Clockwork Orange Essay: Free Will Outweighs Determinism
Not everyone agrees with the way any society is governed. Some people believe that the government should control our every move, and shape the society in a vision of perfection. Others believe that people should be given to the free will to make decisions, and in the end be punished for it. They believe life should be a learning experience. So did Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange. A Clockwork Orange argues that free will outweighs determinism as the ethical way to govern a society.
“In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.” …show more content…
After being put through the rehabilitation, Alex has become “A Clockwork Orange.” "By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange--meaning he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State,” (Anthony Burgess, 1986). Burgess is giving an explanation as to why Alex is considered A Clockwork Orange, and the meaning behind the title. It is further explaining the true idea of his novel, and hinting at the basis being the argument for free will. Burgess continues to prove this by comparing Alex to Adam and Eve. “But he’s young and has not yet learned the true importance of the free will he so violently delights in. In a sense he’s in Eden, and only when he falls (as he does: from a window) does he become capable of being a full human being." Free will is something the human race is born with, but it is also something that must be understood and learnt. It is like having a superpower, and as the saying goes “With great power comes great
“In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology.” …show more content…
After being put through the rehabilitation, Alex has become “A Clockwork Orange.” "By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange--meaning he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State,” (Anthony Burgess, 1986). Burgess is giving an explanation as to why Alex is considered A Clockwork Orange, and the meaning behind the title. It is further explaining the true idea of his novel, and hinting at the basis being the argument for free will. Burgess continues to prove this by comparing Alex to Adam and Eve. “But he’s young and has not yet learned the true importance of the free will he so violently delights in. In a sense he’s in Eden, and only when he falls (as he does: from a window) does he become capable of being a full human being." Free will is something the human race is born with, but it is also something that must be understood and learnt. It is like having a superpower, and as the saying goes “With great power comes great