Government Control and Free Will in "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess

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A Clockwork Orange, a novel written by Anthony Burgess in the 1960’s takes place in dystopian future in London, England. The novel is about a fifteen year old nadsat (teenager) named Alex who along with his droogs (friends) commit violent acts of crime and opts to be bad over good. In time, Alex finds himself to be in an experiment by the government, making him unable to choose between good and evil, thus losing his ability of free will, and being a mere clockwork orange. A “clockwork orange” is a metaphor for Alex being controlled by the government, which makes him artificial because he is unable to make the decision of good verses evil for himself and is a subject to what others believe is right. In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess utilizes contrast, symbolism, and the first person narrative point of view to illustrate and enhance the theme of free will, because a person who lack’s the ability to choose between good and evil, is not really a human being. Therefore, for the duration of Part One, Alex possesses the ability of free will yet decides to be evil by committing violent ...

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