A Clockwork Orange: A Summary Highlighting Alex's Journey

Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange is a mind-boggling dystopian novel exploring free will's nature and how its absence can affect society. Burgess's novel vividly touches on violence, rebellion, sex, and free will.

Overall, the book has received enormous praise for its impeccable exploration of human nature. Anthony Burgess's innovative language style, mainly the futuristic slang "Nadsat," enhances the novel's effect and makes it stand out.

The first edition of A Clockwork Orange was published in 1962. It was not a popular book until Stanley Kubrick's adaptation in 1971, in which Malcolm McDowell acted as Alex. Now, it appears in the best book listings. The most recent is the 2022 listing of the Big Jubilee Read of 70 books by Commonwealth authors.

An Overview of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange is a futuristic novel about a dystopian society under totalitarian rule. The main concern is the violence portrayed by the conflict between individuals and the state.

The youth are violent. Police officers are punishing and locking them up. It's an issue that captures the attention of government officials. They introduce techniques that snatch free will out of criminals to curb it. After the opposition intervention and public outcry with the help of the media, there is a chance for redemption.

Apart from being the most famous novel Anthony Burgess wrote, it's also considered a terrifying and marvelous book. Time Magazine described it as 'that rare thing in English letters: a philosophical novel.'

The novel was published in 1962 and received mixed reviews before becoming an underground hit. Today, the linguistic originality and the questions raised to counter immorality in the book (and the film) are more relevant than before.

Inspiration Behind the Writing

The Clockwork Orange novel draws inspiration from the change in the youth culture in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Burgess had just returned to England from the colonial teaching posts in Brunei and Malaya in 1959. Unlike his youth days, he noted a change in how the youth behaved.

There was the rise of milk bars and pop music and the young engaging in Teddy Boy violence. By reading the novel, it seems the English writer Anthony Burgess saw the coming of the Mods and Mockers.

The aggression in the book comes from the author's personal experience. His first wife, Llewela Jones, was raped in 1944 by a gang of American soldiers in London.

More inspiration is also evident in the literary context. It resembles dystopian books such as The Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley. You will also note the same approach when you read the 1984 book summary. His other book includes "Here Comes Everybody: An Introduction to James Joyce for the Ordinary Reader (1965)".

Based on Burgess's notes and comments, this book warns of 'the ultimate totalitarian nightmare' and 'the dream of liberalism going mad.'

The 'Nadsat' language used in the book hails from Russia. 'Nadsat' means 'teen' in Russia. There is also a mixture of rhyming slang and Romany phrases. Overall, the author intended to provide a way to learn some Russian vocabulary with little effort by reading the book.

The Successful Film Adaptation by Stanley Kubrick

The first film adaptation happened in 1965 when Andy Warhol produced his factory film Vinyl. The movie did not reach the masses as intended. Later, Kubrick's film put the novel on the map in 1971.

Before his death, Burgess also wrote his dramatic adaptation of the book A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music. Most of its reviews downgrade it, but you will still find it in theatres across the globe. That also tells us that no one could outdo what Kubrick did.

Other novels attesting to Anthony Burgess's writing prowess are Nothing Like the Sun, The Wanting Seed, and Earthly Powers. Check out the International Anthony Burgess Foundation collections to learn more about the books and the author.

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A Clockwork Orange Short Summary

Before we get into what the chapters hold, here is a summary of Alex's adventurous journey in a society with desolated morals and plunged into turmoil.

The Dystopian World

Anthony Burgess introduces readers to an anti-utopian world where a group of friends form a gang that engages in juvenile violence. The leader of these droogs is Alex, a young lad and protagonist. They skip school and spend their nights engaging in ultra-violence activities such as robbery and rape.

In this future society, the government imposes totalitarianism on its people. It attempts to control crime through aversion therapy (Ludovico's technique). That makes the subject feel unwell at the mere thought of committing a crime and other forms of aggression.

After being betrayed by his friends, Alex is eventually arrested and jailed for breaking into an older woman's house and attacking her (the cat woman). The attack leads to her death. While in jail, he agrees to undergo aversion therapy in exchange for his freedom.

That eventually leaves him harmless and unable to commit any form of violence. He is also unable to defend himself whenever he is attacked, in addition to disliking classical music that he used to listen to. Later, Alex returns to society only to face the wrath of his former victims.

What he goes through at this point raises questions on the morality of using techniques. Why? Because it's a method that deprives people of their free will and control their behavior.

Alex's Alteration

After serving two years in prison, Alex is released from jail after undergoing a successful aversion therapy that lasts for two weeks. He goes home only to find out he is no longer welcome. At this point, he cannot harm anyone or even defend himself.

He heads to the streets, where he meets former victims who take revenge on him. After a beat-up by a former friend and a rival, now a police officer, he finds himself seeking shelter in a writer's house. The writer is also another victim of Alex's former violent tendencies.

After the writer learns who Alex is, he uses him to campaign against the government's use of the Ludovico technique on prisoners. Since the writer also knows he is hosting his late wife's attacker, how he uses him to further his political agenda becomes an egoistic motive.

Alex attempts to commit suicide after the writer subjects him to torture. Later, he is saved and hospitalized, leading to his transformation to his older self. He also cooperates with government officials to turn around the lousy image painted by the media for using the Ludovico technique. At this point, he also has no problem listening to his favorite Beethoven music.

After getting a new job from the government, forming a group of droogs, and meeting one of his changed friends, he starts to question his violent tendencies. That makes him a better human, completely changing his ferocious ways.

The Ending Dispute

Several editions of A Clockwork Orange were published after the original one was released in 1962. Anthony Burgess included 21 chapters in the first edition, divided into three parts. In the end, Alex transforms and leaves his old violent ways. That is why the chapter numbers are significant in the book.

The American version of the novel omits the last chapter. Today, however, you can get a restored edition with all the chapters. The American publisher, Burgess, approached him and told him that the US audience would not resonate with the last chapter.

It's about Alex turning his life around. According to the publisher, Americans would not like to read or watch such a scene when the film ends. The publisher insisted on removing the final chapter, and after Burgess agreed, the American edition was published with 20 chapters.

The motive was to end the story on a darker note, where the former droogs' leader gets treated to reverse the effects of the Ludovico technique. After that, he becomes violent again and forms a new droog crew. That is the kind of ending that would appeal to the American audience.

Kubrick's film omits the final chapter since, according to Stanley and the American publisher, the chapter was unconvincing and inconsistent with the rest of the book. An interesting fact about Kubrick is that he read the chapter after writing the film's screenplay and did not give it much consideration.

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Setting in A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange novel setting is in a futuristic region in England. The region is a miserable and violent landscape characterized by neglected buildings, dark alleyways, and graffiti.

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The streets are packed with people, cars, and other means of transportation. Similarly, the environment is polluted and decayed.

The setting changes as the protagonist moves to diverse locations, such as when Alex goes to prison and the Ludovico Institute. The prison has a harsh environment, while the Institute is more sterile and clinical. Generally, the setting offers an image of a dystopian world.

It carries the inspiration behind the book's writing to mirror the youth culture change Anthony Burgess witnessed after returning to England.

The Plot of A Clockwork Orange

Part 1

Using a mixture of English and non-English words (Nadsat), Alex and his hoodlums are catching up at the Korova milk bar, drinking 'milk-plus.' It's milk mixed with drugs that gives them the psyche to commit violence.

After the drink, Alex and his friends, Dim, Pete, and Georgie, decide to cause havoc in the streets at night. They end up beating an elderly homeless man. Later, they encounter a rival gang, where Alex confronts their leader, Billyboy. They fight in a group before heading to the country in a stolen car. They then rob a cottage owned by Alexander, a married writer and opposition politician.

While there, they rape his wife and destroy his A Clockwork Orange manuscript. They then head back to the milk bar, where Alex attacks Dim for disrespecting a woman singing an operatic message. After parting ways with his friends, he heads home and plays Beethoven at top volume before resting for the day.

The next day, he skips school. Later, P.R. Deltoid, a post-corrective adviser, visits him and warns him of his behavior. After the visit, Alex goes to a record store, meets two preteen ladies, drugs, and rapes them. That evening, his friends visited him, and George challenged his leadership. He demands that they should focus on high-value targets.

Alex fights them to regain leadership status before agreeing to Georgie's robbing plan. They head to an older woman's home (the cat woman) and break into the house. Alex confronts the woman, who attacks him as the cats support her. He manages to knock the woman unconscious, hears the police siren, and decides to escape.

Dim decides to get revenge on Alex by striking him in the face. The rest of the droogs run away, leaving him to be arrested. While in police custody, he learns that the cat woman is dead.

Part 2

Alex is serving a 14-year sentence at the State Jail. Part two begins when he has already spent two years in prison. His parents have already informed him that one of his friends, Georgie, died in a robbery gone wrong. While in prison, he works for the prison's chaplain to play music on the stereo during the Sunday service.

The chaplain tells Alex of a procedure that makes criminals stop crime and hostility. Later, Alex and his cellmates beat up a new troublesome prisoner to death. The other cellmates blame him. That's when he volunteers for the trial treatment and informs the chaplain about it.

The Minister of the Interior visits the prison to find a guinea pig for the experiment. Alex volunteers for Ludovico's technique in exchange for his release. Dr. Brodsky and Dr. Branom conduct aversion therapy, which starts with injections, followed by restraining him to a chair. His eyes are made to stay wide open as the doctors put drugs into his eyes while his head is connected to electrodes.

He is forced to watch violent films as the physician continues to inject drugs into his eyes. The violence starts to sicken him, but that does not stop the doctors from subjecting him to the torturous treatment. One of the films has footage of the Nazis, with the background music being the Fifth Symphony by Beethoven.

That makes Alex hate classical music since he relates it to ferocity. After two weeks of the treatment, he is used to demonstrate the technique's effectiveness. He fails to attack a man who is kicking him in front of high-ranking officials in the government. He also humiliates himself in front of a scantily dressed woman.

The chaplain protests the stripping of the prisoner's free will, but the Minister of the Interior counters him. Alex is released from prison after the officials are happy with the results.

Part 3

Upon returning home as a free man, Alex discovers that his parents have rented his room to a lodger. He goes to the streets and resolves to head to the library to research how to commit suicide quickly and painlessly. He then meets the old scholar they beat initially, and he recognizes him.

Together with his friends, they beat up Alex, who now could not defend himself since the treatment made him harmless. Later, the police who save him turn out to be Dim, his former friend, and Billy Boy, the former leader of the gang they fought with at the novel's beginning.

They take him to the countryside, beat him as a way to revenge, and leave him there. He later finds himself in Alexander's cottage unknowingly. Alexander is a writer and politician in the opposition with a book entitled A Clockwork Orange. It's a controversial book that opposes the use of aversion therapy.

He does not recognize Alex at first. So, he takes care of him and hopes to use him as his political tool to demonstrate the effects of this reclamation treatment. Later, he hears Alex singing the same song (Singing in the Rain) he sang when they attacked his home and raped his wife.

He becomes furious and plans on revenge. He later drugs him as he is interrogating him about the Ludovico technique and locks him in a room upstairs. Alex wakes up to find himself locked in a room. He hears Beethoven's music playing, and that makes him sick. When it becomes completely unbearable, Alex jumps out of the window in a suicide attempt.

The Redemption

The jump does not kill him, and that is how he finds himself in the hospital. He wakes up on the hospital bed with a cast almost all over his body. A blood transfusion has already been done to counter the treatment he got.

The Minister of the Interior later visits Alex and informs him that the opposition leader has been arrested and put away for Alex's protection. He is offered a government job after he agrees to be on the government's side.

After that, the media joins them and plays classical music. That is when Alex realizes that his violent impulses are back. As the music plays, he daydreams of orgiastic violence as English men and women clap. As he daydreams while the music plays, he says, "I was cured alright."

Alex returns to the streets and gets new droog members (Rick, Len, and Bully). At this time, he is also working at musical recording archives and has started to become less interested in ferocity. After meeting one of his former hoodlums and old friend, Pete, who is now married and reformed, Alex decides he is a grown-up. He starts to work toward becoming productive.

A Clockwork Orange Chapter Summary

Part 1

• Chapter 1: Violent Alex and his droogs plan how they will cause havoc at night. He narrates about crime and violence to his friends at the Korova milk bar. They assault an old scholar and rob local stores. Later, they go to another bar, where police question them.
• Chapter 2: Alex and the droogs continue to escalate their violent tendencies. They bring trouble everywhere they go. At night, they fight with the Billy Boy's gang. After that, they beat a few strangers, steal a car, and head to the country to attack homeowners.
• Chapter 3: Alex has a contradicting personality. His type of music is classical, but he loves juvenile violence. He associates this type of music (especially Beethoven) with hostility. He also likes to control everyone around him, including his parents.
• Chapter 4: A post-corrective officer visits Alex in the morning. That night, he had a dream about his friends controlling him. After that, he reveals his true nature when he drugs and rapes two preteen girls.
• Chapter 5: Alex subjects his authority even to his parents because he likes to control people. No one dares to challenge him, but his friends do when they tell him they have had enough. He realizes how much he hates losing control and relates that to his dream.
• Chapter 6: Alex's violent tendencies extend to his friends, and that's when they decide to take revenge. They set him up to be arrested after breaking into a home. He is arrested and taken into custody.
• Chapter 7: The police beat up Alex. He decides to confess to his night crimes. While in the cell, he dreams about retribution. His fate is, however, decided when he learns that the woman they attacked (the cat woman) is dead.

Part 2

• Chapter 1: It's two years since Alex was jailed. He has a 14-year sentence to serve for the murder of the cat woman. During the Sunday service, he works with the prison's chaplain as a music stereo player controller. He fakes being interested in the Bible and listening to the music during chaplain sermons. The chaplain explains Ludovico's technique to him, and Alex becomes interested.
• Chapter 2: A new troublesome prisoner arrives. Alex, together with other cellmates, beat the new inmate to death, but the other cellmates blame him for it. That's when the reclamation treatment is recommended to Alex to curb his violent tendencies. He volunteers for it when the Minister of the Interior visits the prison.
• Chapter 3: Alex begins the experimental procedure to cure his violent nature. Dr. Branom, Dr. Brodsky's assistant, explains what is expected. After eating and contemplating what he will do after prison, he gets an injection that weakens him.
• Chapter 4: Alex begins the treatment. Dr. Brodsky forces him to watch violent films as he injects drugs into his eyes. Alex breaks down and screams at the doctor to stop. Dr. Brodsky brushes him off and says that is just the start of the treatment.
• Chapter 5: Alex's trauma is increasing every time he watches the films. The effects of the treatment are taking impact even when he is not watching the films. He feels sick every time he tries to become violent.
• Chapter 6: Alex feels enraged when he watches a violent film with Beethoven's music in the background. After a few days, doctors stop injecting him with drugs, but he is still affected when he thinks of his violent tendencies or tries to commit them.
• Chapter 7: Alex finishes treatment, and he is prepared for release. Before his release, he is subjected to violent actions to see if the treatment is working. The chaplain complained, but the officials present during the test were happy with the results.

Part 3

• Chapter 1: Alex is now a free man trying to recapture an everyday life. He stops at a cafe and sees pictures in the newspaper promoting aversion therapy, which he dislikes. After that, he decides to go home and discovers a lodger has rented his room.
• Chapter 2: Alex returns to the record store before heading to the milk bar. He does not enjoy staying at either place. The milk makes him hallucinate. He decides to visit the library, hoping to find a way to commit suicide. He then meets the old scholar they beat a few years ago. The older man takes his revenge together with his colleagues. At this time, Alex cannot fight back.
• Chapter 3: Police arrive at the scene to rescue Alex. He then realizes that it's Dim and Billy Boy. When they know that he is the victim, they take him to the countryside, torture him, and leave him there.
• Chapter 4: Alex unknowingly goes to Alexander's cottage during the night. At this time, Alexander, a politician in the opposition, has a book titled A Clockwork Orange, which opposes reclamation treatment. He recognizes Alex from the newspapers at first.
• Chapter 5: The opposition politician and writer discovers who Alex is. He takes revenge by trying to use him to oppose the government's strategy of taking free will from people. Together with his companions, they lock him in a room upstairs and torture him by playing the classical genre. Alex jumps out in an attempt to kill himself.
• Chapter 6: Alex wakes in the hospital and realizes the therapy's effects no longer affect him. The Minister of the Interior and the media visit him to make amends. He discovers he is cured when not affected by Beethoven's music.
• Chapter 7: With the violent tendencies back, Alex forms a new group of droogs. He also gets a job from the government. He, however, finds out that he has grown tired of being violent. He later meets Pete, an old friend and former crime partner, who is now settled. He desires such a life and begins working on being productive again.

Characters in A Clockwork Orange

Alex

The protagonist in A Clockwork Orange is Alex. He is a violent and charismatic young man passionate about classical music. He is also the leader of the droogs and gets excited when partaking in criminal acts.

His actions tremendously drive the novel's plot, specifically his participation in violent attacks and his resulting punishment and rehabilitation. His nicknames include 'Your Humble Narrator,' 'Alexander the Large' (what he calls himself when raping the preteen girls), and DeLarge (nickname in the 1971 movie).

Dim

Dim is one of the members of Alex's gang. He is physically huge and not as intellectual as Alex and betrays Alex. He participates in the gang's ruthless attacks, contributing to the plot's conflict. The key motivations of Dim are the desire for belonging and acceptance within the group. He also prefers using a lengthy bike chain as his weapon.

Pete

Pete is also a member of Alex's hoodlums. He is rational and calmer than all the members, with a thin face and wears spectacles. He is a neutral fellow since he does not take sides when the rest of his friends fight amongst each other.

Even though he plays a minor role in the plot development, his counterbalancing acts on the gangs' recklessness go a long way. He later reforms and meets Alex in the final chapter. His transformation inspires Alex to renounce his violent tendencies.

Georgie

Georgie (also George or Georgie Boy) is the second-in-command in the Droogs group. He has a strong desire for power and control and usually attempts to assert dominance over the other members. He contributes to the plot's conflicts, such as participating in the gang's violent attacks, and leads a rebellion against Alex. He later dies in a robbery gone wrong while Alex is serving time in the State Jail.

F. Alexander

F. Alexander is a political rebel with a book named A Clockwork Orange. He is hell-bent on exposing the government's unethical techniques of controlling the population. Alex and his droogs raped his wife, which makes him deeply affected by those events.

When he meets Alex two years later, he plans to use him as a political tool to protest against the use of the reclamation treatment. He is later locked away for Alex's safety.

Minister of the Interior

The Minister of Interior is a power-hungry and corrupt government officer. He wants to maintain control and authority over the population, creating unethical policies. One of these policies is the Ludovico Technique performed on Alex.

Alexander opposes the Minister of Interior's strategies, which develops a tense relationship. Alex refers to him as the Minister of Interior or Inferior.

Dr. Brodsky

Dr. Brodsky is Dr. Branom's colleague. He is the co-developer of the Ludovico's technique. He does not say much and seems quite on the side.

Dr. Branom

He is a scientist who, together with dr Brodsky, developed the Ludovico technique. He appears to be friendly to Alex at first before subjecting him to torture.

Billy Boy

In the beginning, Billy Boy leads a rival gang that fights with Alex's droogs, ruining their relationship. After Alex is out of prison, he meets Billy and Dim, who are now policemen rescuing him from the old scholar's friends. They take him out of town for a thorough beating before leaving him there.

P. R. Deltoid

He is a social worker who rehabilitates criminals. He has a task to watch Alex and keep him on the right path. He, however, doesn't know the right way to deal with people. After Alex gets arrested and beaten by the police, Deltoid spits on his face.

Prison Chaplain

He is the first person to question the techniques used to convert criminals. He is the only one who advocates for free will and is genuinely concerned about Alex, who, on the other hand, calls him 'Charlie Chaplain,' 'prison Charlie,' or 'Chaplin.'

Prison Governor

He is the one who heads the State Jail. He allows Alex to volunteer as the first person to undergo the Ludovico technique.

Cat Woman

In the movie, her name is Miss Weathers. Cat woman is a name given to her because she lived alone with cats. Alex breaks into her house, and she threatens him. She fights with Alex, ordering her cats to join, but he can fight them off, and the woman rebukes that. She later gets a fatal blow from Alex, which kills her later.

Themes in A Clockwork Orange

Violence

The entire story of A Clockwork Orange revolves around violence. For instance, Alex's droogs engage in violent acts from the novel's start. Alex is violently betrayed by his mates and taken to prison, where he is made to view violent scenes in the Ludovico Technique. He is later released, and several people severely beat him up, which makes him hospitalized.

Violent tendencies also exist in society. Alex is influencing his friends to commit robbery, beat up people, and rape. Those in the upper class also show that they can be as violent as Alex or even take it further. A few examples we can witness here include:

• Doctors want to cure Alex's ferocious behavior, but they use a torturous method to do so.
• After he goes free, he meets those he wronged initially, and they all decide to take revenge.

The contradiction in society is that it permits some people to be ruthless while punishing others for the same. For example:

• Alex is a violent youth who undergoes the Ludovico technique to tame his violent impulses.
• The police are allowed to beat up people after an arrest. This is evident when Alex is in police custody. Also, after being rescued by Billy Boy (a former rival gang leader) and Dim, who entered the police force, the two decide to beat him up as revenge.
• The government allows criminals to enter the police force. Dim and Billy Boy were formerly criminals before joining the men in uniform.
• The media, at first, praises aversion therapy because while it's something violent, it also appears to be the best route to stop criminals from engaging in violent activities.

Burgess tries to show in A Clockwork Orange that society can condone violence, depending on the subject. He also portrays how violent tendencies are part of human nature.

Free Will vs. Order in the Society

Another prevalent theme in A Clockwork Orange is the concept of choice and the repercussions of being denied the ability to make those choices. At first, we see a rebellious Alex who has no remorse for what he does. He is a lawbreaker who chooses what to do since he has free will.

When he undergoes aversion therapy while in jail, the violent tendencies are no more. However, he is stripped of his free will. That is evident when being beaten in the streets, where he cannot defend himself. A few notable points here are:

• The treatment 'cures' violence, but it also makes criminals sick whenever they think of being a savage.
• The chaplain is concerned about how the method removes the ability to make choices without being forced. He questions the results after seeing how Alex has transformed.
• Alex becomes 'a clockwork orange,' which means he appears to be an average human on the outside but mechanical on the inside.

F. Alexander is writing A Clockwork Orange, which describes Alex's situation. However, he conflicts between free will and order when his attitude and behavior toward Alex change. When he discovers that Alex's freedom of choice is what made him rape his wife, he decides to torture him.

That is how he changes from a man who believes in the freedom to choose to force order by making the aversion therapy victim go through what affects him.

As much as we may not like to go the violent road, being unable to choose is equally dangerous. Alex shows he cannot defend himself whenever he encounters revenge from those he wronged at the novel's beginning.

In the end, Alex chooses to leave the violent life behind. He decides without the influence of forceful techniques. Burgess is simply trying to portray the importance of free will and how it should balance with striving for an orderly society.

Good vs. Evil

The novel explores the aspect of good and evil and how they are interconnected. Anthony Burgess demonstrates that as much as we would like the good to reign, the evil nature in humans is also vital. Alex and his droogs are morally reprehensible, and that is what they want to do with their lives.

As much as no one likes to be violated, choosing violent tendencies is part of being human. When Alex undergoes the Ludovico technique, he changes to become good, which also makes him inferior. The goodness in him is not a matter of choice but rather an instilled behavior.

Choosing what to do is a crucial part of human life. According to Burgess, you cannot chase away the bad by trying to condition people. It must be a choice that people make. We should know how to manage violent tendencies by knowing when to allow them and when to suppress them.

Loyalty and Betrayal

The book A Clockwork Orange powerfully shows different aspects of loyalty and betrayal. Alex requires that his droogs be loyal to him without question. He declares himself as their de facto leader and does not entertain any form of disloyalty or rebellion. Blinded by his perception, he also thinks the droogs know he is loyal to them.

He extends his dictatorship to his parents, thinking their acceptance demonstrates loyalty. How he treats his friends makes them oppose him before betraying him later. He does not want to hear any suggestion or contradiction, so he reacts with hostility when his friends offer other ideas or do something contrary.

That drives the others to betray him outside the catwoman's house. Even after being imprisoned, Alex continues to be violent and refuses to see that his actions led to his friends betraying him. He goes home after his release from prison only to discover his parents are also disloyal. His room is now rented to a lodger, who considers Alex's parents his.

They also refuse to let the lodger go and instead choose to host him over their son. In the novel, Burgess portrays Alex as a hypocritical character who demands loyalty but doesn't trickle the same to others.

Symbols in A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange has several themes that enhance the themes discussed in the section above. Here are some notable ones from the movie and the novel.

• The 'A Clockwork Orange' phrase is the novel's title. It is a symbol that indirectly connects to the story. The phrase "A Clockwork Orange" signifies the application of mechanical laws to an organism. In this case, the Ludovico technique is the clockwork, and the criminals or the society is the orange. The government tries to modify its society by applying amoral techniques.
• Milk: Alex has a habit of drinking milk laced with drugs before engaging in violent activities. However, his attraction to milk changes once he becomes a victim of the Ludovico Technique. He becomes nauseous after consuming it at the milk bar after his release. Milk can thus be deemed as an item that gets him in the mood of being violent. After the treatment, he disliked drinking milk.
• Music: Music is a crucial symbol in A Clockwork Orange. Alex likes Beethoven's music despite being extremely violent. While that's the beautiful part about him, the combination is quite weird since the genre he likes associates with upper-class and morally upright people. Unfortunately, his love of the same genre is stripped away when his humanity disappears due to the Ludovico method.
• The phrase, 'What's it going to be then, eh?': This phrase is written similarly in all three parts of the novel. It also sounds the same, but it has different meanings. In part 1, Alex uses it to show how much he looks forward to causing havoc at night. In part 2, the chaplain uses it in the sermon to urge prisoners to become righteous. In part 3, Alex uses it to signify that he is unsure about the future.
• Nadsat language: It's the teenage slang Alex and his droogs use. It's in the entire novel, and it shows the difference between the young and old. It also symbolizes rebellion and a way to identify yourself while facing oppression from the totalitarian regime.
• Alex's Droogs: The Droogs represent the youth living in a dystopian society. Their violent tendencies result from the system's failure to nurture and guide them.
• Masks: The droogs wear masks before becoming violent. That is a symbol of deception and identity hiding. It also shows that the outward appearance is different from the inner one. It also shows that this is a society where one can adopt various personalities.
• Numbers: The book is divided into three parts, each with seven chapters. They represent a human's journey from childhood to adulthood. While various societies have their maturity age, the division of the chapters, in this case, shows that maturity is a matter of conquering challenges rather than just reaching a particular age.

Where Does the Phrase 'A Clockwork Orange' Originate?

The phrase 'A Clockwork Orange' comes from an old East London slang that says, 'as queer as a clockwork orange.' It didn't seem to have any meaning, and nobody knew the phrase's origin. Some linguistics believe it came from Liverpool, but there are no citations until Burgess's book appeared in 1962.

When Anthony Burgess first heard the phrase in a London pub, he wanted to use it in his book. He also assumed it was a Cockney expression.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Does "A Clockwork Orange" Mean?

The title 'A Clockwork Orange' is a metaphor that signifies the organic and sweet being transformed into a mechanism. The orange represents the organic nature of human life. The clockwork is the cold, disciplined mechanical part that controls the organic, turning it into a machine.

2. What is Clockwork Orange About Summary?

In an English dystopian world, Alex and his droogs plan for violent acts for the night in a milk bar. They engage in ultraviolent activities as they sing the 'Singing in the Rain' song. After Alex goes to jail because of murder, he undergoes an experimental treatment that renders him harmless.

3. Why is Clockwork Orange disturbing?

A Clock Orange is disturbing since it's full of graphic violence. If you have little ones, please note that the movie or novel involves crime scenes. They include beatings, rape, gang fight, a torturous cure to violence and revenge.

4. How Many Versions Are There for A Clockwork Orange?

Anthony Burgess's novel has two versions, both published in 1962. The English version has 21 chapters and concludes with Alex growing up. The American version has 20 chapters and ends on a darker note. Kubrick's film is based on the American one.

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Final Thoughts

Based on the comprehensive summary above, we hope you have learned about A Clockwork Orange novel (and the movie). Anthony Burgess is trying to warn us through the book about the dangers of having a totalitarian government ruling the people. Our summary has shared the book’s insights. The ideas include everything from what to expect from the book to the meaning of the phrase "A Clockwork Orange". To learn more about the book and the author, visit the International Anthony Burgess Foundation website. If you have difficulty writing such a summary, our experts are ready to help.

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