The portrayal of violence in the novel
The clockwork orange by Anthony burgess is perhaps one of his best works. The theme of the work which revolves around the contemporary society is depicted with a tinge of hyperbolism and satire. The plot of the novel is set in the contemporary modern society which has stooped down to the level of becoming extremely violent. The plot revolves around a youth named Alex who is to engross in the violence and is addicted to drugs. The rise in the criminal activities in the society has made it a place ruled by criminals and the law enforcement too seems too tyrannical. The novel revolves around the protagonist and projects the society based on the interaction that he has with the society. The depiction of the violent crimes in the novel are graphic and presents the extremes of the dubious nature of the youngsters and the crimes performed by them in the drugged stupor. It does not only stick to the deviant thinking of the teenagers but also of the inhumane approaches of the government in the treatment towards the criminals. The depiction of the society is the satire on the deterioration of the mindset of the people in the society. The novel explores the multifaceted society through the different kinds of violence against the different people. The physical violence against the different victims in the society or the psychological violence against Alex is well depicted in the novel. One of the prominent feature of the novel is that the violence is shown as both the problem and the solution.
To understand violence in the social sense, it is a display of harmful behavior towards a person, related or unrelated to the perpetrator, provoked or unprovoked, negatively affecting the life of the victim. The representation of the violence in the different contexts in the movie are of two different kinds. The violence that Alex practices is a type of violence which is negative for the society as he robs the people and hurt them in unforeseen ways. The society in which he commits these deeds is also to be questioned as the people are not humane to help each other and it makes the law enforcement difficult. One of the other feature in novel is the ways in which the doctors treat the different patients as the test subjects in the totalitarian society is a point to be heeded on. The depiction of the ways in which the Alex treats his victims and the ways in which he is treated at the hands of Dr. Ludovico does not have much difference. There cannot exist any parameters to understand the difference between the two kinds of the violence experienced by the two people in the society. The violence against Alex is quite different to the one that he dishes out to the people. The rise in the amount of violence in the society is the result of the overall sociological constructs that affect the individuals in the society.
The different types of violence depicted
The rise in the teenage angst and the lack of the polite behavior was shown because of the indulgence in the different types of drugs. The lack of the moral behavior along with the violent behavior of Alex and his group shows a degradation in the society. The violence that is done by Alex is shown and evident in his wants to commit the crimes and his obsession with blood shed. There are various representations of the vileness in the behavior of the teens but none surpasses the one where they rape the wife F. Alexander. The obsession of Alex with the crimes has also been shown in relation to his affinity towards classical music. The gravity of the crimes they commit are no comprehended by the young teenagers as they focus on establishing their gang in the crime ridden city. The repercussion of the crimes they commit is presented when Alex is caught for raping the woman who died due to the shock of the crime. The barbarity of the actions committed by Alex take the theme of violence to another level. The portrayal of Alex makes the reader believe that he should be punished for the crimes that he committed.
The torments that Alex goes through at the hands of the doctor in the prison makes the reader sympathize with him. The mental trauma he is put in is unfathomable and the torments done to the criminals show the lack of the presence of the human rights in the society on the other hand the crimes by the doctor also shows hoe the society treat the people. The government policies and the correctional ways used by the law enforcement helps in the understanding that the action of Alex were due to the social acculturation. The violence was the way of life in the society in the lack of the human rights that the society had. The defense mechanism and the importance of the power for the establishment of a social [position in the society was one of the reasons that the youth took to violence. Therefore, it can be seen the story line that the criminals were not the only ones who were violent but the society as a whole was drowned in the brutal behavior.
The treatment of Doctor against Alex after he commits the murder shows the behaviors which guide him to perform the actions that he has. The actions of the doctor who chooses a strong psychological method to subdue the thoughts of Alex. The behavior which makes him defenseless as he does not have a core belief on himself. The torment of taking a person from them makes a person vulnerable to multiple thoughts and affects the overall behavior of the individual. The behavior of Alex on the other hand is completely sociopathic coming from a twisted mindset, still restrain should be the solution than manipulation.
The role of society in shaping violent behavior
The representation of the different kinds of the violence in the movie are in way interrelated. The crimes committed by Alex seem physical in nature but in the long term they have an extreme negative impact on the psyche of the victim. This was seen in the case of the wife of F. Alexander who died due to the trauma of the rape. The novel also portrays the decadence in the society in the form of the actions of the teenagers which is the representation of the teenage culture of the contemporary age. The rise of the teenage gangs and the atrocities that they commit are the representation of the prediction of the future of the present rise of the crimes in the society.
The youth forming gangs shows a deep insight into the mindset of the human as a whole as the novel shows that the human arte inherently bad. The human mind will always be bent towards criminal activities is what the author represents to show in the novel. Be the young children or the old doctor, the human mind is conditioned to be evil. The representation of the two kinds of violence also shows that one kind of violence begets other. The power dominance also has an important role to play in the representation of the violence. Alex wanted to show his domination by establishing himself using his power and the law enforcement practiced their power by psychological manipulation of criminals. The violence on Alex is more gruesome in certain ways as it manipulates his freewill of the freedom of actions. After the experiment he becomes the ideal citizen of the society but he becomes a shadow of the person he used to be. The representation of the violence ranging from the psychological to physical have been shown to have a similar experience on the various people.
The violent behavior is not just the result of the people being affected by the sociological constructs in the society but also due to the overall behavior of the individuals. The governance plays an exemplary role in the setting an important ideal for the society. The corruption in the government corrupts the society. In the same way the violence rampant in the law enforcement forces the people in the society to depend on the violence to defend themselves in the society. The confidence of the people in the society in such a violent society is dependent on the power dominance. Alex has one of the major issues of the power domination in the society as he chooses to defend himself using violence and building a position in the society. It is also seen that if the violence is taken from Alex he becomes a good man but is not the person he used to be. The psychological violence that is taken into consideration also has a very negative influence on the people as a whole. The theme of violence in the novel therefore goes on to show the moral degradation of the society to the point the people have resorted to violence for minimalist view. The sadistic pleasure that the violence gives is much desired by the people. It is seen from the various themes of the novel that the characters are inherently vile and gruesome hiding in the mask of good. It is seen in the form of F. Alexander who chooses to torment Alex when he recognizes him rather than letting him go. This shows the very truth of the society where the best of the people will succumb to violence to have revenge on the people in the society.
The impact of violence on individuals and society
Society thrives on the concept of morality. Majority of the society wears the veil of morality though majority of people are somewhere down the line immoral in some aspects. Some people accept the flaws and darker sides of their personalities and embrace these aspects as a part of their existence but majority wear the veil of fake morality and survive living a dual life, one which they present to the world and one which they carry in themselves. Here is the difference between Alex and the rest of the world. This even makes Alex better than the rest of the world according to many critics. When the world inflicts pain on Alex and enjoy sadistic pleasure by the hell that Alex goes through, on the outer face they maintain the gentleman image that is necessary to survive in the society. On the other hand Alex is an outlaw and proud about it. He has understood the true nature of the society and of the so called civilized people living in the society, therefore is not even sorry for the various criminal activities that he commits and feels proud about them. Alex is the mirror image of many criminals who started with a dream, a dream that if protected by other individuals would blossom very beautifully. However that dream is killed by the other individuals who comes across, only to interrupt, to destroy and to vanquish. The killing of a dream is also a killing of an individual. The individual depends on various subtle factors like beliefs, dreams, desires and philosophy as integral part of the identity of the individual. When these are attacked and destroyed the individual loses their identity and also loses all hope, they become essentially against the fake “morality” and carelessly engage in criminal activities as a part of their quest to end the double standards of the people.
Alex is sexually abused by a man older than him, he is not cared enough by his own parents, and he is tortured, jailed, betrayed and pained. Every possible immoral and unethical activities are done to him by the society. Hence he desires not to be a part of this so called “civilized society”. Whenever there is a part of Alex that tries to make him better, he is again suppressed by other people, thus making him the beast that he is. Murders, crimes, rapes, robbery, vandalism, forced sexual violence, drugs and whatever is considered to be bad and unsocial by the society is now embraced by Alex as a part of his individuality. Alex engages in violence and crime because of the joy and happiness he gets out of it, however his crime partner Georgie mostly engages in such activities because of monetary gains. While reading the book it becomes a part of the experience of the reader to go through the nastiness within them, and understand the various different faces of human behavior.
The rise of teenage gangs
Another theme that has been explored in the book and has been combined with the aspect of violence is the theme of free will. What is free will and to what level free will is authorized and can be claimed is a debate for many. Violence and free will is used as a theme in the novel, and Alex uses free will to do whatever he feels like to enjoy life in the way he feels. The society has built him in a way that free will is sadistic according to him. His free will constitutes of arson, violence, rape, murder and similar activities. This free will is essentially against the standards of the world and therefore he is outlaw and criminal.
The portrayal of the life of Alex is very sad and unfortunate when the reader delves in deep. The people whom he trusted and depended upon had been the ones who have ditched him and made him go through immense pain. The title clockwork orange is often been described as the oxymoron as the life of Alex is. He ultimately comes out as a person who breaks the shackles of the fake moralities of the world, however the path he chooses is wrong and causes havoc to the people around him.
Therefore it can be concluded from the above discussion that violence plays a major role in the thematic representations in Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. It can be seen that the different kinds of violence exist in the plot lines of the work. One of the major issues in the context is that the people in the society are naturally violent and full of hatred for each other. There are two kinds of violence shown in the work of Burgess, the physical by Alex and psychological by the doctors. The representation of the different kinds of violence helps in establishing the mindset of the people in the society. The people in the society are affected by the different violent behaviors of the youths and the way in which they resort to the violence against the people show their dubious nature. The society itself has planned a number of violent ways to change the people in the society using the different violent measures. Therefore the theme of brutal violence is an important factor for the representation of the storyline in the novel. The violence though gruesome and hyperbolized show the dark side of the society and the way it functions.
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