Violence in A Clockwork Orange

Violence in A Clockwork Orange Remind yourself of Chapter 2 of Part II of A Clockwork Orange. (i) How does Burgess present violence in this chapter? This chapter is unusually short; it is probably the shortest in the book. And yet the violence that takes place in the chapter is extremely graphic. It seems more intense because it is concentrated in two ways: firstly, it is limited by the more obvious confines of the prison cell walls; but secondly, it is confined in a metaphorical sense within the "walls" of a very small chapter. Therefore one would expect the chapter to be weak. But instead Burgess manages to cram every shocking image into a small space, concentrating the violence into one large, disturbing image. Scenes are described such as "the Wall fisted his rot" and "a horrorshow kick on the gulliver". These are nothing special when compared to some of the actions of the previous chapters. But what makes the entire scene stick in the reader's mind is how complete the description of it is. Added to the images are the descriptions of sounds, such as "oh oh oh " and "the new plenny creeched". Furthermore is the vivid and widespread use of the colour red: there are the usual copious amounts of "dripping red krovvy"; and the entire scene is cast in an ominous blood-like glow from the "red light from the landing", which almost sounds like a filming technique, even though

  • Word count: 1712
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Discuss Burgess’s language in the opening chapter: how does he depict the world of Alex and his friends as being in conflict with the “outside”? (10 marks)

A Clockwork Orange: Chapter One An Analysis Discuss Burgess's language in the opening chapter: how does he depict the world of Alex and his friends as being in conflict with the "outside"? (10 marks) One gets an initial impression of Alex and his friends from the first page: Alex says, "There was me... and my three droogs". Immediately this suggests that he and his friends are close, like a gang, and this leads on to the idea of conflict. The closeness of Alex and his friends is elaborated upon throughout the chapter. He frequently uses the phrase "The four of us" and, when speaking to Pete, Georgie and Dim, he says, "Oh my brothers". Their close camaraderie is summed up on page six, where Alex describes it as being "usually one for all and all for one". Then he begins to describe three "devotchkas", whom one presumes to be members of a rival gang (the reader is told that Alex and his friends are "malchicks"). There is no brevity in Alex's description, and he goes into detail when describing the clothes and make-up. It is likely here that Alex has a certain respect for these gang members, indicated by his lengthy description of their bright uniforms, and by the fact that he speculates on the large cost of these uniforms. But there is also a clear element of mockery. This is especially apparent in the sentence "These were supposed to be...", with an emphasis on the word

  • Word count: 1352
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Text Transformation:'A Clockwork Orange' into 'The Jerry Springer Show'

Text Transformation: 'A Clockwork Orange' into 'The Jerry Springer Show' Commentary I chose for my text transformation to use the base text 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. This novel interested me because of its individual language of 'Nadsat', a form of slang created by Burgess for gangs of violent English teenagers. The slang serves a serious purpose, which is too keep the violence of the protagonist from becoming unbearable to its reader, keeping the language partly veiled, for example making 'gratizny bratchny' sound more pleasant than its meaning 'dirty bastard'. It is important to realise that its audience of the 60's have not yet become subject to such violence and despair explored in the novel. So what have I done? I have taken four characters from the novel (Alex's parents, Alex and the schoolmaster) and placed them into 'The Jerry Springer Show', creating a parody of the show. I have given Alex's parents the names of Janet and Derek and looked at their perspective of Alex's violent activities. As I would chronologically slot the show in just before the police catch him, I have kept Alex's attitude of his enjoyment of violence. When the schoolmaster has been beaten up and staggers off, that is the last we have heard of him in the novel, I decided to give him a voice and see what he would have said about his attack. So why did I choose to do

  • Word count: 1494
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Anthony Burgess's novella "A Clockwork Orange", written in 1962, explores the destruction of the lives of the protagonist's private worlds and presents a potential nightmarish society. The reader sees the mindless violence preformed by Alex and the Droogs

The real nightmare of dystopian literature lies in its destruction of individual' private worlds. In what ways does the passage selected for study present this horror? - 1212 Anthony Burgess's novella "A Clockwork Orange", written in 1962, explores the destruction of the lives of the protagonist's private worlds and presents a potential nightmarish society. The reader sees the mindless violence preformed by Alex and the Droogs during the scene in which they destroy the writer, F Alexander, and ravage his wife. The lives of the gang seem to create a contradiction as they are trying to create an alternative society with those who he decides are acceptable, it appears to the reader as a dystopian one. A question seems to arise as to whether the protagonists have free will, or whether their actions are pre determined by fate. Alex believes that every one is born evil and therefore capable of wicked things. The evilness in the world is inevitable; he does not view this of his own actions. Burgess' novella poses the question; is a man who chooses the destruction of others perhaps in some way better than a man who has the traditional ways imposed upon him? This is a dilemma that is never solved in Alex's private world. Burgess created a character that has to go to the furthest extent to feel free; it seems that he was made evil by the government, perhaps presenting an artist, as

  • Word count: 1308
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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A Clockwork Orange. The extract we are presented with shows us the scene in part one of A Clockwork Orange when Alex and his droogs rape an innocent young woman, referred to in the extract as a devotchka.

'A Clockwork Orange'-short task The extract we are presented with shows us the scene in part one of 'A Clockwork Orange' when Alex and his 'droogs' rape an innocent young woman, referred to in the extract as a 'devotchka'. The extract elucidates the title of the novella as here the husband of the young woman is writing a story called 'A Clockwork Orange'. The manuscript of the story explains that the sweet, orange-ness of humans can be converted into the lifelessness of a manufactured clockwork machine. The novella's evident dystopian form permits for the astonishing effect of the insubordination from the youth. In the extract it is very prominent as Alex and his group go from committing crime to crime. The whole extract, although very short, has a lot of commotion in it. This allows for the dystopian elements to be more arresting and therefore has a greater build up to the main thesis of the entire novel. For example, when Alex and his group take turns to rape the young woman, giving her the old 'in out, in out' they are also beating up the husband of the woman and the author of 'A Clockwork Orange'. The overall effect of this is that the boys forcing the man to watch the rape of his wife predicts, in a way, what will happen to Alex in Part Two. In both cases, the men are having their free will stripped off them to a certain degree and must encounter something very

  • Word count: 1169
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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“ To what extent does Alex have his own freedom of thought”

" To what extent does Alex have his own freedom of thought" "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess follows the life of a young juvenile delinquent by the name of Alex. Throughout the novel we learn in depth about the young protagonist, Alex, including his love for music and his apparent passion toward violence. Burgess uses bizarre, yet apt language choice in this novel which helps you relate to the main character in an easier manner, hence improving the appeal and success of this text. The novel deals with varying issues however the main theme of the novel is the idea of how much freedom of thought Alex has and therefore this will be my area of focus for my essay. Immediately after the first few lines we find out the novel is written in first person narrative. I found this a very intelligent use of language and structure by Burgess as the manner in which he has written this relates exactly to the character. Very seldom does Alex use "normal" language and I think this is because he has complete freedom of thought and he wants to have his own language that only his friends and him can understand. In my opinion the style and structure of this novel is extremely important to the understanding of the text. Alex goes through three main changes as a character, and this is reflected in the way Burgess has structured the novel. The novel is split into three sections, each

  • Word count: 1682
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Discuss the Ways In Which Burgess Depicts the “Fall From Grace” of Alex.

A Clockwork Orange: Alex's Downfall Discuss the ways in which Burgess depicts the "fall from grace" of Alex. Alex's downfall is a long, drawn out process, which begins in the house of the old lady in chapter six of part one. But before one is even inside the house, Alex treats one to a description of the "Oldtown". It is full of "starry type houses", without a "flatblock" in sight. Here there is no state-control - everything is from a time before repression, when people had free will. The place where Alex meets his match is symbolic: it is unfamiliar, just as losing fights is unfamiliar to him; it is prone to robbery, just as he is prone to attack in strange surroundings; finally, it is not state-controlled, just as his actions here are not controlled. They lack the choreography and order of an attack "on his own turf", and consequently, anything could happen. When Alex is finally in confrontation with the old "ptitsa", he finds she is much more of a challenge than he expected. She is from the old society, and her age is signified through her amusing language, such as "wretched little slummy bedbug" and "blast you, boy, you shall suffer". It is bold and almost farcical, and it is reminiscent of a swashbuckling pirate sword-fight. This comedy is heightened by the slapstick nature of Alex's actions, falling over cats and splashing saucers of milk everywhere. It is degrading

  • Word count: 945
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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A Clockwork Orange - review

A Clockwork Orange is an extremely controversial novel which has been read all over the world. This book was published by W.W. Norton and Company in New York and London originally in 1962. This novel has many graphic and disturbing parts throughout the story; however has a very relevant and important moral at its conclusion. "There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus...milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence" (Burgess 1). The novel commences in England, centering on Alex, the narrator, and three of his "droogs" or friends. The beginning of the story takes us through a night in the life of Alex and his Droogs, and describes the exciting activities that occupy their time. Alex is set up by his Droogs later on and sent to jail and convicted of murder. At the State Penitentiary he spent two years of a sentence of fourteen there. Alex volunteered to undergo an experiment, "Ludvico's Technique", which was conducted by Dr. Brodsky. It was supposed to cure him of all of his violent nature. Alex is given injections and made to watch films of rape and violence and other various disgusting violent

  • Word count: 862
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Using the extracts from Dead Man in Deptford and Any Old Iron, and the whole of A Clockwork Orange, discuss the effectiveness of Burgess’ wide and varied use of language and dialect.

Language and Dialect in A Clockwork Orange Using the extracts from Dead Man in Deptford and Any Old Iron, and the whole of A Clockwork Orange, discuss the effectiveness of Burgess' wide and varied use of language and dialect. If I were to begin this essay with a foreign word, a phrase that had been obsolete for four hundred years, and a totally incoherent sentence, complete with fabricated slang terms, then the fair or foul reader ("but where's the difference") would probably dismiss it and I would receive an 'F'. And yet I would be imitating the style of one of the twentieth century's prolific and widely discussed authors: Anthony Burgess. In every novel that he has written, Burgess has displayed a love of, and an acute skill for, words and word-craft, which a blacksmith might display in his trade. As soon as I started to read A Clockwork Orange, I wanted to put it down again. In the second paragraph, I counted eighteen words that I did not understand, including such timeless gems as "droog", "rassoodocks" and, my personal favourite, "mozg". I was equally baffled when confronted with the two extracts. But I slavishly stuck to it (partly because of my rather demanding English master), mostly because I was personally intrigued as to what those terms meant. One soon realises that Burgess actually likes to do this - it is his wordplay. But equally, it is also an integral part

  • Word count: 1019
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Clockwork Orange Movie Evaluation

"A Clockwork Orange" is a psychological thriller that examines and analyzes the effects of a corrupt individual and society's attempts to reintegrate him. The director Stanley Kubrick depicts a deeply chilling and disturbing story of a young man by the name of Alex and is considered a menace to society who is eventually punished for his wrong doings and given the chance of a lifetime to "reinvent" himself. The new an innovative way to reintegrate disturbed individuals into society is through a type of conditioning that causes a nauseating reaction to violent acts for the patient. It is difficult to determine the time period of the film since Kubrick uses scenery that makes it appear as though it could take place today, tomorrow, yesterday, or even fifty years in the future making it applicable to all times. In addition, Kubrick is very cautious to use problems in society that have been evident and irksome since the beginning of man such as rape, muggings, murder, etc. With this stunning combination of society's everyday problems, "A Clockwork Orange" is the type of movie that appeals to all time periods and will always be applicable to the troubles that are present in today's society. The psychological aspect of the movie is the way in which society wishes that it could deal with them through a simple program that allows the individual to be "reborn" in a sense and make it

  • Word count: 1765
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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