A Comparison of the Book and Firm Version of A Clockwork Orange
In the story of his teenage years, starting at fifteen. He begins his tale as the
leader of a small gang that spends its evenings pillaging and wreaking havoc on the town until the gang mutinies and "Your Humble Narrator," as Alex refers to himself, is caught by the police. From there, Alex travels to State Jail 84F to serve 14 years, but receives an offer from "the Government" which entails undergoing experimental treatment in return for early release. He seizes what seems to him an opportunity, but is horrified by the "cure" he endures. The new "good" Alex that is released unto the world is depressed, frustrated, and lonely, although no longer violent. A radical political group then exploits him as an example of the cruelty of "the Government." This faction tries to force Alex to suicide in order to gain a martyr, but Alex's attempt fails and he is nursed back to health and his natural mental state by the Government, who in the end comes out on top.
Alex, whose last name is not mentioned in the book, is a violent, aggressive teenager of fifteen, who is the leader of a four-person gang. He truly enjoys violence, reveling in the sight of blood or weapons. Alex's love of hate is not simply a rebellious emotion, but as he explains, it is his very nature, and he could not change it if he wanted to. Despite his passion for what most see as ugly and disgusting, Alex does have a great appreciation for classical music, especially Beethoven.
Alex's main conflicts are both external and internal. His external conflicts are between him and the members of his gang. Dim and Georgie, two of the members of Alex's gang, are unwilling to accept Alex's leadership. They challenge his authority, and Alex reacts rashly by trying to re- establish his dominance through defeating both of his aggressors in fighting. This confrontation only raises tensions within the gang, and leads to a betrayal which results in Alex's capture on the charge of murder. Alex's main internal conflict is a physiological one. The Government's experimental treatment which Alex undergoes involves conditioning to produce a feeling of nausea and
In 1928, an accountant, Walter Diemer, invented an improved version of bubble gum. The only food coloring he had on hand was pink, so for many years, pink was the common color of bubble gums. Diemer arranged to market the bubble gum in Philadelphia candy stores and the product became wildly popular with children. Fleer Company purchased the recipe, and named the product Dubble Bubble.
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.
First published in 1962 (McNamee), follows fifteen year old Alex. The novel starts with Alex recounting a typical night of "ultraviolence" that he and his "droogs" participate in. The night includes drinking, drugs, and violence of the worst kind including rape. Eventually this lifestyle catches up to him, and Alex is arrested (Burgess 67). He is offered the opportunity to participate in an experimental procedure that it is believed will cure him of his violent behavior and his sentence is reduced (82). When he is released, Alex realizes that the treatment has rendered him effectively unable to make his own decisions about whether to do the right or the wrong thing as well as sucking pleasure out of every day things he used to enjoy such as music and art (156). Alex finds himself at the mercy of a man he had crossed in the past (167) and attempts to commit suicide (169). In the original British edition of the book, the final chapter reveals that after waking up in the hospital, Alex's went on to finally grow up and settle down, however in the first published version to reach America this final 21st chapter was left out so that the novel ended with the failing of the conditioning and Alex returning to his old ways (Jarvis).
Gene therapy is an experimental technique that allows doctors to insert a gene into a patient’s cell rather than using drugs or surgery. Gene therapy is a process of which defective or undesired genes in the body with “normal” genes. A vector is re-engineered to deliver the gene to a target cell. Then the gene is transferred to the cell’s nucleus and must be activated in order to function. The main focus of gene therapy is to replace a lost or improper gene with a new functional copy into a vector that is inserted into the subject’s genome by way of penetrating its DNA. Gene therapy can be done outside of the body known as ex vivo by way of taking cells form patients bone marrow or blood and then growing them in a laboratory. Thus the corrected copy of the gene is inserted into the cells before being put back into the body. Gene therapy can also be done in vivo which can be done directly to the patient’s body. The word gene therapy really defines the management of genetic information that is encased in the cells, however, in most recent procedures the available technology is closely related in adding new genetic information, and many researchers favor the term gene transfer rather than gene therapy to mirror the reason that the purpose of gene work cannot always be therapeutic.
Although the highly technical aspects of human gene therapy are somewhat complex, the basic concept is very straight forward. The goal of gene therapy is to correct mistakes that have occurred within the genetic material, or DNA, of the living cell. In very simple terms, DNA is often thought of as the "language" of the biological functioning of organisms. This language is organized by letters (nucleotide pairs), words (codons), sentences (genes), and books (genomes). Before being able to repair the damaged or defective genetic material, the location of the gene or genes causing the dysfunction in the individual must be determined.
Gene therapy gives people who suffer from genetic diseases a chance to lead a normal life. Dangerous diseases, such as AIDS, SCID, Thalassemia and ADA can be cured successfully. In September 5, 2006, two people with advanced melanoma received Gene therapy and they got recovery soon. This is a breakthrough in cancer gene therapy. Gene therapy uses patients own cells to cure diseases, and, therefore, no rejection to their bodies. Furthermore, patients could get permanent cure from gene therapy without recurrence.
In Part I, Alex, as the extremely vicious leader of a gang, is a 15-year-old arrogant hooligan without a grain of sympathy for his victims. He doesn't appear to rape, rob, beat or murder for money, valuables, sexual satisfaction or other tangible things. As we see early on in the Korova Milkbar, he is willing to spend every penny he has on drinks and snacks for old women, just ìso we'd have more of an incentiveÖfor some shop-crasting [thieving]î (8). Alex is depicted as being violent and sadistically evil simply for the experience of it, for the joy of it and not as a means to an end. He seems to gain some measure of aesthetic satisfaction out of involving himself in evil for evil's sake. He even sees his violence as a kind of art, which we see through his description of a favorite weapon. ìI for my own part had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva [razor] which, at that time, I could flash and shine artisticî (16). Over...
Gene therapy is a technique used in attempts to cure or prevent genetic diseases at the molecular level (basically at the source) by correcting what is wrong with defective genes, a good version of the defective gene is introduced into the existing cells. This technique is still considered experimental, only being done through clinical trials. This idea was first suggested during the 1950’s. The basic idea was “if the basses can be arranged incorrectly then why can’t they be rearranged in the correct way?”
To begin, Alex is one out of the four characters that reveals self-awareness broadly. Alex begins by stating, “What’s it going to be then, eh” (Burgess 1). The use of this quote explains to the reader that Alex is not only self-aware of himself, but he is careless, and he is an outlaw. Another quote that Alex states throughout the novel is, “O my brothers” (Burgess 5). “O my brothers” reve...
Gene therapy focuses on the replacement of defective genes with modified functioning genes. Many diseases are caused by a defective gene meaning the body is incapable of producing essential proteins or enzymes. In its simplest form, gene therapy aims to identify the defective gene and fix this gene with the replacement of a normal gene (Senn).
Both Alex and John Proctor live in highly oppressive societies from which they feel alienated, and therefore decide to rebel against. The futuristic setting of A Clockwork Orange is one of a constructive, depersonalized society where the government has far too much control over people’s lives. They are forced to live in strictly regimented communities, and their daily life is dreary. “Alex’s England is a socialized nightmare.'; (De Vitis, 106) It is because of this meaningless life that Alex chooses to rebel against his society, committing so many brutal acts of violence that he soon becomes desensitized to the horror he is creating. When questioned by his correctional officer as to why he acts this way, Alex replies “…badness is of the self, the one, the you or me. They of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow badness because they cannot allow they self… what I do, I do because I like to do it. (Burgess, 34) Alex fully
Humanity can be difficult to define. This is because it's hard to pinpoint a specific non-physical trait that differentiates humans from machines. Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, believes this trait is a person’s freedom to make conscious decisions. By taking away a person’s ability to choose between doing the right thing or the wrong thing, you also take away what makes them human. A Clockwork Orange creates a world documenting the decay of a person’s will to live and the loss of their humanity when their freedom of choice is taken away.
Alex is back to his old self again, thinking bad thoughts, crasting, and doing a bit of the ultra-violent. However, he quickly grows tired of his old lifestyle. When he comes to this realization, Alex says, “…now I felt this bolshy big hollow inside my plott, feeling very surprised too at myself. I knew what was happening, O my brothers. I was like growing up.” Even though he as regained the freedom of choice, can choose badness if he wants to, Alex exerts his freedom in a new way, he chooses goodness. He is truly cured.
You might guess it’s a custom dreamed up by a modern-day, real-life Willy Wonka, but people have been chewing gum, in various forms, since ancient times. There’s evidence that some northern Europeans were chewing birch bark tar 9,000 years ago, possibly for enjoyment as well as such medicinal purposes as relieving toothaches. The ancient Maya chewed a substance called chicle, derived from the sapodilla tree, as a way to quench thirst or fight hunger, according to “Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas” by Jennifer P. Mathews. The Aztecs also used chicle and even had rules about its social acceptability. Only kids and single women were allowed to chew it in public, notes Mathews. Married women and widows could chew it privately to freshen their breath, while men could chew it in secret to clean their teeth.