Preview

A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess Essay Example

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1886 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess Essay Example
There have been many books published solely on philosophy, and many more than that solely written about human nature, but very infrequently will a book be published that weaves these fields together as well as A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. In this Book Burgess speculated on the fact “the significance of maturing by choice is to gain moral values and freedoms.” He achieved this task by pushing his angsty teenaged character, Alex, through situations that challenge the moral values of himself and his friends. In the novel, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, Alex himself, must choose good over evil in order to gain moral values which will allow him to mature into a “man” in the latter of his two transformations. Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester, England on February 25, 1917. When he was a child of one-year-old his mother and sister passed away due to the influenza epidemic. He continued living with his father who soon was remarried to the owner of a pub. Anthony’s father played piano at the pub and Anthony began composing his own music at the early age of fourteen In 1940 Burgess joined the army and was put in the medical corps. Two years later he married Llewela Isherwood Jones. Burgess, soon after his marriage, left the army, started writing and teaching English. In 1968 Llewela died and Burgess was remarried to Lilina Macellari. They left England in 1968 and
Werner 2 settled in Monaco, where Burgess remained a prolific writer through 1980. Burgess’ writing career was at its peak while Llewela was in the hospital. Durring this emotional time he was able to write such books as A Clockwork Orange and Inside Mr. Enderby, and create such a dynamic character as Alex. When Alex is first introduced, he is depicted as a disillusioned, corrupted youth. He is the stereotype of what parents don’t want their children to be, possibly what parents would blame on the media and TV if their did turn out like him. Although this much is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Maybe there was a need to grip onto Alex before he suddenly left for his voyage, the humbleness in every action he made, or maybe even his vulnerability. Each character shows a different reason for showing interest, but every story seems to resemble each other. Undeniably Alex was the kid no one could ever…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    From the second Alex arrived at the academy he thought something was weird or different, but couldn't place it. He notices that some kids have already started acting like scholars instead of juvenile delinquents. He did however notice one person different than all the other boys, James Sprintz. James seemed to be the only boy not "brain-washed" that Alex met. Alex and James became close friends at their time at Point Blanc, skipping classes and doing stuff that was expetc…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    * Two officers pull the old man that was beating Alex off him, when they do; Alex is surprised to find his old friend and old enemy Dim and Billy boy. Billy boy and Dim take Alex to the country side and beat him brutally.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of his biggest triggers is the milk from the Korova Milk Bar. His drink of choice, milk plus, by his own admission “will sharpen you up and make you ready for the ultra-violence” has a detrimental effect on Alex and his thought process. Once consumed, as various other drugs Alex’s self-control is lost deep inside his mind and the conditioned response of violence comes to the forefront in dramatic fashion. Alex’s has conditioned himself through his consumption of milk plus to act out his violent impulses. It is plausible that his conditioning is a direct reaction to the socialistic society that shows very little respect to the disenfranchised youth during that time period. The ultra-violent outbursts Alex displays could be a statement on his struggles against the oppressive society he is a part of. Alex and his droogs’ ultimate goal are to make the victims of their crimes appear to be the lowlifes of society and that they are being punished for their role in perpetuating the socialist agenda. Moreover, Alex has convinced himself of the delusion that he is a freedom fighter or the savior of a pre-socialist society…

    • 2151 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Edward Irving Wortis, also known as Avi a name his twin sister called him that stuck, was born December 23, 1937 in New York City and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a doctor, mother a social worker and he came from a family of musicians, writers and artists. His older brother was considered a genius and his twin sister was very smart too but Avi struggled in school. He was determined to be a writer even after being diagnosed with a learning disability called dysgraphia, which caused him to reverse or misspell words. Avi eventually became a renowned writer despite his disability. He started as a playwright, and then he began writing for young people after his first son was born. Avi enjoys visiting schools and brings copyedited…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    *He was respectful because he never once asked for money and never complained about being dragged into the world of spying, shooting, and hurting. Also something happened (not in this book though) that in Crocodile Tears (the book before this one) Alex decided to gamble by playing a card game and won!! He got hundreds of thousands of dollars only to give all the money away to charity…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Alexie does not keep his experience for himself only, but he writes novels, poems, and short stories, which have an effect on the new…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kenneth Slessor Interview

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Kenneth Slessor: Yes that is correct. I grew up in Orange, then spent my early years in England and soon moved back to Sydney. I wrote my first piece of work when I was only 16, which was a dramatic monologue and that made an appearance in the bulletin magazine at school.…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anton Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Southern Russia on January 17th, 1860. His ancestry consider of his father, Paul, who operated a small grocery store, and his grandfather who bought his way to freedom. Being one of six children, he maintained a good relationship with the rest of his family (Kunitz 55). He is known for his exploration in different human aspects of universal human situations throughout his writings. Originally when his father’s business failed, Chekhov started writing short stories about contemporary Russian life. This event helped catapult his writing career ("Anton Chekhov"). As once stated by Andrei Malaev-Babel, “Anton Chekhov has been and remains a moral compass; generations of Russians have measured their lives against Chekhov 's.” The societal impact of Chekhov on the Russian community accurately shows that writers played a big role in societies. Chekhov, unintentionally, swayed the future of writing towards more realism and idealism with his unconventional endings and modern character.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anthony Burgess’s piece “Is America Falling Apart?” and Hector St. Jean Crevecoeur’s piece, “What is an American?” from Letters from an American Farmer both have unique tones in them discovered through their use or rhetorical devises. Burgess’s piece has a negative tone and, this can be identified by his use of tri-colons, anaphora, and his use of ethos. Crevecoeur’s piece has a positive tone and, this can be identified by his use of hypophora, anaphora, and his use of ethos.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, Alex merely appears to be a mindless brute, with his thoughts and behaviors geared strictly towards violent behavior. It is not until he returns home and his post-correctional officer, Deltoid, enters into his apartment and confronts Alex on his behavior that his views on free-will are made clear; after Deltoid leaves, Alex dismissed Deltoid’s apprehension, and states that a government that does not allow its citizens to act badly is a power of authority that robs people of their free-will.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    . . [with] no power of choice any longer[,] . . . [as he is] committed to socially acceptable acts, a little machine capable only of good’" (Burgess 174). Morris describes those of a zombie like society as “Each [person] . . . is a little clockwork orange making up the whole of one great clockwork orange.” Explained in “A Clockwork Orange Resucked,” the saying “clockwork orange” is known to older Londoners, as the phrase is used to refer to someone who is “queer to the limit of queerness” (Burgess). Tilton observes that the nature of man is the clockwork of an orange, or man, as a “Man’s clockwork is the steady, rhythmic heartbeat of his psychic life, the tick and the tock of his good and evil urges.” In the interfering of “Alex’s natural clockwork,” the balance and overall functioning of both the good and evil that manifests itself inside of him is left damaged (Tilton). There are parts inside of every individual that have the potential to be virtuous or corrupt, as “good and evil are of the self” (Tilton), while there are alternative paths that may be taken throughout life, one cannot control how things happen…

    • 1334 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A.a Milne

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Before he became the famous author he is today, Milne lived a rather normal and quiet life. Milne was born to Sarah and John Milne in Hampstead, London on January 18th 1882 . For most of his childhood and young adulthood, Milne resided in the school his father ran, the Henley house, which he also attended as a child (just-pooh). As a boy, Milne was a rather bright student who learned to read and write before the age of five (Wheeler). Milne’s extraordinary grades in Mathematics, and especially Writing, got him numerous scholarships to many different universities such as Cambridge. Although Milne always aspired to be a writer, on of his inspirations was the famous H.G Wells who became his teacher and Mentor (poohcorner). The more he learned from Wells, the more Milne aspired to be a writer. It is certain that without the encouraging words and teachings from his mentor, Milne would not be the same, remarkable author he became.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway is known for much of his great short stories he wrote during the twentieth century. After graduating high school, Hemingway instead of going to college decided to take a job as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star newspaper. The Star's style guidelines influenced his writing style for the rest of his career: Use short sentences, short first paragraphs, and vigorous English. Soon World War I came along and Hemingway left the newspaper to join the U.S. Army so that he could fight in the War. However, The Army rejected him because of his poor eyesight, so he volunteered as a driver with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. As a ambulance driver he was severely wounded and his driving career ended. While recuperating in a Milan hospital, Hemingway fell in love with an American nurse six years his senior named Agnes von Kurowsky. They made plans for her to join him in the United States. Hemingway returned to the United States only to find out that Agnes had fallen in love with an Italian Officer permanently making him doubt his loved ones. Hemingway wrote the A Farewell to Arms inspired by this event later on in his career. After the war, Hemingway moved to Toronto, Ontario to take a job as a reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper. Then in 1921, Hemingway moved to Paris where “the Most interesting people in the world” lived. This is what many called it Hemingway's turning point of his career. During his first 20…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    friend in need

    • 253 Words
    • 1 Page

    William Somerset Maugham born in paris but he was a british playwright, novels Short Stories . although His boyhood was unhappy after the death of his parents, Maugham become a qualified physician. but after The success of the first run of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth , Maugham gave up medicine & turn to write full-time.…

    • 253 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays