A Clockwork Orange
To leave out the final chapter of A Clockwork Orange is to change the entire meaning of the novel; as Burgess says in the introduction, his story is transformed into a fable. Without the last chapter the reader is left with a dark and pessimistic theme, that absolute good and evil exist in this world and it is possible for a man to be pure evil. Alex is conditioned and unconditioned, and in the end all indications point to a malicious life of crime. He is a clockwork orange, programmed to be subservient to a master, whether it be the Devil, the government, or a group of men. Alex is a windup toy. However, this was not the message Burgess intended to convey. He believes that a clockwork orange does not exist in our society, it cannot exist, for it is inhuman to be pure good or pure evil. All humans have free will and moral choice--no human can behave as a machine. This point is lost to those who are denied the final chapter of A Clockwork Orange.......
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Approximate Word Count: 623
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |