What Is A Clockwork Orange A Counterculture

The dystopian novel, A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess, was originally published in 1962. It takes place in the future, where the streets are overrun with violence and crime. The main character, Alex, commits horrible crimes, including rape and murder with his group of friends. After breaking into a house, Alex is arrested and undergoes an experiment called Ludovico’s Technique. He can no longer make immoral choices, and feels sick when he thinks about any wrongdoing. He is vulnerable and is beaten by the people he once associated with. He is then used as a symbol of the government’s corruption, but does not want to be involved with the revolution. He tries to kill himself, and the technique is undone when he wakes up in the hospital.
This movement was occurring in both Britain and America, with both influencing each other. According to author Barry Miles, “the underground was a catch-all sobriquet for a community of like-minded anti-establishment, anti-war, pro-rock'n'roll individuals, most of whom had a common interest in recreational drugs” (Miles). During the time, the younger generation had more free time and money to spend. Music, drugs, and sex became popular among the youth. In A Clockwork Orange, Alex and his group have money at their disposal and lots of freedom. Alex’s parents do not question him, and mostly leave him to do what he pleases. Additionally, they are unaware that he does drugs. The adolescents in the book all drink milk laced with drugs from the Korova Milkbar. When Alex speaks to the reader, he says that “what they sold there was milk plus something else. They had no license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding some of the new veshches which they used to put in the old moloko” (Burgess 3). Alex and his gang spend much of their time at the Korova Milkbar and get high. The drug use in the book can be related to the dramatic increase of drug use by adolescents in the 60s. This counterculture also led to a generation gap that caused friction between the old and
Alex and his advisor, P.R. Deltoid, do not agree with each other and eventually, Deltoid gives up on Alex and spits on him when he is arrested. As stated previously, the counterculture in the 60s separated the young and the old. For the former, they were able to have more freedom and developed a very liberal stance. This differed from the latter, who had to fight in a war and had more conservative views. These groups became separated and resulted in a generation gap of opposite views. A Clockwork Orange shows these differences in ideals through the rebellious actions that Alex and his gang perform, such as sex and drugs. In the 60s, the older generation was not used to seeing such acts as open as they were becoming. The book exaggerates this split, resulting in the clear separation between teenagers and