIME 100 Novels. TIME Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  2. ^ AFP. "Gruesome 'Saw 4' slashes through North American box-office", 2007-10-29. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
  3. ^ Q&A With 'Hostel' Director Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino - New York Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  4. ^ ADV Announces New Gantz Collection, Final Guyver & More: Nov 6 Releases. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  5. ^ CBS News. ""Manhunt 2": Most Violent Game Yet?, Critics Say New Video Game Is Too Realistic; Players Must Torture, Kill - CBS News". Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 
  6. ^ Sams, Aaron. U2 Discography - The Fly single. U2Wanderer.Org. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.

[edit] External links

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Works of Anthony Burgess
Novels
Short stories
Poetry
Moses: A Narrative · Revolutionary Sonnets
Essays
Critical works
Autobiography