Russian born American writer, Ayn Rand, once said, “Man is a being with free will; therefore each man is potentially good or evil, and it’s up to him and only him (through his reasoning mind) to decide which he wants to be.” The meaning behind Rand’s words is that an individual has the power to choose between good or evil and it is that exact power which allows a human to live truly as a human. However, it is when that specific power, those choices, and the freedom to act on those choices are taken away when an individual is not genuinely considered a being. Without the power to choose, choices, and free will in one’s life, one, although breathing, is not in fact actually living. Free will is an extremely important part of human life because it is the very thing that makes one human, which allows one to live and lead a different life from the other countless individuals in the world. The subject of the power to choose between good and evil and that of free will can be perfectly displayed in Anthony Burgess’s dystopian, philosophical novel, A Clockwork Orange. Free will is a continuous theme throughout the novel and one can see that the subject is prevalent. In the novel A Clockwork Orange, through the three stages of his life, personality, and the environment around him, Alex, the main character, illustrates that an individual cannot entirely exist as a human being with the absence of free will and the power to choose throughout one’s life.
Throughout the first stage of Alex’s life, his choices between good and evil are very obvious as he chooses to be evil over good in every situation. One could consider this stage of a mechanical nature in which Alex just does what he wanted to do, he is reckless and does not think abo...
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...t is a gift to have a choice between the two. Alex still participated in acts of violence however he did not see them as appealing or as important as he did in the beginning of his life. Becoming normal, meaning balancing the good and evil in his life, allows Alex to have thoughts about settling down and starting a life of his own with a child whom he will teach about life. Alex’s journey can also teach one about the importance of choice in life and how to use it wisely. Without choice, humans would be nothing but beings walking the earth devoid of a conscious mind, thoughts, and a full life. Individuals would not be able to truly live without the freedom to choose as they would like and have free will which can determine their fate. A person’s fate should never be taken from them nor chosen for them. Choices are the most important thing a person can have.
Ayn Rand's classic story of one man's desire to become an individual in a nameless society presents a compelling refutation of collectivism in all forms. The hero, labeled "Equality 7-2521" by the State, chooses to challenge conventional authority as he learns the joys of experimentation and discovery, the ecstasy of human love, the challenge and fairness of liberty, and the happiness of self-interest. Equality 7-2521 writes three unique phrases in his journal: 1. "My happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to an end. It is the end.", 2. "We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.", 3. "The word 'We' . . . must never be placed first within man's soul.". These phrases will be discussed individually in the remainder of this essay.
In conclusion it is seen that Alex has effectively changed into a man and has become a morally sensitive individual. He, for himself has chosen good
The books Brave New World by Aldus Huxley and Anthem by Ayn Rand are both valuable twentieth-century contributions to literature. Both books explore the presence of natural law in man and propose a warning for what could happen when man's sense of right and wrong is taken from him. In this essay, I hope to show how these seemingly unrelated novels both expound upon a single, very profound, idea.
chosen to undergo a new “treatment” that the State has developed to “reform” criminals. After the State strips him of his choice to choose between good and evil, Alex can only do good now and even thinking of doing something bad makes him violently ill. Then, Alex is “rehabilitated” considered “rehabilitated”. Afterwards Alex is released where he encounters an “ex-droog” and one of his enemies, they beat him to a pulp and leave him out in the middle of nowhere. After coming to his senses, Alex makes his way to a house and in that house, right before Alex went to prison, h...
In “The Fountainhead” Ayn Rand shows her own views on free will. She belligerently shows how the world has come to collectivism to live their lives. ““Fine.” Said Mrs. Keating, “Go to the Beaux-Arts. It’s a grand place. A whole ocean away from your home. Of course, if you go, Mr. Francon will take somebody else. People will talk about that. Everybody knows that Mr. Francon picks out the best boy from Stanton every year for his office. I wonder how it’ll look if some other boy gets the job? But I guess that doesn’t matter.”” (P.35). this quote shows collectivism by showing how “emotional” one can be about not being better than his/her peers around them. Ayn’s point of view on free will in this quote shown telling of how Peter Keating had a choice on whether to take Guy Francons job offer or go to the Beaux-Arts academy for architecture, even though his mother was pressuring him into tak...
3.) The methods of the treatment to rehabilitate Alex weren’t the most appropriate ones. They made him watch film after film over and over again until Alex became “good”. They showed him these violent films so Alex could get disgusted and never think of using violence ever again.
If all of these events did not happen, Alex would still be a static character. Through all of his courage, he found what he was looking for. He dug deep and went to the extremes that were not normal of himself. All of his work lead to his dynamic
Free-will is a major part in the actions of this book. “The free will compels him to murder and rape, but also foster his esteem.” (LifeCharts). The opportunity to do as Alex wishes is what makes him to the crimes. It fuels him and in a way allows him to find himself. Alex is all about choices and he chooses to do the crime but also chooses to turn his life around. “Alex realizes that he benefits from living a normal life staying under the radar and it out-weighs the consequences of being a
Simions, Minodora O. "FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND MORAL CONSEQUENCES IN ANTHONY BURGESS’ A CLOCKWORK ORANGE." (2013): 65-68. Web. 21 May 2013.
As teenagers deviate from the constraining grasp of their parents, they begin to establish their own identity through decisions; however, their development of self-identification is frequently hindered by manipulation of societal institutions such as: justice system, religion, and media. Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, establishes the idea of freewill and how it is suppressed when Alex, the main protagonist, undergoes the manipulative Ludovico's technique, religious lectures, and social norms influenced by media- used to instill pain when Alex's desires violence/music and finding salvation, which is similar to the treatment of criminals in our society; ultimately utilized to mitigate crime, but also suppresses freewill through repercussions, fear, police officials, indelible ads, and the law. Therefore, American citizens are not privileged with the power of choice because the hindering paradox that exists in society: possessing the ability to consciously establish identity is entwined with manipulation, subliminally.
Amidst a population composed of perfectly conditioned automatons, is a picture of a society that is slowly rotting from within. Alex, the Faustian protagonist of A Clockwork Orange, and a sadistic and depraved gang leader, preys on the weak and the innocent. Although perhaps misguided, his conscientiousness of his evil nature indicates his capacity to understand morality and deny its practice. When society attempts to force goodness upon Alex, he becomes the victim. Through his innovative style, manifested by both the use of original language and satirical structure, British author Anthony Burgess presents in his novella A Clockwork Orange, the moral triumph of free will within the controlling hands of a totalitarian society.
Are our decisions subject to the inclinations of our past actions, as behaviorist would proclaim? Or do we have governance over our actions, or in other words, free will, as Humanists would argue? Furthermore, what is “right?” Is it to succumb to the societal and religious expectations of “good?” Or is it to act on one’s own intent? These are the questions that Alex from Stanley Kubrick’s Film adaptation of Burgess’ “A Clockwork Orange” and Hamlet from Shakespeare’s celebrated tragedy both struggle in answering as they
Raskolinkov’s beliefs transform from the beginning of the novel to the ending. His theory was never complete and to test his theory he commits the murder of an evil soul. The irony of this novel is Raskolinkov who though he was an extraordinary men, have the will to commit murder but not the power to live with the crime on his hands.
All Alex knew was to be violent due to the failure and lack of family structure, the school system and the law. The lack of these assertive institutions Alex couldn’t properly generate proper moral values and social norms. According to Mead he analyzed that a child gets some sort of understanding of how to act properly by how others act toward the child. Later on in the child’s development he/she learns and understands “the generalized other”, values and cultural rules (textbook). Alex was never pressured into going to school, there is one scene where his mother wakes him and tells him to get ready for school and Alex tells her “he doesn’t feel like going today” and that was the end of it. With Alex missing out on school he never really self-aware and knowledgeable. His family is absent also. Again with Alex telling his mother he doesn’t feel like going to school and his mother just lets it go shows the carelessness of his parents. Alex can pretty much do whatever he wants when he wants. With their lack of parenting he never truly gained proper values and morals and instead he created his own by the morals and values his “droogs” know. He had many run in’s with the police even before he was
Throughout this novel, author Anthony Burgess has shown us many aspects of freedom of choice and its abuse. Through strong symbols in imagery, Alex's characterization, and his point of view, the absence of choice is proven as the most overlooked depravation of person individual freedom. In everyone's life, the struggle for power exists in all situations. The decision between good and evil is the freedom that everyone must have as an individual. The choice of which path to take is dependant on the person and the situation, but the realization that both exist is a power unto itself.