Triumph of Free Will in A Clockwork Orange
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.
With the intention to install order and justice to protect human rights, society contrarily threatens human life by its own adverse imposition. This satire of society portrays the author’s opposition to the prominent behaviorism movement, led by B.F. Skinner. Ironically, Clockwork seems to ridicule the utopian society depicted in Skinner’s Walden Two (Aggeler 70). Proponents of behaviorism advocated the human conditioning described in Skinner’s work. Burgess’s imaginatively fabricated language found in Clockwork, known as Nadsat, carries this theme to the reader. At first reading, this fabricated jargon seems preposterous and difficult to understand, but by the end, the onomatopoeic wording flows naturally and thus "the effect of Nadsat on the reader functions as an ironic comment on the novel itself" (Foote, 87). Burgess conditions the readers themselves to comprehend Nadsat, yet they are fully unaware of this imposition. The language itself enthrall...
... middle of paper ...
.... A Clockwork Orange. 1986. Norton and Company, Inc. New York
Evans, Robert O. "The ‘Nouveau Roman,’ Russian Dystopias, and AnthonyBurgess." British Novelists since 1900. AMS Press, 1987. pp253-66. Reprinted in CLC. vol 62. pp130-132.
Foote, Timothy. "Wolf of God." Time, The Weekly Newsmagazine. March 17,1975, pp.84-86. reprinted in CLC. vol 10. pp87-90.
Mazour, Anatole G., ed. World History. 1993. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc. pp423
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. "Conditioning." Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature. 1995. ABC-CLIO Inc. Santa Barbara, CA. pp143
Tilton, John W. "’A Clockwork Orange’: Awareness is All." Cosmic Satire in the Contemporary Novel. 1997. Asocciated University Presses, Inc. p.21-42. reprinted in CLC. vol 15. p.104-107
Wade, Carol, ed. Psychology. 5th Addition. 1998. Addison-Wesley Education Publishers Inc. pp257.
A series of court rulings against political patronage diminished Daley's clout in his final term, and his political organization declined further in the decade after his death. Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley dies at age 84 after more than two decades of dominating Illinois politics. He died in Chicago of a heart attack on Dec. 20, 1976.
There have been many books published solely on philosophy, and many more than that solely written about human nature, but very infrequently will a book be published that weaves these fields together as well as A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. In this Book Burgess speculated on the fact “the significance of maturing by choice is to gain moral values and freedoms.” He achieved this task by pushing his angsty teenaged character, Alex, through situations that challenge the moral values of himself and his friends. In the novel, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, Alex himself, must choose good over evil in order to gain moral values which will allow him to mature into a “man” in the latter of his two transformations.
There are many books that have been banned or challenged, but the one that is being presented in this paper is Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. The topic of this paper is to inform you of many things and when you have finished it will have you leaving asking yourself one question. First, a summary of A Clockwork Orange will be shared with you, so that you can have an insight as to how the rest of the paper relates to the book. Second, you will find out where, why and when the book was banned and/or challenged and you will discover what the book contains that would “offend” people. Finally, you will discover the literary merit of this book, which means you will discover if is a work of quality.
"Mine honor is my life, both grow in one, Take honor from me, and my life is done. Then, dear my liege, mine honor let me try; In that I live, and for that I will die." (I.i) These passages indirectly state that King Richard II is at fault for the death of his uncle. But for the reader to see this they must break down the play and search for those "hidden meanings".For the ordinary reader, who does not search, the text clearly states that the fight for innocence is distinctly between Bullingbrook and Mowbray. Such an example can be found in Act I: "Bull: That he [Mowbray] did plot the Duke of Gloucester's death,Suggest his soon-believing adversaries,And consequently, like a traitor coward,Sluic'd his innocent soul through streams of blood." The rest of the dialogue converses back and forth between Bullingbrook and Mowbray, each fighting for their own innocence.
The leadership’s decision not to expand Medicaid leaves between 300,000 and 400,000 South Carolinians without health insurance (South Carolina Medical Association, 2012). The stated intent of the Affordable Care Act, pejoratively dubbed “Obamacare” by its critics, was to put affordable health care within reach of more of the 40 million Americans who lacked health insurance. The law’s grand design included an assumption that states would expand their Medicaid programs, since the federal government would pay 100 percent of the expansion costs through 2016, and 90 percent thereafter. But in demonstrating its traditional mistrust of Washington’s promises, Columbia declined the offer and, in the process, left thousands of low-income workers without the means to obtain health coverage, either because they cannot afford the premiums or because their employers do not provide it. (Advisory Committee, 2013). Ironically, in a state where the median annual income is $44,600, South Carolina’s working poor earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid; however, they would be covered under the ACA model (Hailsmaier and Blasé, 2010).
Richard was born on May 15, 1902 to Lillian and Michael Daley. He was raised in a flat on 3602 South Lowe in the segregated neighborhood of Bridgeport, on the south side of Chicago. This simple Irish community made up of mostly blue-collar workers exhibited all the characteristics of a small town with “taverns, the funeral parlor, the bakery…” (31). Chicago was home to a diverse collection of ethnic cultures: English, Irish Protestants, Polish, Italian, Jewish and African American. It is this diversity of community and the conflict persistent along the boundaries of racial differences, which Royko suggests, carved Daleys’ resilient personality. His father provided for the family by working as sheet-metal worker, while his mother volunteered at the local Church. Information regarding his childhood is limited, except for the fact that it was “typical and happy” (33). His early education included a strict curriculum provided by the nuns at Nativity Church and part-time jobs selling papers. After completing elementary he continued his education at De La Salle Institute, a three-year commercial high school. His education focused on developing office skills such as typing and bookkeeping. After graduating in June of 1919, Royko mentions Daley’s questionable involvement in the south side race riots as a member of the Hamburg Social and Athletic Club. Considered as the worst race riots in the city's history leaving "15 whites and 23 blacks dead, 178 whites and 342 blacks injured. About one thousand homes were burned” (36). Daley refused to respond to questions regarding his involvement in the rioting, but he could not deny, as Royko po...
Richard Cory poems are a traditional type of poetry found all throughout different time periods. The poems range from the original to song variations, all contributing their own perspectives on what Richard Cory symbolized, and each takes their own distinct form. Richard Cory poetry usual contains the distinct ending of Richard Cory taking his own life, but each poem adds its own variations to this repetitive theme. Throughout the poems, there are also many similar themes, which portray a consistent theme of the American Dream and how it transforms. Many symbolic issues that deal with this dream are related to wealth, which is the most prominent reoccurring theme in the two poems. Whereas Robinson's "Richard Cory" focuses on symbolic issues of wealth during an early time period, Paul Simon creates a contemporary "Richard Cory", showing the transformation of the American Dream coinciding with the passage of time.
"therefore, since I can not prove a lover, To entertain these fair well spoken days, I am determined to be a villain".As a villain Richard must be heartless, he can not let his emotions interfere with his actions.
Richard had weakened since he had become king and was no longer ruthless as he had no reason to be ruthless. He had got what he wanted and was pleased with himself. He thought he was invincible, and he was too confident, which cost him his life. If he had been more careful, he would have been aware of the danger that lied before him. But, he did use some similar techniques in both the scenes.
King Richard II is Shakespeare's example of a king who removes himself from the reality of the common people. Richard views his position as a source of amusement. His "cares" as King, other than an opportunity for an agreeable audience, are merely a burden. Instead of investigating the accusations of treachery from Henry and Mawbrick, he exiles both men as an easy way out. Richard was born a King, and knows no life other than that of royalty. Unfortunately the lesson that must know men to rule them costs him the thrown. Richard's lesson influences his usurper and his usurper's heir to the thrown, demonstrating to them both the value of humility.
The undeniable pursuit for power is Richard’s flaw as a Vice character. This aspect is demonstrated in Shakespeare’s play King Richard III through the actions Richard portrays in an attempt to take the throne, allowing the audience to perceive this as an abhorrent transgression against the divine order. The deformity of Richards arm and back also symbolically imply a sense of villainy through Shakespeare’s context. In one of Richard’s soliloquies, he states how ‘thus like the formal Vice Iniquity/ I moralize two meanings in one word’. Through the use of immoral jargons, Shakespeare emphasises Richard’s tenacity to attain a sense of power. However, Richard’s personal struggle with power causes him to become paranoid and demanding, as demonstrated through the use of modality ‘I wish’ in ‘I wish the bastards dead’. This act thus becomes heavily discordant to the accepted great chain of being and conveys Richard’s consumption by power.
From the outset of the play, it is obvious that Richard subscribes to the majority of the Machiavellian principles. Certainly, he is not ashamed or afraid to plot heinous murder, and he does so with an ever-present false front. "I do mistake my person all this while,"1 he muses, plotting Anne's death minutes after having won her hand. He will not even entertain the ideas in public, demanding they "Dive...down to [his] soul."2 He knows that he must be cunning and soulless to succeed in his tasks. Richard also knows it is essential to guard against the hatred of the populace, as Machiavelli warned.
jailed and executed for committing treason. www.altavista.com search engine said that in the play, Shakespeare said that Richard
Later in his life, Feynman attended college as a physics major. He finished his first four years in 1939 at MIT, and then moved on to Princeton for graduate school. While at Princeton, Feynman proposed to Arline. The two planned to be married after hecom...
When Bolingbroke first appears in the play, he is accusing Thomas Mowbray of treason and then states that he is ready to act upon his accusations, to draw his sword against Mowbray. He declares, "Besides I say and will in battle prove . . ." (1.1.92, emphasis mine). Richard yields to the request of trial by combat. It is a ruling on which he later reneges, pronouncing banishment on the two parties rather than allowing their confrontation.