Clockwork Orange

The Fate of the Clockwork Orange.

Often you had to see a triangle from which a young guy rocks,
Clutching a knife in his hand? Maybe on the cover of a DVD, or on someone's body? Or maybe four silhouettes, walking alongside? I watch these tattoos from time to time ...

But, let's start in order. I want to say a few words about the man who wrote this book. Anthony Burgess, and his "Clockwork Orange" at one time made a noise. His publication caused heated debate. Firstly, it is not written in the usual language. Strangely enough, this is English, mixed with Russian and semi-Russian words.
It turns out that in the 60s in the United Kingdom there was a fashion for the Cyrillic alphabet and all sorts of Russian-speaking words. Secondly, the book presents an abundance of scenes of cruelty and sexual violence. The main character himself, fifteen-year-old Alex, is drugged every night with his friends, and after
This is their four goes to the night streets, which would rob, beat up passers-by, steal beautiful cars and rape girls. Although the author also draws a terrifying
Picture of the future of England, in some episodes, we may see characteristic
Features of modern Russia.

- Why do you need money? - Alex once said to his friend. "You need a car, you tear it down like a fruit from a tree." You need a girl - you just take ...

In other words, the hero of the book combines almost all the features of the present
Poddanka and dregs of society. However, his true passion is the symphonic
music. Coming home every evening, the guy listens to Beethoven, Mozart, Bach. And when the music grows, he imagines how he rapes little girls, tramples the faces of helpless victims. By the mouth of the main character, the author calls it all
The term "good old ultra-violence".
In 1973, a bookseller from Utah was
Arrested for selling three books: "The Last Tango in Paris" by Robert Eily,
"Idolaters" by William Hegner and "Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. In the trial on June 21, 1973, the city passed a very specific resolution, according to which the police accused the owner of the bookstore, Carol Grant. Later the charge was lifted, but Grant was forced to close the store and move to another city.

In many cities, school boards tried to ban this book, complaining about her
"Insulting passages". I think they would be very surprised to learn that now the author is considered one of the greatest intellectuals of his time. English
Prose writer, poet, literary critic, linguist and composer created a novel, which is no less (and perhaps more) relevant than forty-eight years ago. Modern
Critics write the following:

... "Clockwork Orange" is a warning against reckless cruelty and mechanized forging, in which our society often sees the solution of all problems. Society is weak-willed and indifferent - the socialist world, in which no one else reads, and only the streets are called beautiful words. Its main rule is everything, "except children sitting with children and sick", should work; However, the prisons are overcrowded, and the authorities rehabilitate the criminals to make room for the expected political prisoners. Despite regular elections and the presence of opposition, people continue to re-elect
Acting government ... ". I do not know about you, but it reminds me of something ...

The novel itself is divided into three parts. In the beginning, Alex leads a life consisting of adventures that run counter to the laws and norms of society. Youth aggression
It takes over even the instinct of self-preservation, presenting a real danger to ordinary passers-by. Neither surprising that in the second part of the book he is in prison. Condemned for fourteen years for killing an elderly woman during a robbery, he gets in jail, where he kills a cellmate.

This murder attracts attention to Alex and makes the main candidate "on
Correction ", suitable for a new government-conducted experiment. Under the influence of the drug, the guy watched for some time
Films, entirely consisting of scenes of violence. As a result, it turns out to be completely
Re-educated, as the doctor says: "A real Christian who will sooner allow himself to be killed than do evil to anyone." At the slightest manifestation of aggression, his body reacted with terrible spasms and attacks of nausea. Now he can neither speak rude words nor hurt anyone, nor have sex. "Renewed" Alex returns to the familiar streets since childhood, where he himself is subjected to all sorts of attacks and persecutions. Both from their past victims, and from the side of former friends. A little later, a group of oppositionists decides to use the guy in his political struggle with the existing regime. In the end, Alex decides to commit suicide by jumping out the window.

On this novel does not end, as you might think. Doctors withdraw the drug from the guy's blood, he returns to his usual state. Old thoughts about violence fill a young head, and he claims to himself that he has now "recovered". The last part of the novel is filled with reflections of the main character, as if a certain change in the value system is taking place. It would seem that he can return to his usual life - but he will not return. Now by choice.

Undoubtedly, the novel turned out to be extremely emotional. Most likely, because during the work on this book the author himself experienced a difficult period in his life. In 1959, doctors erroneously put Burgess a terrible diagnosis - an inoperable brain tumor, promising one year of life. And this year the writer decided to devote exclusively to literature, hoping thus to provide the family with means of subsistence for many years. Issued, five pages daily, he expected to write about ten novels. However, some remained undocumented, at the time of the removal of the diagnosis. The final version of "Orange" appeared in 1962, after a trip to the USSR, and talk with doctors,
Who admitted their mistake.

If I say that there is a certain "split" in the novel, I will not be mistaken. Anthony Burgess, doomed to death, began to write it, and the other Burgess ended up. The one that has gained rich experience and a new attitude. Perhaps, therefore, the book turned out to be almost prophetic, forcing
To think about many moral and ethical problems, on which the future depends
Rights.

"Clockwork Orange" caused a furious controversy and after the screen. Stanley Kubrick himself, the director who shot this film, called his creation "The Saga of Human Morality." He received the New York Film Critics Award and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Malcolm McDowell pretty well got used to the role of Alex, and quite accurately showed us his image. Only there is one "but" - in the film the idea is not fully disclosed, the storyline is not fully shown, which also has significance and affects the perception of the film by the viewer. Since many people prefer cinema to films, they are unlikely to be able to fully understand the meaning, to grasp the main idea of the work. For them, Alex will remain the negative hero of the sensational thriller. Although the author at his
The example shows us many of the problems of modern society.

Anthony Burgess did not call his readers to "ultra-violence" or use
Drugs. I think he would be very surprised to see the image of his character Alex,
In the form of a tattoo inflicted on the body of skinhead youths. But however, would rather think about - what needs to be changed in the novel? So that the meaning of it caught
Everyone who picked up a book.

"A person who does not have the right to choose ceases to be a man" - the author would tell us. "But, the right choice, that's not all. We must always be aware of our
Responsibility, and to reflect on the consequences of this very choice. We reap only what we sow ... ".