A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian novel written by Anthony Burgess, set in the future from when he wrote it in 1962. The language is very different from any novel written today, its a mixture of a lot of slang, some made up by Burgess, and some even being Russian. This novel is filled with rape, assaults, drugs, and alcohol, its not for the weak of heart. The craziest thing is that the protagonist is a young boy! I know when my father was young he was bad, but he would have never have done the majority of what Alex does. It was a very thrilling and aggravating read, plenty of confusion but also very im sure for some people engaging. A lot of “Ews” and “Oh my gosh” while reading.
I believe the language of this book made it very hard to continue reading, I put it down twice before picking it up a final time to read it. This was a stylistic choice on Burgess part I believe, he wanted to make it foreign to the readers so that they don’t completely understand what was going on. The author of the Hunger Games, another dystopian novel, Suzanne Collins did this at the end of her second book(Spoilers) as the whole stadium is crashing down and she is being lifted up into the air by the helicopters its a very confusing read, it leaves the reader wondering what really just happened. I actually really disliked the novel because of this reason. Burgess is trying to confuse the reader, he tries to have them focus more on the language he’s using then the actual actions taking place.
I have diagnosed the protagonist, Alex, with being a psychopath, someone that doesn’t care about anyone elses pain. He leads his gang in many horrible schemes and feels no regret from any of it. I was full of rage with every horrible act Alex, Dim, Georgie and Pete committed. It angered me even more that they were able to duck out of getting caught, even though they deserved it and no one was able to fight back. It reflects a lot on today’s society as well, such as rape culture, boys are getting away with a lot of horrible doings. They are able to get away with blaming it on the girl, and what she was wearing and how she was drunk. They get to walk away with a slap on the wrist while the girl has to live with the fact that she was used. In the novel Alex is probably one of the craziest characters I’ve ever read about, the way he describes his horrid acts like art. He believes the pouring of blood, a woman's naked body, or the screams he hears is all art. Its like a movie or music for him and its absolutely sick.
I find it so interesting when I read a book that seems to be about one thing, but ends up being about many things in society that are going askew. As a reader you really have to dive in deep and look between the lines to fully understand what the author is trying to say with his or her novels. This novel reminded me of Animal Farm and how it seemed to be about animals taking over a farm, it actually ended up being about dictators and the Soviet Union. I love that authors are able to voice their opinions on society in a creative way. A way that makes people want to actually sit and read about it. 