The Fate of A Clockwork Orange.
How often have you seen a triangle from which a young guy grinds,
clutching a knife in his hand? Perhaps on the cover of a DVD, or on someone’s body? Or maybe four silhouettes walking nearby? I periodically observe similar tattoos ...
But let's get it in order. I want to say a few words about the person who wrote this book. Anthony Burgess, and his A Clockwork Orange, made a fuss at the time. Its publication caused a heated debate. Firstly, it is written in a not quite ordinary language. Oddly enough, this is English, mixed with Russian and semi-Russian words.
It turns out that in the 60s in the United Kingdom there was a fashion for Cyrillic and all kinds of Russian-language words. Secondly, the book is a real abundance of scenes of cruelty and sexual violence. The main character himself, the fifteen-year-old Alex, is pumped up with drugs every night with his friends, and after
of this, their four go out into the night streets to rob, beat passers-by, steal beautiful cars and rape the girls. Although the author draws terrifying
a picture of the future of England, in some episodes we may seem characteristic
features of modern Russia.
- Why do you need money? - Alex once said to his friend. - Need a car, tear it like fruit from a tree. Need a girl - just take it ...
In other words, the hero of the book combines almost all the features of the present
pan and garbage society. However, his real passion is symphonic
music. Coming home every night, the guy listens to Beethoven, Mozart, Bach. And when the music grows, he imagines how he rapes little girls, trampled on his heels the faces of helpless victims. Through the lips of the protagonist, the author calls it all
the term "good old ultra-violence."
In 1973, a Utah bookseller was
arrested for selling three books: “The Last Tango in Paris” by Robert Ailee,
"The Idolaters" by William Hegner and "Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. In a lawsuit on June 21, 1973, the city adopted a very specific ruling, according to which the police accused the bookstore owner Carol Grant. The charge was later dropped, but Grant was forced to close the store and move to another city.
In many cities, school boards tried to ban the book by complaining about it.
"Offensive passages." I suppose they would be very surprised to learn that now the author is considered one of the greatest intellectuals of his time. English
prose writer, poet, literary critic, linguist and composer created the novel, which is now no less (and maybe more) relevant than forty-eight years ago. Modern
critics write the following:
... A Clockwork Orange is a warning against reckless cruelty and mechanized reforging, in which our society often sees the solution to all problems. Society is limp and indifferent - a socialist world in which no one else reads, and only the streets are called beautiful words. Its main rule is that everyone, “except for children sitting with children and the sick,” should work; however, prisons are overcrowded, and authorities are rehabilitating criminals to make room for the expected political prisoners. Despite regular elections and the presence of opposition, people continue to reelect
the current government ... ” I don’t know about you, but it reminds me of something ...
The novel itself is divided into three parts. Initially, Alex leads a life of adventure that runs counter to the laws and regulations of society. Youthful aggression
takes precedence even over the instinct of self-preservation, presenting a real danger to ordinary passers-by. It is not surprising that in the second part of the book he is in prison. Sentenced to fourteen years for the murder of an elderly woman during a robbery, he goes to jail where he kills a cellmate.
This murder draws attention to Alex and makes him the main candidate for
Correction, ”suitable for a new government experiment. Under the influence of the drug, the guy watched for some time
movies made up entirely of scenes of violence. As a result, he is completely
re-educated, as the doctor says: "A true Christian who would rather let himself be killed than do evil to anyone." At the slightest manifestation of aggression, his body reacted with terrible cramps and bouts of nausea. Now he can neither speak rude words, nor hurt anyone, nor have sex. "Updated" Alex returns to the streets familiar from childhood, where he is now subjected to all kinds of attacks and persecutions. Both from the side of their past victims, and from former friends. A little later, a group of opposition leaders decides to use the guy in their political struggle with the existing regime. In the end, Alex decides to commit suicide by jumping out of the window.
The novel does not end there, as you might think. Doctors remove the drug from the guy’s blood, he returns to his usual state. Old thoughts of violence fill the young head, and he declares to himself that now he has "recovered." The last part of the novel is filled with the thoughts of the protagonist, as if a certain change in the value system is taking place. It would seem that he can return to his usual life - but he will not return. Now of your choice.
Undoubtedly, the novel turned out to be extremely emotional. Most likely, because during the work on this book the author himself was going through a difficult period in his life. In 1959, doctors mistakenly made Burgess a terrible diagnosis - an inoperable brain tumor, promising one year of life. And this year the writer decided to devote exclusively to literature, hoping in this way to provide the family with livelihoods for many years. With five pages a day, he hoped to write about ten novels. However, some remained unfinished at the time of diagnosis. The final version of "Orange" appeared in 1962, after a trip to the USSR, and a conversation with doctors,
admitting their mistake.
If I say that a kind of “fork” appears in the novel, then I will not be mistaken. Anthony Burgess, doomed to death, began to write it, and finished another Burgess. The one that has gained rich experience and a new attitude. Perhaps that is why the book turned out to be almost prophetic, forcing
to think about many moral and ethical issues on which the future depends
person.
The Clockwork Orange sparked a fierce debate after its release on the screen. Stanley Kubrick himself, the director who shot this film, called his work "The Saga of Human Morality." He received the New York Film Critics Award and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Film. Malcolm Mac Dowell got along well in the role of Alex, and quite accurately showed us his image. There is only one “but” - the idea is not fully disclosed in the film, the plot line is not fully shown, which also matters and affects the perception of the film by the viewer. Since many people prefer movies to books, they are unlikely to be able to fully understand the meaning, to catch the main idea of the work. For them, Alex will remain the negative hero of the acclaimed action movie. Although the author is on his
An example shows us the many problems of modern society.
Anthony Burgess did not urge his readers to "ultra-violence" or use
drugs. I think he would be very surprised to see the image of his character Alex,
in the form of a tattoo applied to the bodies of skinhead youths. But, more likely, I would have thought - what needs to be changed in the novel? So that the meaning would catch him
everyone who picked up a book.
“A man who has no right to choose ceases to be a man” - the author would tell us. “But, the right to choose, that’s not all. We must always be aware of our
responsibility, and think about the consequences of this very choice. We reap only what we sow ... ".