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The protagonist of the story is Alex, a fifteen-year-old boy who narrates in a teenage slang called nadsat , which incorporates elements of Russian and Cockney English. Alex leads a small gang of teenage criminals—Dim, Pete, and Georgie—through the streets, robbing and beating men and raping women.
- Nadsat Glossary
From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations...
- Themes
A Clockwork Orange abounds with dualities: good versus evil,...
- Key Facts
Full title A Clockwork Orange. Author John Anthony Burgess...
- Nadsat Glossary
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A Clockwork Orange, novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. Set in a dismal dystopian England, it is the first-person account of a juvenile delinquent who undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for his aberrant behaviour. The novel satirizes extreme political systems that are based on opposing models of the perfectibility or in...
The novel opens in a totalitarian society where violent youths abound. Alex, the protagonist, has a passion for classical music and is a member of a vicious teen gang. He and his droogs (friends) engage in drug-fueled orgies (milk spiked with narcotics is the drug of choice), and their random acts of brutality—particularly against defenseless people—are detailed with enjoyment in Burgess’s made-up slang, Nadsat. At one point the group breaks into a cottage, beating a young writer and gang raping his wife, who later dies. When an attempted robbery goes awry and Alex murders an elderly woman, he is sentenced to 14 years in prison. He gradually adjusts to life behind bars, but one night he and his cellmates beat a new prisoner, who dies. Alex is chosen to undergo an experimental program called the Ludovico’s Technique, a brutal form of aversion therapy that includes Alex watching films of Nazi atrocities. The treatment causes him to become physically sick if he even thinks about committing a crime. It also results in Alex disliking classical music. While government officials deem the procedure a success, the prison chaplain, who had befriended Alex, questions the ethics of removing one’s free will. According to the chaplain, good behaviour should be a choice.
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Alex is released from prison, but his behavioral conditioning has left him harmless and defenseless. Among those that exact retribution are former gang members who have become policemen. Badly beaten, Alex ends up at the cottage of the droogs’ earlier attack, but the writer, F. Alexander, does not recognize him. Instead, he is sympathetic when he learns of the teenager’s aversion therapy and wants to publicize his story in order to turn public opinion against the government. However, after coming to suspect that Alex was involved in the brutal assault, he tries to make Alex commit suicide, which he plans to blame on the government. Locked in a room and forced to listen to Beethoven music, Alex jumps out off a window but survives. While he is hospitalized, the doctors undo his conditioning, and Alex ultimately reverts to his former behaviour. In the final chapter of the original British edition, Alex has grown tired of violence, and, after seeing an old friend who has left the gang, he renounces his amoral past. This chapter—which some consider unconvincing—was removed when the novel was first published in the United States.
Upon its release, A Clockwork Orange received mixed reviews. While some complained about its violence and language, others noted that the novel raised important ethical questions, such as whether it is better for a person to decide to be bad than to be forced to be good and if forcibly suppressing free will is acceptable. While its initial sales we...
A Clockwork Orange Summary. In a strange slang dialect that mixes non-English words and elevated diction, Alex recounts hanging out with his three “droogs,” Dim, Pete, and Georgie. The group decides to rove the streets, and they beat and rob an elderly scholar.
May 26, 2020 · A Clockwork Orange: plot summary. A Clockwork Orange is set at some indeterminate point in the future, and is narrated by Alex, a fifteen-year-old boy who is the head of a gang of criminals. Alex and his friends all speak a kind of slang, called Nadsat, which Alex uses to narrate the events of the novel.
Article written by Emma Baldwin. B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University. ‘ A Clockwork Orange ‘ takes place in a totalitarian future. It follows Alex, a gang member and criminal who spends his days hanging out with his friends and raping, robbing, and destroying property.
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novella by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near-future society that has a youth subculture of extreme violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him.
Chapter Summaries. Themes. Characters. Symbols. Quotes. Part 1, Chapter 1. Alex, a violent teen, narrates a night of violence and crime with his friends, called droogs. Alex and the droogs plot their course for the night at the Korova Milkbar, assault a random passerby, and end the evening with a violent attack and robbery of local store owners.
