"He looked a malenky bit poogly when he viddied the four of us like that" (Burgess 7). Wait what? What is he talking about? Most readers have to pause, and dissect almost all the sentences in the beginning of, "A Clockwork Orange," because the author, Anthony Burgess, decided to give the teenagers, or nadsat, their own unique language. This invented vocabulary makes the reader feel as though they are joining Alex and his crew, and experiencing their conversations unabridged. Although it is somewhat hard to pick up in the beginning of the novel, the use of this nadsat language is essential to the point Burgess is trying to make with his book. Most importantly, this language is an identity. It highlights the nadsat's naive personalities, and differentiates them from the adults. Furthermore, Burgess purposefully leaves out a glossary for these words, because he wants the reader to struggle and grow with Alex, the main character; eventually growing closer to him. The language also serves to euphemize most of the harsh violence in the book; the addition of a glossary would only reveal these extreme words, and provoke a negative attitude towards Alex.
Similar to the fact that different cultures and tribes can be identified by the unique language that they use, Anthony Burgess made the nadsat language, unique to the youth of his novel. Vocabulary such as, "appy polly loggy," and, "eggiweg," is bizarre, and shows the naive, uneducated aspect of the youth. Therefore when this language is spoken, the reader is almost certain that a teenager, more specifically Alex, is speaking. The adults in the novel can identify the language as the universal tongue of teenagers, because it symbolizes their natural character. F. Alexander, an elderly writer in the novel, even uses Alex's language to identify him as the person who broke into his house and raped his wife. F. Alexander claims, "Strange, strange, that manner of voice pricks me.
A Clockwork Orange Authors who write of other times and places help us to better understand our own lives. Discuss A Clockwork Orange in terms of that statement. ... He is a walking robot conditioned by the government - a clockwork orange. ... "A Clockwork Orange" deals with moral judgment and the thought of taking it away from someone. ... The Clockwork Orange", what does the title mean? ...
A Clockwork Orange Authors who write of other times and places help us to better understand our own lives. Discuss A Clockwork Orange in terms of that statement. ... He is a walking robot conditioned by the government - a clockwork orange. ... "A Clockwork Orange" deals with moral judgment and the thought of taking it away from someone. ... The Clockwork Orange", what does the title mean? ...
- the opening line of Anthony Burgess" A Clockwork Orange, being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven. ... This leads us to the central point of the novel, concerned with free will: Do we lose our humanity if we are deprived the choice between good and evil? Burgess skilfully introduces us to his futuristic slang, or nadsat, making A Clockwork Orange valuable not only for the questions it raises, but also for its creative and experimental use of the English language in which we see hints of Russian. ... What perhaps makes the novel ...
When Anthony Burgess wrote A Clockwork Orange, John Anthony Burgess Wilson created his own world set in London during a future time when gangs and violence are rampant on the streets, "which is his own particular vision of horrors yet to come." ... This particular brand of literature stressed the overly pessimistic view of human nature and featured, as was presented in A Clockwork Orange, violence as well as the dark areas of human behavior and society. ... "The state has succeeded in its primary aim: to deny Alex free moral choice, which, to the State, means choice of evil. ...
"Choice he has no real choice has he? ... He ceases to be a being capable of moral choice". ... At this point in the novel Burgess tells the reader that Alex has become "A Clockwork Orange", "that if one can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or the Almighty State". ... In conclusion, "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess truly incorporates the existentialist trend of writing. ... They have the free will ...
It follows then that a thought cannot exist without a word, a word is the backbone for the flow of thought. ... Anthony Burgess wrote "A clockwork Orange". The freedom of choice and the rehabilitating form of corrections produces the world of A Clockwork Orange. ... "If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange - meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or State" Before Alex's character is "rehabilitated" he is one of the most amoral people in t...
A Clockwork Orange: Settings of a Human Machine When he wrote A Clockwork Orange, John Anthony Burgess Wilson created his own world set in London during a future time when gangs and violence are rampant on the streets. ... This particular brand of literature stressed the overly pessimistic view of human nature and featured, as was presented in A Clockwork Orange, violence as well as the dark areas of human behavior and society. ... "The state has succeeded in its primary aim: to deny Alex free moral choice, which, to the State, means choice of evil. ...
