Essay on The Paradox of A Clockwork Orange - 2012 Words

The grace of evil in A Clockwork Orange is a recurring paradox throughout the novel and also implies a deep religious connotation. The main foci are the several aspects of evil, violence, and sexual acts committed by Alex and his gang members. However, Anthony Burgess has cleverly incorporated similar paradoxes to that of grace and evil, along with a different dialect to aid in masking the true harshness that lies underneath the violence. The other paradoxes include the extremes of night and day, good and bad, and black and white. The depiction of evil as being graceful is relevant to the actual title, but also reflects the actions, dialect, and events in the main character Alexs life. Appearance can be deceiving because†¦show more content†¦When this is applied to ones life, hope can be found. Burgess wanted to emphasize that no matter how bad a person Alex may have been, he deserved Gods Grace and forgiveness. Therefore, freedom of choice is more important, no matter what evil acts people choose to carry out. There are a plethora of instances throughout the novel where violent acts are committed, yet described and portrayed gracefully. As the novel opens, Alex and his droogs are preparing themselves for a night of fighting. In just one night, they manage to rob, rape, and assault several others. However, the major crime of the night was the rape of the writer F. Alexanders wife, who later dies due to the injuries inflicted upon her. The crimes of that night and every night to follow are both artistically committed on Alexs part and masked with the use of Nadsat which is the dialect based on Slavic and Russian. During fight scenes it is apparent that Alex enjoys the pain he inflicts upon others. Because fighting is a frequent occurrence, he tries to make each one more pleasurable, interesting, and artistic. When Alex and his droogs come across Billyboy who is raping an innocent girl with his gang, this fight scene is depicted artistically by Alex, the narrator. Even though it is evil, horrible, and violent, there is gracefulness present through his actions. He states, but for my own part [I] had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva which, at thatShow MoreRelatedSocial Institutions and Manipulation Exposed in A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess1034 Words   |  5 Pagesbegin to establish their own identity through decisions; however, their development of self-identification is frequently hindered by manipulation of societal institutions such as: justice system, religion, and media. 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