The book has had a cult following among young people ever since it was published. Some of the book’s popularity could be credited to the language of the book, also known as nadsat. The Specific form of speech that the gang uses is a combination of ol’ timely English and Russian. Wagner calls the language British schoolboy small talk, with such words as malchikiwikis for young women, and babushka for an old lady (331). This language is one of the most appealing parts of the novel, some of the words used in the book can even be called antonyms to their actual meanings, such as “filthy” for something that is good.. By giving the descriptions of murders and rapes in different words it allows the reader to see beyond the violence and find the deeper philosophical meaning behind the book. Thomas nelson says understanding of nadsat comes to the reader covertly, through the intricacies of style and rhetoric. These hidden meanings could not be voiced in the movie, that is why in the movie Alex not only lacks conscience, like an innocent, but knowledge as well. (Nelson 136)

In the end of the novel Alex talks about how he is with a new group of droogs and his friend Pete is married now and how he thinks he might get married someday. Alex has grown older, but we still don’t know if he has grown wiser. Nelson analyzes his transformation by dividing it into two parts. First when he was freely indulging in ultra violence and was a performer who lives for the spectacle of fights and rape. Then when the roles are reversed and he is the one being forced to be the victim and is forced to touch the naked woman without being able to touch her, and unable to attack back when attacked by the people he hurt before. But the book shows a third type of Alex, in the un abridged version, no longer is he the voyeur of the ultra violence, but just the audience as his other droogs do the filthy work. This actually shows Alex’s rebirth as an older man he starts to realize what it is to lead a moral life.

Another main difference between the Novel and the film is the difference between restraint and control. Both agree on the disintegration of Alex as a free thinking person, but they do not agree on his re-birth. The movie is based on the abridged American version, so the end of the movie shows Alex imagining himself in his favorite position while a bunch of 16th century aristocrats watch. Which just shows that he has not actually gained anything, but just gone around in a full circle, so he actually did not make any progress at all.

In 1971 a clockwork orange was turned into a movie. It was directed by Stanley Kubric. The movie had a powerful impact upon our culture. It brought all of Anthony Burgess’ ideas of ultra-violence into full picture and color. Alex in the movie is slightly different then Alex in the film. In the book his crimes were even more brutal then the movie, since in the book Alex always chose 10 year old girls as his victims to intensify his violent thrills . (Wagner, 331)

Some topics in this essay:
Chaplain Alex, Pete Dim, Anthony Burgess’, Park Simpsons, Anthony Burgess, Russian Wagner, Norman Kagan, Stanley Kubric, clockwork orange, Clockwork Orange, american version, book alex, murder rape, free thinking, total control choice, control choice, movie alex, total control, acts murder, alex droogs, acts murder rape,