In the first section of the book we are introduced to Alex and his "droogs" and their escapades throughout the grungy city. The first thing that really sticks out about Alex is how violent he can be and the lack of emotion that he shows at committing crimes. Right off the bat on page 9 they attack a man returning from the library and beat him up pretty badly. Alex remarks on the, "blood.. real beautiful." This is rather disturbing because normally, this wouldn't be the reaction people would expect someone to have when they see another person injured to the point they are bleeding all over the place. They leave him in no condition to make his way home, "He went sort of staggering off," also leaving him more vulnerable to the other assailants roaming the streets. Alex's disregard for human suffering, his skewed morality, and questionable intentions all make me wonder if he actually has any feelings at all?
It is confusing that somehow a person of his age (teens) has such a violent nature but can still use words such as "skolliwol (39), "jammiwam (45)," and "eggiweg (45)." This contrast makes me almost question whether he realizes the consequences of what he is doing or has just grown up around all the wrong doing during his childhood and thinks that it isn't necessarily "wrong" to murder or rape people on a whim. After reading part 1, I wonder what will happen to Alex in part two and how his character will develop or change (hopefully for the better now that he is in jail.)
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ReplyDeleteI agree when you say "has just grown up around all the wrong doing during his childhood and thinks that it isn't necessarily wrong" I think that this opinion of yours is true because Its hard to think that a 15 year old boy has created himself and wired himself this way all on his own.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that Alex grew up with the wrong surroundings. I have two ideas about him, that he was either neglected while being raised by his parents and feels as if he needs to gather attention from his parents by acting out: raping, stealing and beating people. Or if it goes farther than that and Alex has a mental disorder where he feels the need to be irrational and it satisfies him.
I agree with Nina's point that "he might be neglected while being raised" and "feels as if he needs to gather attention from people by acting out". Another example to support this might be that on page 45, when he is home alone reading newspaper, he enjoys reading articles either reporting his crimes or criticizing "Modern Youth" like him. All these articles make him smeck and he says "it was nice to go on knowing one was making the news all the time".
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I think the contradiction between his age, behavior and thoughts shows the duality in this personalities. On one hand, he is a emotionless killer and beats everyone who is in his way. On the other hand, he is still a teenager. As Gabe says, he uses words such as "skolliwol (39)", "jammiwam (45)," and "eggiweg (45)". Also, he easily trusts other people, either his droogies in Part 1 or the cellmates in Part 2. He clearly learns a painful lesson from the betrayal of his "friends".
I agree with both Nina and Sally's points relating to his childish nature. Alex, however does not, I believe, have two personalities. It isn't as if Alex's routine acts of violence are committed out of purpose or the routine of inner city teen life. Alex specifically finds joy in the violent acts. "it was real satisfaction to me to waltz...and carve left cheeky and right cheeky, so that like two curtains of blood seemed to pour out as the same time, one on either side of his fat filthy oily snout in the winter starlight." (20). The description of this act is meant to be portrayed as beauty, with words such as curtains and starlight. Alex's life has never been defined by consequence, only by boredom and pure ecstasy, and in his mind there are few things that will stop him from his experience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all three of you. There are definitely aspects of Alex's behavior which indicate he has self inflicted these mind sets.. but as Nina pointed out it is hard to believe that he created himself this way. It is hard to believe that there wasn't something or someone who influenced him in such a way which he now acts out upon. It's hard to imagine that Alex has always been this way, from the time he wa
ReplyDeletewas a young child. It's hard to see where this nature came into play, whether or not he has always been life this, or if some event caused him to change. It's hard to break this down because Alex is a very self centered, selfless boy who doesn't have a set of morals to which he lives by.
DeleteI think the emphasis in this section is not on Alex's family dynamic for the most part because Burgess wants the focus to be on Alex as a person and how he makes personal choices. His parents may seem bullied by Alex but no clear problems have been expressed with them. Alex is truly a part of a different society that follows a different moral code than that of his parents or PR Deltoid. Only in our society would Alex be considered a psychopath.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Ben and Will's points. Ben pointed out that Alex is part of a different society that follows a different moral code than that of his parents, and though there is some role reversal between Alex and his parents, Alex acts out of his own desire. I agree with Will's point about Alex's joy in violence. His behavior comes from within him. I don't believe his parents ever encouraged this behavior, however they are oblivious to it and have made no attempt to discourage it either. This is clear on page 53 when his father asks him where he goes to work in the evenings and is incredibly apologetic about even asking and "prying" into his son's business. This goes back to our discussion today as well about whether or not someone is truly good if their bad behavior has been suppressed. Alex's parents clearly never had much control over him and until he receives treatment later on, his natural violent impulses are certainly not suppressed and he chooses to act on them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the overall thought that Alex enjoys violence in a disturbing way. In Gabe's comment he mentions the idea of Alex having any feelings at all, which is an interesting thought. I think that the only person Alex cares about is himself and that's where all of his feelings are centered. He doesn't show much affection towards his parents during their interactions. He also doesn't show any true feelings towards his droogs, he does clean Dim up after their fights but then he goes on to say "...but you should never look as though you have been [in a fight]." Pg 14. That is based upon the fact that Alex doesn't want to be seen with anyone who isn't in the "height of fashion" because that's breaking the social order that people his age have constructed. Another point to add is that when he finds out that the old woman is dead he doesn't have the slightest thought about her, all he thinks is "That was everything. I'd done the lot, now. And me still only fifteen." pg 81. Instead of thinking about the life he took, he thinks about the effect it had on him instead.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Gabe's question about whether or not Alex has feelings, I would say that it definitely seems as though Alex has very little emotion. Perhaps he is only able to commit violence and describe his actions with such indifference because of this part of his character. Though Alex consistently spends time with his "droogs", I agree with Kaya that he seems to have very little connection with them. Also, Alex has no interaction with women that has anything to do with love or other emotions. When Alex sees almost any woman, his only desire is to rape and dominate her. Overall, Alex seems to be alone and friendless, and almost inhuman.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Lydia and Kaya about their ideas concerning Alex's lack of emotion. This is also parallel with Gabe said about Alex's childish behavior. He seems to fluctuate between cold, adult thoughts and a rebellious, bratty attitute, such as his contempt of his "droogs" when they disagree with his insistence of being the leader on page 34. But, when he kidnaps and rapes the little girls, he isn't displaying any sort of emotion, and exhibiting complete blankness. Going back to the original post, Alex's coldness goes beyond his society, and into his personality. His friends, which he views as subordinate, do take part in the violence, but it seems to be Alex's idea in every case except for the last attack on the old lady. I agree with the previous posters in reaching the conclusion that Alex is cold and emotionless, as well as immature in his own right.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that although Alex's responses to the violent crimes he commits are not socially appropriate, he nevertheless feels something not only during but also in the aftermath. While we would usually expect (and hope) someone to feel great remorse or guilt after committing the types of crimes that Alex does, Alex instead feels what he describes on page 99 as "the old joy" from the things he does. While joy is not necesarily the emotion such acts should elicite, it is nevertheless an emotion. Therfore Alex is not enitrely unfeeling and is capable of human emotion- his reactions are just incredibly inappropriate. To be able to commit such horrendus crimes and feel no remorse is a sign, as Gabe and Ben said, that Alex runs by a completely different moal code. I also think Will's point about Alex never truly feeling the consequences of his actions is really interesting. Not only does he not suffer from his own consequnces (i.e. guilt, remorse) as everyone has discussed, but, as far as we know, he has not suffered consequences by any other means. All that we are aware of is that he has been assigned a "Post-Corrective Adviser" (55) after spending some time in "corrective schools" (42) and all the adviser does is make vague threats about Alex's future. It is also quite apparent that the actions of the youth are not met with much resistance from the police force as shown by Alex's description of the the town on page 47, "The day was very different from the night. The night belonged to me and my droogs and all the rest of the nadsats, and the starry bourgeois lurked indoors drinking in the gloopy worldcasts, but the day was for the starry ones, and there always seemed to be more rozzes or millicents about during the day, too. Between Alex's own lack of morality and the lack of consequences he experiences, the product is a very disturbed teenage boy in need of some serious help.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that although the crimes Alex commits are horrendous and seem far beyond the capability of a teenager, he does have passion and emotion throughout his rapes and beatings of others. While he experiences a rush of happiness when in control, his emotions take the best of him, and he loses his sanity in his mind and is left with no control over himself. While Alex does not feel the typical remorse that one person would feel, or even the slightest bit of regret, his emotions are clear, he loved it so much he wished he had, as he said on page 38 "tolchocked them both harder and ripped them to ribbons". Alex has no issue with being the fighter that he is, and in fact, in part 1, shows his true love of becoming the "famous young boy"(72), although this later backfires, and Alex realizes that his constant urge to do the "ultraviolent" has led to his self-centered attitude that causes him to lose his "droogs" (his only friends), and be left for the consequences of his horrific actions.
ReplyDeleteAs has been stated by a bunch of people, there is no doubt that Alex has feelings. He receives a rush from violence, perhaps best demonstrated, as Mesa notes, on page 99 when "the old joy" comes as a result of violence. It is also beyond a doubt that joy is the wrong emotion to feel at this sort of action- it is wrong morally and it is wrong "societally". But my question arises from the characterization of "wrong". It is based on OUR perception of morality and societal acceptability. First, does this make us "clockwork oranges?" Second, are we, by judging Alex's emotions in response to violence as bad, attempting to make Alex a clockwork orange by imposing our perceptions of good and evil onto him? I know that this might be pushing it a little in terms of getting too far away from the text, so look at it this way: What would Alex's answers to these questions be? how about the writer? how about the prison charlie?
ReplyDeleteAs stated before, I also agree that Alex does have feelings. Although he does not seem to exhibit virtuous feelings such as love, guilt ect. , Alex does feel something when he commits acts of violence. The violence is pleasurable to Alex, as Gabe noted earlier, that Alex says: “the blood...real beautiful”. Alex’s ability to feel positive emotions from such grotesque actions and pictures, shows that he does have the ability to “feel”. The immorality of these actions and the fact that Alex finds violence enjoyable might hinder our understanding of his “feelings”, reflecting our sense of morality. But Alex’s emotional reactions to violence show that he does have feelings. Going off of what Louis said, our sense of morality does play a part when we are judging the character of Alex. By judging him with a definitive sense of “right” and “wrong”, we neglect to recognize other understandings of morality. Although I believe Alex has a similar sense of morality to us, our moral toleration might contribute to those characteristics of a "clockwork orange" as Louis suggested.
ReplyDeleteJust to respond to the first part of this post briefly - Alex certainly does show "emotion" whilst committing crimes, though they are not emotions we (the readers) see fit to the circumstances. This is really the first way in which we see that Alex is very different from us (the readers), and any "normal" human being. I am curious about Alex's droogs and how they react to the violent misdoings which they engage in on a daily basis. Certainly they seem to enjoy the acts while in the company of each other, and engage in the acts with glee. That being said, the window we (the readers) have into Alex's "soul", into his feelings and inner self, we do not have for the other boys. Why is violence such a prominent part of the other boys' lives? The droogs clearly do not have the same passion for violence, combined with classical music, that Alex does. What do you guys think? Can any of you think of examples which show the droogs' true reactions of their escapades? I am not questioning the legitimacy of Dim, Pete and/ or Georgie's reactions that we see (which are those of joy, pleasure, &c), but simply curious as to whether anyone else thought that maybe there was an element of peer pressure (or something else) within this mischievous group?
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of this post, I think Gabe brought up an interesting point with Alex's use of language, and specifically the childish and silly vocabulary that seems to come up so often. It is clear that Alex is different from many of the people in this society, and even from his droogs. The use of the childish language, which seems to coincide with his violence, shows his true nature... that violence is a part of Alex.
I agree with Kaya that Alex only seems to care about himself, but I also think he cares about his power. He rules in his home and he is part of a group of teenagers that rules the night. At home he’s in power and his parents seem to fear him. Alex can do whatever he likes whenever he likes. With his droogs, he wants to be leader and he comes up with all the ideas. His rapings and violence grant him power over others. Alex’s fight with his droogs is fighting for his power over them and the power to pick and choose their victims. His emotions run along with these power struggles. Alex seems to feel the most emotion when he’s in a position of power over somebody. The pleasure he feels with the rapings and ultra violence stem from his feelings of power.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Gabe's original question, I must confirm the group's consensus that Alex definitely has "feelings", maybe in the sense that they are emotions, but not any sensation of remorse for his actions. His euphoria associated with the peeted moloko, violence, and classical music has already been thoroughly elucidated. I did find one quote that I found to be interesting; it related his use of music to augment his violent thoughts to the physical actions of the violence itself. "...for it was like the gulliver and pletchoes of Ludwig van himself, what they call a bust, a like stone veshch..."(pages 67-68). This is in the old cat-lady's house, and when he is fighting with her on the next page, he grabs the bust of his favorite composer, and "cracked her a fine fair tolchock on the gulliver and that shut her up real horrorshow and lovely"(page 69).
ReplyDeleteTo go toward the questions Louis brought up about whether or not our perceptions of Alex's emotions make us "clockwork oranges", and what Alex's answer would be, I think that every society has different ideas, morals, and concepts revolving around what is good or bad. However in a nation built of the people, by the people, and for the people, has very different ideas, morals, and concepts of good and bad than a society completely controlled by the government. All feelings change, in time, and when a government is the voice of the people, the laws will, inevitably, change to better suit the will of the current generation. This is evident in our country with legislation surrounding legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage. Getting back to the book, I judge that Alex would probably accuse us all of being "clockwork oranges" of our own society for immediately saying that what he is doing is wrong, immoral, evil, or bad. He might say that we have fallen victim to the common norms of our culture, and that we had failed to look at the real reason that he commits crimes of such a violent nature: it makes him feel happy.
To touch on your thought about whether or not Alexs character will develop or change throughout the book is something I definitely thought about while reading this first chapter or 2. A predictable version of this book for me would be a bad kid who has lots of redeeming qualities that turns good, but for some reason I don't think this book is headed in that direction. I feel like there is a barrier between Alex and the reader about what he is really thinking and how he feels. Because all I see in Alex is the hate that he possess and the violence. there is nothing so far that connects me to a moral human being... which may be one of the biggest themes in this book.. Morality. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteAs it has been said, Alex certainly has feelings. He is confident when dressed in the “heighth of fashion”, energized and joyful when displaying his artistry with his razor describing it as “real satisfaction to me to waltz” (20), and inspired with the works of classical composers. Similar to what Louis and Isaac have said, his emotions do not fit with his actions in a “normal” society. I think it is important to notice how Alex is forced to fake emotions to prevent himself from becoming sick. There is no mention of love until page 142 when he “had to think of some new like way of thinking about her before all the pain and thirstiness and horrible sickness come over [him]”. Any form of love is missing completely from Alex’s world and it is interesting that a fake love has to be created mechanically instead of passion, choice, and individual feeling. As for if Alex would consider us clockwork oranges, I think he would say we are not. Alex considers himself to be a clockwork orange when he is stripped of the ability to choose and access his own feelings. Also, since a clockwork orange is “to impose upon man…laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation” (25), I do not consider any person to be a “mechanical creation”, especially in a country where individuality and choice are embraced. People are capable of change as long as it is a personal choice, and I think the prison Charlie would agree with this statement as well.
ReplyDeleteThere have been some wonderful points about Alex’s morality and his emotional reaction to world around him; however, I find myself on the opposing side of many of these arguments which I’m sure to be berated for tomorrow. I personally find Alex’s sense of morality to be less unique than it has been made out to be. Admittedly Alex clearly takes pleasure in actions that society considers evil. And yet, even though Alex describes these actions as “bliss” he does understand that what he is doing is evil. Alex acknowledges that in relation to goodness he is “of the other shop (44).” The next question is, of course, whether Alex’s evil is a product of the state or of his own nature. This is a difficult question to answer, but there can be no doubt about Alex’s view on this question. Alex says, “More, badness is of the self, the one, the you or me on our oddy knockies, and that self is made by old Bog or God. (44)” Alex clearly believes that men are born either good or bad, or at least that man is born with both these aspects, and that the choice falls on the individual to determine which of these traits he enjoys more.
ReplyDeleteAlex’s emotional state has also been the focus of a lot of discussion. I agree with the comments made by Louis and Mesa that Alex is a creature driven by his emotions, and finds the release of these feelings through his violence. I believe that this aspect of Alex has been hit spot on, and there is little I can add to it; however, no one has touched the on the stylized nature of Alex’s violence. Alex is intoxicated by the works of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart and refers to classical music as “gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh (37).” Alex’s acts of violence are performed in the high style of the classical music he loves. He doesn’t commit acts of random violence; instead Alex almost makes a dance of it. The quote that was used by Will Manny illustrates this: “It was real satisfaction to me to waltz… and carve left cheeky and right cheeky, so that like two curtains of blood seemed to pour out at the same time (20).” Alex’s violence may be driven by an overwhelming sense of feeling, but it is presented with eloquence and class.
As the majority of comments before me have said, there is no question that Alex has emotions. I also believe that he knows that what he is doing is wrong. On pg 45 , after debating the virtues of good v. evil, he settles by discussing the role of bad/evil in his life "But what I do I do because I like to do". Alex knows that acts of evil are looked down on by society, a fact which is far less important than the joy that he gets from it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Austin said about whether or not Alex would perceive us as clockwork oranges. I think that Alex would think of us as Clockwork Oranges as we have submitted to the morals inforced by our society. Morals which we in turn use to judge him.
ALex has a similar view on Morals as he does on the battle of Good/Evil, we should do what makes us happy, instead of what society tells us
I believe that Alex’s lack of remorse and humaneness while performing brutal acts of violence and criminality stems from extensive exposure. Throughout Part One, Alex and his “droogs” cause disruption throughout the area for sheer pleasure. The narrator does not seek a materialistic lifestyle given that he denounces the plundering of wealth, but rather he is in search of a lifestyle full of excitement, criminal activity, and sensual stimulation. However, despite his frequent repulsive behavior, he conducts himself in a proper manner while around most adults, and has a mechanical and organized way to his vindictive activities. For instance, when Dim, his “droog,” attempted to defecate at the scene of a crime, “I didn’t like that, it being dirty and slobbery” (Burgess 26). In addition, while in prison, he sees himself as different from the other criminals, calling them names and denouncing their presence. Alex believes that he doesn’t belong in “this grahzny hellhole,” this “human zoo,” with “brutal bully warders,” and “vonny leering criminals, some of the real perverts,” and sees himself as “special favoured” (Burgess 86, 91). Also, Alex has instilled in his mind a disregard for the immorality of his malevolent nature, thus indicating a natural tendency to elude feelings of guilt and wrongdoing while murdering or raping innocent civilians.
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