A Clockwork Orange- The Book Or

The Movie Essay, Research Paper

In A Clockwork Orange, Alex, the storyteller and the chief character, tells the narrative of his teenage old ages, get downing at 15. He begins his narrative as the leader of a little pack that spends its eventides plundering and bringing mayhem on the town until the pack mutinies and & # 8220 ; Your Humble Narrator, & # 8221 ; as Alex refers to himself, is caught by the constabulary. From at that place, Alex travels to State Jail 84F to function 14 old ages, but receives an offer from & # 8220 ; the Government & # 8221 ; which entails undergoing experimental intervention in return for early release. He seizes what seems to him an chance, but is horrified by the & # 8220 ; remedy & # 8221 ; he endures. The new & # 8220 ; good & # 8221 ; Alex that is released unto the universe is depressed, frustrated, and lonely, although no longer violent. A extremist political group so exploits him as an illustration of the inhuman treatment of & # 8220 ; the Government. & # 8221 ; This cabal tries to coerce Alex to suicide in order to derive a sufferer, but Alex & # 8217 ; s try fails and he is nursed back to wellness and his natural mental province by the Government, who in the terminal comes out on top.

Alex, whose last name is non mentioned in the book, is a violent, aggressive adolescent of 15, who is the leader of a four-person pack. He genuinely enjoys force, delighting in the sight of blood or arms. Alex & # 8217 ; s love of hatred is non merely a rebellious emotion, but as he explains, it is his very nature, and he could non alter it if he wanted to. Despite his passion for what most see as ugly and gross outing, Alex does hold a great grasp for classical music, particularly Beethoven.

Alex & # 8217 ; s chief struggles are both external and internal. His external struggles are between him and the members of his pack. Dim and Georgie, two of the members of Alex & # 8217 ; s pack, are unwilling to accept Alex & # 8217 ; s leading. They challenge his authorization, and Alex reacts headlong by seeking to re- set up his laterality through get the better ofing both of his attackers in contending. This confrontation merely raises tensenesss within the pack, and leads to a treachery which consequences in Alex & # 8217 ; s gaining control on the charge of slaying. Alex & # 8217 ; s chief internal struggle is a physiological one. The Government & # 8217 ; s experimental intervention which Alex undergoes involves conditioning to bring forth a feeling of sickness and overbearing fright when violent inclinations are encountered. Since Alex & # 8217 ; s nature is to react to state of affairss violently, he is ruined by the struggle between his physical and emotional feelings.

The flood tide of the book occurs at the terminal of Alex & # 8217 ; s conditioning, when he is made to experience ill by his ain true emotions, and he realizes to the full that he must alter his full manner of life.

The major difference between the movie and the book versions of A Clockwork Orange was the deficiency of subject or significance in the movie. The movie easy conveyed all facets of the narrative & # 8217 ; s secret plan and duologue, but was rather missing in the conveyance of the ideas within Alex. It seemed that without this cardinal portion of the book, the movie was wholly barren of any virtue whatsoever.

Between the movie and book versions of A Clockwork Orange, I prefer the book infinitesimally. The whole ground Anthony Burgess wrote the book in the first topographic point was to convey a inquiry of morality: is it justifiable to pervert the pure nature of a individual for

the benefit of the greater society? His epoch-making question was clearly communicated within the book, but Stanley Kubrick did non even get down to cover with this moral issue in his film which I perceive as a shoal and strange movie which I could non bask, cognizing that the message behind Burgess’ narrative was non the advocation of blazing force, as portrayed in the movie.

The climactic scene in the book occurs when Alex has finished his conditioning, and he is displayed as an illustration of the new technique in condemnable reform. Alex is put on phase in forepart of authorities very important persons, where he proves that he is incapable of perpetrating an act of force.

In the book, Alex is thrust on phase, where he tries to support himself against an aggressor, but is choked back by the ague sickness he experiences with force. With Alex narrating, the reader experiences the chief character & # 8217 ; s ideas and feelings as his physical organic structure strangles his true emotions and prevents him from moving on them.

The film shows the same scene, but without analyzing any of the psychological facets of it. All the spectator sees is Alex being bullied by another adult male, and unable to contend back, crippled by some unknown internal monster.

I did non like the movie & # 8217 ; s version of this scene because it did non clearly show what was transpirating within the characters.

The subject of the book trades with a individual & # 8217 ; s most basic right to be himself. Burgess inquiries whether it is right to destruct an single & # 8217 ; s ego in the involvement of society. He besides inquiries the morality of the authorities judging what is right or incorrect for everyone.

While these subjects were apparent throughout the book, they were merely one time mentioned in the movie, by a minor character who appears merely one time. I think the movie does non cover with subject because it is hard to leave the ideas of the chief character without altering the secret plan of the movie, which would take it astray from that of the book.

The most obvious and powerful symbol in the book was the slang linguistic communication used by the teens, called & # 8220 ; nadsat. & # 8221 ; Nadsat has chiefly Russian beginnings. Many of the words were chosen because of their forceful sound, as a symbol of the attitude of the nadsats, or teens. For illustration, & # 8220 ; grahzny bratchny & # 8221 ; sounds much more rough than & # 8220 ; soiled asshole, & # 8221 ; although one is a actual interlingual rendition of the other. This is similar to Gene Roddenberry & # 8217 ; s creative activity of the Klingon linguistic communication, which sounds really much like Russian, in his series & # 8220 ; Star Trek, & # 8221 ; although this may hold been due to a cold war stereotype.

This symbol, although it was attempted in the movie, did non work good. It seemed that dropping words like & # 8220 ; droog, tolchock, & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; zooby & # 8221 ; in the center of a sentence of otherwise perfect English merely confused the spectator, particularly without any mention to the nadsat linguistic communication.

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, presents an issue that should be discussed in schools, although the book may be excessively powerful for some. The movie, nevertheless, is decidedly excessively focused on secret plan and the portraiture of devastation and force, without sufficiency of a focal point on subject. I would urge reading the book ; its societal commentary is much more relevant now than when it was written in the 1960ss.