FREE ESSAY ON CLOCKWORK ORANGE

CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Anthony Burgess's View That a Lack of Free Choice is Spiritually Condemning as Evident
in A Clockwork Orange
In all of my reading, I have come to the conclusion that Anthony Burgess is the greatest
literary
genius of the twentieth century. His masterpiece, A Clockwork Orange, is unrivaled in
depth,
insight, and innovation. The novel is a work of such quality, such perfection, that it
seems to be
written by a literary demigod. The novel's main theme deals with free choice and
spiritual
freedom. More specifically, [The ethical promise that 'A man who cannot choose ceases to
be
man'] can be taken as both the explicit and implicit themes of the novel. Anthony
Burgess
expresses his view that no matter how good one's actions are, unless one has free moral
choice,
he is spiritually damned. The novel revolves around one criminally minded teen, Alex,
whose
world consists of rape, murder, and ruthless violence. Alex is eventually setup by his
droogs
(friends) and is arrested and jailed. After some time in jail, Alex is placed in a new
rehabilitating
program that uses electro-shock therapy, new medicines, and exposure to violent film.
The
program breaks all that Alex holds dear and builds him up with a new artificial
conscience. This
part of the novel presents the reader with a new, reformed Alex, an Alex without free
will or
freedom of choice, an Alex who has become a victim. Burgess considers this lack of
freedom to
be spiritually murderous and terribly wrong. Burgess knows that it is better to choose to
be evil,
than to be forced to be good. Alex is tormented by his new state of oppression. He is
incapable of
making any choice; he must always do what is good. Alex is then taken under the wing of a
writer
who is fighting the oppressive government. The writer greatly publicizes the oppressive
rehabilitation the state put Alex through. But Alex is still tormented by his lack of
choice, so
tormented, that he even attempts suicide. While Alex is in the hospital following his
suicide
attempt, the tragedy of his oppression is highly publicized, in an attempt to stop public
criticism,
the state fixed Alex. He once again has freedom of choice. Through these series of
events,
Burgess shows another conviction of his. Burgess believes that totalitarian governments
take
away one's individual choice and therefore suffocate his soul. The state in A Clockwork
Orange is
a general parallel to any overly oppressive or totalitarian government. Alex is a
representative of
the common man. Burgess' attack on behaviorists and on totalitarian states is obvious.
By
showing what torment Alex went through when rehabilitated by the state, Burgess shows
his
strong sentiment against governments taking away the choice of individuals, and
therefore
condemning the individual's spirit. Burgess's strong convictions on the subject of
individual moral
freedom seems odd and even backwards to some. But it is incredibly right when one grasps
its full
meaning. Burgess replies...No matter how awful Alex's actions become, he should be
allowed to
choose them". To be forced to do good is truly wrong. If one is forced to do right, and
he does
what is right, it is not out of any ethical or moral conviction. When one does what he is
forced to,
he is merely a programmed pawn of the state. He becomes sub-human, he is merely a
robotic
existence. But when one has choice, he is an individual. When one who is free, chooses
good, it is
out of a moral conscience and good intent. He chooses to do good. The good done through
free
choice is infinitely better than the forced good of one who is oppressed into morality.
Burgess,
through his use of satire, rebukes the suppression of freedom. Anthony Burgess is
extremely clear
in his message in A Clockwork Orange. His convictions on free choice and oppression are
clearly
stated and hidden in the dark satire of the violent tale. Obviously Burgess's feeling is
that there is
potentially more good in a man who deliberately chooses evil, than in one who is forced
to be
good . This masterpiece grows stronger and deeper in meaning every time one reads it.
Burgess
repeatedly reveals his powerful beliefs that it is even the most violent crimes are
trivial when
compared to the heinous crime of oppression. Burgess not only considers moral oppression
to be
a wrong against one's civil rights, but he also considers it to be a destructive wrong
against one's
spiritual existence. This book delivers this message so powerfully, so overwhelmingly,
that it
leaves the reader in a state of awe and profound musing for some time after the book is
read. This
book demands, and commands, one's full attention and thought. Burgess seems to be
inspired on a
somewhat holy mission. His war is against moral oppression and the governments causing
it. His
weapon, a powerful one, is his incredible satiric writing ability.