Simon Lieu March 8, 2011 AP English Literature Novel Notebook A A Clockwork Orange 1. Characterization: The protagonist in this novel is Your Humble Narrator: Alex. Alex is a 15-year-old who is the leader of a gang of boys who terrorize the people of the city. He can also be seen as the Christ figure in the novel. He is the leader of a group of followers, just as Jesus had his disciples. Alex acted as the provider for his people and told his droogs, “Have you not every veshch you need? It you need an auto you pluck it from the trees,” a message very similar to the gospel’s in that one need not worry about tomorrow because God will provide. Once Alex was caught, his friends deserted him, just like the disciples denied even knowing Christ after he was arrested. He is also associated with sheep, such as in the quote, “So they knew kn ew now who was master and leader, sheep, sheep, thought I.” “And there were my sheep down below, their rots open as they looked up, O brothers.” F. Alexander is another major character in the novel. He is the husband of a woman who died because Alex and his droogs severely raped her. F. Alexander can be seen as a foil to Alex, as evidenced by their similar names. Indeed Alex thinks, “Good Bog, I thought, he is another Alex,” to help the reader assess their disparities. Unlike Alex, F. Alexander is an opportunist, seeing the situation that Alex is in as simply a way to promote his ideology and topple the current regime in government. Alex notices this an d mentions that “they wanted [me] for their
horrible selfish and boastful politics.” Alex, on the other hand, lives for the moment takes advantage of others for his own pleasure rather than for self-gain. Burgess also uses the situation involving the rape of Alex ander’s wife to illustrate a vast difference between the two characters. Even a fter Alex broke into Alexander’s Home and destroyed everything he had, Alexander still has sympathy for the young boy when he says, “I’ve been beaten up by the police and just left to die on the road. Oh, please give me a drink of something and sit by the fire, please, sir.” Alex has a mistrust of other after his incident with his first gang of droogs. He says, “There was no trust anywhere in the world.” But Alexander trusts strangers that knock at his door even after his nasty experience involving the death of his wife. This emphasizes his naivety and highlights Alex’s rebel mentality. 2. Technique: The novel is told from Alex’s perspective, and is written in nadsat, a mixture between Slavic and Cockney English. This writing style allows the reader to gain an uncensored pass into the mind of Alex, unmasking his obsession with crime and reverence for classical music. Alex often refers to the reader as “my Brothers” to make the reader feel like he is talking directly to him/her. The story is told from flashback, as Alex recounts his journey from disobedient rebel to robotic angel to disobedient rebel. The story ends with Alex telling us that after seeing Pete, he will follow his lead and live a law-abiding life similar to the one he lived after watching the videos but this time it will be by choice. There are several instances of irony in the novel. The most obvious case is when Alex goes “Home” and is welcomed in with open arms by a man whose wife had been raped and killed by Alex. As previously mentioned, this scene is used to contrast F. Alexander’s inherent trust in
man to Alex’s mistrust of everyone. Another case of situational irony can be seen when Alex is almost killed by a group of old scientists in the library. “And, believe it, brothers, or do the other veschch, two or three starry dodderers, about ninety years ole apiece, grabbed me with their trembling rookers, and I was like made sick b y the con of old moodges.” Alex, a once vicious gangster who was fearless and looked for fights, now is cowering in front of old geezers with canes and is calling for the police. This scene illustrates just how helpless Alex has become after the treatment that he received at the prison. There are several symbols in the novel, but none more prominent than classical music. Alex believes that classical music is truly divine, and treats it with utmost respect. “As I slooshied, my glazzies tight shut to shut in the bliss that was better than any synthemesc Bog or God, I knew such lovely pictures.” Whenever he is doing something that he truly enjoys — like having sex with two girls — the music starts to play. Moreover, when the doctors start to play Beethoven as background music to all of the torture and violence that was playing on screen, Alex says, “Stop, you grahzny disgusting soads. It’s a sin, that’s what it is, a filthy unforgivable sin, you bratchnies!” He also listens to it when he is reading his Bible in the cell. “They would like lock me in and let me sloshy holy music by J S Bach and G F Handel, and I would read of these starry yahoodies tolchocking each other and then peeting their Hebrew vino and getting into bed with their wives’ like handmaidenrs, real horrorshow.” Classical music therefore represents Alex’s individual connection with God. In accordance with our author generalizations, Burgess supports Alex’s obsession with Beethoven and Mozart as it makes him feel divine, like his sins are forgiven. Burgess also uses color symbolism in several instances throughout the book. The most apparent one can be seen with the color white once Alex has been taken away from the prison
and transported into the new building where he is to see horrible movies that will correct his behavior. The “white building” had many vecks in “white coats” and Alex had to sleep in a “very nice white clean bedroom.” I believe that this symbolism is used to symbolize the purification process that Alex is to undergo. After this procedure, Alex will be white as snow and ready to head out into the real world. The irony occurs when Alex is released into the real world and is found to be absolutely helpless. The color white turns to red as he jumps out of a window in an attempt to end his life, only to break a few bones and make a full recovery. But nevertheless, the white symbolism is used to mock the perceived purity that Alex had acquired. 3. Structure: The structure of the novel is circular. The first night that we meet the author, he and his droogs go around town causing havoc such as destroying a man’s book and breaking into someone’s home and raping a lad y. After Alex serves some time in prison and watches those horrible videos, he incidentally meets many of the same people that he took advantage of on that fateful night. Alex nearly dies in the library when the man whose book he destroyed recognizes him. Also, he escapes to the house where he once raped a lady, the wife of F. Alexander. This circular structure is used to highlight the radical change in character that Alex experienced — the hunter has now become the hunted. Faced in the exact same situations that he was in two years ago, Alex is now scared rather than bold. 4. Setting: The setting of this novel is in a city in England. The author does not specify a time. England has become obsessed with cleaning up violent crimes at all cost. Alex remarks that, “the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is
not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brace malenky selves fighting these big machines? I am serious with you brothers.” One could argue that since this novel was published in 1961, Burgess was criticizing the spread of communism. It is ironic that Burgess chooses Alex to speak in nadsat — a Russian slang — because the Russians are the ones who are trying to impose this radical scheme in real life, while Alex is the individually-minded character in the novel. 5. Style: As previously mentioned, the book is written in Nadsat, a mixture of Slavic slang and Cockney English. The story is told from the perspective of Alex, and we gain insight into his lifestyle through the way he tells us the story. Alex’s u se of Nadsat reveals to us his mysterious lifestyle; he never tells us anything straight-forward because he is participating in some very shady activities. He and his droogs have invented this code to intimidate others and identify with themselves. Alex’s tone is very informal, as he often addresses the reader as “brothers.” He is highly critical of the society that he lives in, as evidenced by when he agrees with F Alexander’s statement that, “The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze jucily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my swordpen —” 6. Thesis argument: In Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Burgess uses the character of Alex to emphasize the importance of self-determination in a society which wants to impose goodness on the public.
