A Clockwork Orange - The presentation and the impact
of violence in the novel and in the film

by: Thomas von der Heide

Wintersemester 2001 / 2002

Contents

1. Violence in A Clockwork Orange – An often discussed theme of novel and film

2. Novel Summary

3. The presentation and the impact of violence in A Clockwork Orange

3.1 Two kinds of violence
3.2 Violence and free will in A Clockwork Orange
3.3 The presentation of violence in the novel – ′Nadsat′ as a method of distancing
3.4 Novel into film – differences in content
3.5 The presentation of violence in the film – ′Stylisation′ instead of ′Nadsat′

4. Conclusion

5. Works cited

Oh my brothers,
I hereby confirm that this paper was written by myself and that all direct and indirect
quotations from other sources have been documented appropriately.

1. Violence in A Clockwork Orange – An often discussed theme of novel and film

After the release of Stanley Kubrick′s film version of A Clockwork Orange in 1971, Anthony Burgess′s original novel of 1962 and the film were obstinately criticised to be senselessly brutal and it was (and is) said (until today) that both Burgess and Kubrick glorified violence with their works. Although in A Clockwork Orange, a lot of different themes are dealt with – for example politics, music, art or themes of philosophical nature – the violence in the book and on screen are the most concerned about things when critics write about A Clockwork Orange. But not only critics, also ′normal′ readers (or viewers) regard the violence to be the most remarkable thing about the whole book (or movie). One simply has to look at the web-site of the internet-bookstore ′Amazon′ (www.amazon.de) to see that the main part of the readers′ reviews for the book by Anthony Burgess comment on the violence and the brutal crimes committed by the story′s protagonists: Alex DeLarge and his ′droogs′. It is interesting that most of the readers that commented on the book also gave a statement about Kubrick′s film adaptation. It looks like the whole discussion about violence in A Clockwork Orange really first came up when Stanley Kubrick′s movie version hit the theatres.

But why this violence? Does it stand for itself? Are rape and murder obeyed fetishes of Burgess and Kubrick? Or is there something more in the story, that makes it indispensable to present violence in the extreme way Burgess and Kubrick did? This text will explain the function and the intention of presenting violence in A Clockwork Orange. It will show the differences between the way of presenting violence in the original novel and the film version and why author and director decided to portray the protagonists′ brutality in unlike ways, including the impact they have on the reader and the viewer. This text will conclude that in the novel and the film version, violence in A Clockwork Orange serves to discuss other and more important themes included in the story.

2. Novel Summary

A Clockwork Orange tells the story of Alex DeLarge, and his gang of ′droogs′ (Pete, Georgie, Dim) in a society set in the near future. The teenagers take drugs, encounter another gang in a bloody fight and beat up a weaker, helpless person. Later on in the story, the gang assaults an old man, the writer F. Alexander, and rapes his wife. After that, they kill a female health farm owner (who, in this text, will be later referred to as the ′Cat Lady′). As the police arrive after this crime, the other gang-members manage to escape while Alex gets arrested and is sent to prison for murder.

After two years in prison, Alex encounters the Minister of the Interior and is forced to volunteer for an experiment of an aversion treatment, the ′Ludovico Technique′, which should heal him from violent behaviour. After this conditioning therapy, Alex is released from prison, incapable of committing violence or having sex without suffering an agonizing nausea. He meets a former ′droog′ (Dim), who is now a policeman and beats him up severely. F. Alexander invites Alex (who does not recognise his host) into his house and tries a revenge on the injured teenager. At the same time he plans to damage the reputation of the government′s therapies: F. Alexander forces Alex into an suicide attempt. In the end, the Minister of the Interior believes that F. Alexander′s plan did not work and that the ′Ludovico Technique′ is a success. But Alex has resumed his violent and sexual fantasies. In the novel′s last chapter, that is not taken into consideration by the film, Alex "matures and grows out of his violent adolescent ways" (O′Keefe 1999: 32).

3. The presentation and the impact of violence in A Clockwork Orange

3.1 Two kinds of violence

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