The picture of an Anti-hero in A Clockwork Orange

The Picture of an Anti-hero in A Clockwork Orange

In this article the authors main aim is to analyze the paper of an Anti-hero in Anthony Burgess “A Clockwork Orange”. To do so, he begins his article by analyzing some important points that may help us to make a deeper interpretation of the novella.

The settings are considered very important to the author, that’s why he starts giving a preamble of Burgess’s life and the lifestyle in Britain by the time “A Clockwork Orange was written”. As we could read, British society had a huge influence of the American culture and new tendencies. Paraphrasing the author, British people only wanted to have their houses and factories full of machines and with the latest technologies, even if they had their heads empty. At that time (between 1950s and 1960s, and some years later after the beginning of the 60s) there were some internal conflicts in Britain, which involved Commonwealth and racial discrimination and genres preferences; but as I already stated, there were new technologies entering the country. So we can say that even when there were some political and social problems in Britain, there were some good aspects in this period of time. Get to know this is important because even when there is no exact place were “A Clockwork Orange” takes life, many readers and critics assume that the atmosphere of the story is London.

A story is created inside his authors head, that’s why the author of this article also gives some important aspects of Burgess life, so we can see some symbolism behind the story. For example, in one part of the story a women is receiving physical abuse from a bunch of young guys, that is connected to the way Anthony Burgess’s first wife died (attached by American soldiers). Also Burgess was a catholic, which helps us see why the theme of faith versus free will is constantly giving signals of its existence in the story. Some other aspects as his knowledge about Russian language and its influence in the creation of Nadsat (fictional language created by the author) are also mentioned.

An Anti-hero is a character (literary device) used to contrast the main character of a story. The objective of the use of these literary device is highlight some qualities (generally good) from the main character and make more complicated the success of the “hero”. But in “A Clockwork Orange” the use of this concept has some transformations. Alex, which is deeply analyzed, is a young guy that can not tell the difference between goodness and badness. So he commits some bad actions (if we see it from an external perspective) which are not considered bad to himself. Actually, he finds what he does funny, attractive and obviously, not bad at all. The point of the novel is to criticize a society or picturing a situation that at any time may appear in the pages of history. Some sort of dystopia were governmental forces get to do whatever they want (even transforming us from being bad to good). So we can tell that Alex is the main character and at the same time the anti-hero of the story, because he experiences the manipulation of the government that makes him be good and bad at the same time; all depends on whose eyes.

Of course, the analysis of the language wasn’t absent in this text. The most attractive thing in this aspect obviously is the Nadsat and its application in the English grammar. Nadsat was a particular thing from teenagers and bad “malchicks” in the story. By including it in the English grammar we can say that Burgess wanted to express similarity between the youth in his story and the real youth. So, again, here is a critique to contemporary society; expressed through the similitude between a fictional dystopia that takes place anywhere and anytime and a future that may occur somewhere, sometime.

This article wants to make a deep analysis on “A Clockwork Orange”, which I think is completely achieved. I found very interesting every aspect the author gives because they helped me realize that this novel is actually a “guided reflection” of what the world is or may be. In my opinion, and in support with the expressed in this article, all this interpretation is tied to the particular and unique use of language in Burgess “A Clockwork Orange”.