Burgess enables Alex to describe his experience of listening to music as spiritually uplifting and religious, and his passion towards it by picking up remarkable diction and imagery. “a bird of like rarest spun heavenmetal,” “any synthemesc Bog or God”.
Alliterations and sibilance are used to make the sound qualities in the passage much smoother, “Slooshying the sluice of lovely sounds” and metaphors such as “The trombones crunched redgold.” He allows the readers to hear the sound and also combines the sound with the colour “…the trumpets three-wised silverflamed…” The author also shows the immaturity and childishness of Alex, by onomatopoetically describing the classical music with symbols of innocence and made up Nadsat such as “crunched like candy thunder.” “The flute and oboe bored, like worms...”
Much of the diction used in A Clockwork Orange is a made up language known as Nadsat. This language is linked to Russian and Cockney rhyming slang. Nadsat helps depict Alex’s subculture and the totalitarian society they are put in. Since we are met with exclusion and alienation to this language in the beginning, we are quite detached to the brutality and sadism of Alex in the first part of the novel. Therefore this allows the readers to easily approach to and find out the positive aspect of Alex, showing us that the charming protagonist, Alex could represent the only bright light in a corrupt society.
The choice between good and evil is a decision every person must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions and control his future. This element of choice, no matter what the outcome, displays man's power as an individual. Any efforts to control or influence this choice between good and evil will force man's free will to disappear and enslave him. Up to where we have read in the novel A Clockwork Orange, we found out many contrasting positive and negative aspects of Alex. However, we are warned about the fact that music humanizes him in some way and leads him to decline (for example in the next chapter where Alex sneaks into the old lady’s house) The author uses symbolism through imagery, the characterization of Alex, and the first person narrative point of view to show what effects music has had and will soon have on Alex. The music represents his choice and free will. We can also see how Alex relates what he imagines with religious figures such as God and heaven. “And the, a bird of like rarest spun heavenmetal… better than any synthemesc Bog or God” These key words might be telling us that music is almost holy for Alex; he loves it and respects it.
The structure of the passage is made up as if it was a piece of music: crescendo and dimuendo in tones, such as sentence lengths with clauses piling each other and types vary to create rhythmical structure. A number of sentences begin with conjunctions such as “And… And them” which also help build up the rhythm in an efficient way. Burgess’s implementation of Nadsat “glazzies” “heavenmetal” “devotchkas” is essentially pragmatic and it makes the novel unique by using rich and evocative sounds and images. It allows us to get involved within Alex’s group and to be seduced by his features. He speaks to us in his sub-cultural, esoteric language that he only uses with his gang members.
In conclusion, the author focuses on Alex’s love of music and sensitivity in this passage in order to introduce to the readers the positive nature of Alex. By using abundant diction and imagery, Burgess allows the readers to appreciate the sound qualities and the atmosphere of the passage. Alex is a sharp witted, keen, self-disciplined, loyal and an honest rebel against a corrupt system, containing both positive and negative aspects. The author makes the readers to wonder what the music may symbolize later on in the novel.
