A Clockwork Orange

- A sociological approach -

Madalina Chiru Facultatea de Limbi si Literaturi Straine An I

1. Sociological Criticism This approach examines literature in the cultural, economic and political context in which it is written or received, exploring the relationships between the artist and society. Sometimes it examines the artists society to better understand the authors literary works; other times, it may examine the representation o such societal elements within the literature itsel . !ne in luential type o sociological criticism is "arxist criticism, which ocuses on the economic and political elements o art, o ten emphasi#ing the ideological content o literature; because "arxist criticism o ten argues that all art is political, either challenging or endorsing $by silence% the status &uo, it is re&uently evaluative and 'udgmental, a tendency that can lead to reductive 'udgment, as when Soviet critics rated (ack )ondon better than *illiam +aulkner, ,rnest -emingway, ,dith *harton, and -enry (ames, because he illustrated the principles o class struggle more clearly. .onetheless, "arxist criticism can illuminate political and economic dimensions o literature other approaches overlook.

. A Clockwork Orange b! Anthon! "urgess A Clockwork Orange is a dystopia and an example o iction; the story being told by a irst person
narrator called /lex who is the leader o a teenage gang settled in )ondon, who ill their days with

stealing, beating and raping innocent citi#ens. 0n the beginning o the novel, /lex seems to be running the town together with his mates 1im, 2ete and 3eorgie, scaring everyone to death with their violent acts. -owever, at a certain point they plan to break into an old woman4s house, but ail miserably. /lex4s riends end up leaving him to take the blame or the woman4s death. -e is sentenced to ourteen years o imprisonment and during his stay in 'ail he takes up an interest in the 5ible. 0n spite o the appearances, /lex has not lost his old ways because while reading the 5ible he keeps entertaining violent antasies. *hen /lex gets wind o an experimental procedure which is per ormed on detainees and which allows them to reintegrate in society, he immediately signs up. The process, known by the name o 6)udovico4s Techni&ue6, is based on brainwashing and eliminates the sub'ect4s power to

choose. The doctors who lead the experiment strap /lex to a chair and orce him to watch violent ilms, while in'ecting him with luids which induce physical illness. 5y orce o association, /lex eels the same illness every time he sees a violent act or hears the classical music which accompanied the images. -e is released rom prison, as human proo that the techni&ue is success ul and as a walking billboard or the government who is trying to reduce crime in the city. -owever, opponents o the authorities get their hands on /lex and they use his sensitivity to classical music and violence in an attempt to make him commit suicide, which would be very bad publicity or the government. To prevent this rom happening, /lex is taken to hospital and doctors reverse the e ects o )udovico4s Techni&ue in his sleep. -e no longer eels nausea at the sight o violence or when he hears classical music, but he inds that it simply does not interest him anymore. -e wants to ind a wi e and have children, 'ust like his riend 2ete has, and he concludes that he has 'ust outgrown his violent past.

#. A Clockwork Orange in relation to the sociological approach This paper on A Clockwork Orange tries to respond to the ollowing central sociological &uestions7 *hat sort o society does the author describe8

*hat does the writer seem to like or dislike about this society8 *hat changes do you think the writer would like to make in the society8 *hat sorts o pressures does the society put on its members8 -ow do the members respond to this pressure8

(ohn /nthony 5urgess *ilson was inspired to write A Clockwork Orange during a visit to )eningrad in 9:;9. There, he observed the state<regulated, repressive atmosphere o a nation that threatened to spread its dominion over the world. /t the time o his visit, the Soviet =nion was ahead o the =nited States in the space race, and communism was establishing itsel in countries

as ar< lung as >ietnam and ?uba. 5urgess regarded communism as a undamentally lawed system, because it shi ts moral responsibility rom the individual to the state while disregarding the wel are o the individual. 5urgesss deeply internali#ed ?atholic notions o ree will and original sin prevented him rom accepting a system that sacri ices individual reedom or the public good. A Clockwork Orange may be seen in part as an attack on communism, given the novels extremely negative portrayal o a government that seeks to solve social problems by removing reedom o choice. -owever, A Clockwork Orange shouldnt be understood simply as a criti&ue o the Soviet =nion or o communism, because the dystopian world o the novel draws 'ust as much on elements o ,nglish and /merican society that 5urgess detested. 0n his own estimation, 5urgess had a tendency toward anarchy, and he elt that the socialistic 5ritish wel are state was too willing to sacri ice individual liberty in avor o social stability. -e despised /merican popular culture or ostering homogeneity, passivity, and apathy. -e regarded /merican law en orcement as hopelessly corrupt and violent, re erring to it as an alternative criminal body. ,ach o these targets gets lampooned in A Clockwork Orange, but 5urgesss most pointed satire is reserved or the psychological movement known as behaviorism. A Clockwork Orange deplores the institution o government, which systematically seeks to suppress the individual in avor o the collective, or the state. /lex articulates this notion when he contends that modern history is the story o individuals ighting against large, repressive government machines. /s we see in A Clockwork Orange, the State is prepared to employ any means necessary to ensure its survival. =sing technological innovation, mass<market culture, and the threat o violence, among other strategies, the State seeks to control /lex, the main character, and his ellow citi#ens, who are least dangerous when they are most predictable. The State also does not tolerate dissent. !nce technology helps to clear its prisons by making hardened criminals harmless, the State begins incarcerating dissidents, like +. /lexander, who aim to rouse public opinion against it and thus threaten its stability. "ore than anything, 5urgess believed that the reedom to choose is the big human attribute, meaning that the presence o moral choice ultimately distinguishes human beings rom machines or lower animals. This belie provides the central argument o A Clockwork Orange, where /lex asserts his ree will by choosing a course o wickedness, only to be subse&uently robbed o his sel <determination by the government. 0n making /lex, a criminal guilty o violence, rape, and

the t, the hero o the novel, 5urgess argues that humanity must, at all costs, insist that individuals be allowed to make their own moral choices, even i that reedom results in depravity. *hen the State removes /lexs power to choose his own moral course o action, /lex becomes nothing more than a thing. / human beings legitimacy as a moral agent is predicated on the notion that good and evil exist as separate, e&ually valid choices.

$e%erences
+ran 1esmet, +emale perspectives in the dystopian novel, 3hent =niversity<+aculty o /rts and 2hilosophy,@A9A -a#irlayan "eral -armanci, 2ro . 1r. ,sra "eldkoglu, "arxist ?riticism o the 2ostmodern ,lements in /nthony 5urgess / ?lockwork !range and (. ". ?oet#ees *aiting +or The 5arbarians, 0stanbul, @AAB www.olemiss.edu www.sparknotes.com