Dystopia & A Clockwork Orange

1. Dystopia & A Clockwork Orange

2. Utopia • “A utopia is a place or situation of perfection. It is an idealistic goal or concept for political or social reform…

3. Dystopia • A dystopia is a place of imperfection—an unfavorable place. Dystopia explores what man values now and raises the question of whether he is capable of overcoming the evil that seems to be inherent in mankind.” a) focus: modern values b) Presence of a flaw in man

4. Dystopia II. History: the tradition out of which dystopia is derived • Utopia: St. Thomas More - the philosophical exercise (presumption: a sense of future) • resurgence of popularity in the late 19th century through H.G. Wells • Wells vision of the world (1860-1948): “all this world is heavy with the promise of greater things, and a day will come when beings who are now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall stand upon this earth as one stands upon a footstool and they shall laugh and reach out their hands amidst the stars.”

5. Dystopia II. History: the tradition out of which dystopia is derived • Anti-Utopian (Anti Wellsian) • Post W.W.I disillusionment • We (1924); set in the 26th century AD, Yevgeni Zamyatin’s influential masterpiece describes a totalitarian society of OneState ruled by the “Benefactor.” • Brave New World (1932): Aldous Huxley imagined a fictional future in which free will and individuality have been sacrificed in deference to complete social stability. A world in which a totalitarian government controlled society by the use of science and technology. • 1984 (1947): The rise to power of dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union inspired George Orwell’s mounting hatred of totalitarianism and political authority. Remains one of the most powerful warnings ever issued against the dangers of a totalitarian society.

6. Anthony Burgess • Born John Burgess Weilson, 1917 in Manchester • 8 years military service • Lecturer in Phonetics - 1948 • Lecturer in English lit. -Malaya-1952 • Writer of chamber music & incidental music for plays • Expatriate - Malta, U.S.: “England does not support its writers.” • Novelist & critic (re Joyce; & Shakespeare)

7. Burgess • “I was brought up a Catholic, became an agnostic, flirted with Islam, and now hold a position which may be termed Manichae - I believe the wrong god is temporarily ruling the world and that the true god has gone under. Thus I am a pessimist, but believe the world has much solace to offer: love, food, music, language, literature, and the pleasure of artistic creation.” • All of his novels are somewhat allegorical, because they are all in some way religious: “no novel …can possess any vitality without an implied sense of values from religion.”

8. On Language • “Language is everything- it survives corruption; ignorance, ineptitude. It merits not only our homage, but our constant and intelligent study.”

9. On Language in Clockwork… • My problem in writing the novel was wholly stylistic. The story had to be told by a young thug of the future, and it had to be told in his own version of English. This would be partly the slang of his group, partly his personal dialect. It was pointless to write the book in the slang of the early sixties. A slang for the 1970's would have to be invented…

10. On Language of Clockwork… • “I ended up with a vocabulary of around 200 words. As the book was about brainwashing, it was appropriate that the text itself should be a brainwashing device. The reader would be brainwashed into learning minimal Russian. The novel was to be an exercise in linguistic programming, with the exoticisms gradually clarified by context: I would resist to the limit any publisher's demand that a glossary be provided. A glossary would disrupt the programming and nullify the brainwashing.”

11. The Nadsat Language NADSAT– • p. 114- “the language of the tribe” • made up of mostly Russian, but also rhyming slang, gypsy talk, and Slav, Cockney, bible • As activities become more violent, syntax becomes more poetic • Ironic intensity adding to nightmare horror of action: “Being sore athirst, my brothers.” “They know not what they do or say.”

12. The Nadsat Language emphasizes characterization and maintains illusion of a dehumanized world at same time Irony of some of the words: • “bog”→ god • “lewdies”→ people • “horrorshow” → good • “malchick” → boy • “rot” → mouth → rotten, contaminated • “rabbit” → job → rodent that works stupidly and instinctively

13. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) • Conditioning • aka classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, or respondent conditioning • The original and most famous example of classical conditioning involved the salivary conditioning of Pavlov's dogs.

14. Debate • The treatment of Alex (the Ludovico technique) is justified. • Affirmative • Negative

15. Part 1 • Describe the world in which Alex lives. What is society like? Find specific examples. • What authority figures have you encountered so far? Describe them. How do they treat Alex? Are they responsible for his behavior? • Analyze the article on “Modern Youth” that Alex reads in the newspaper. Also, analyze Alex’s philosophy on goodness on the previous page. • What effect does music have on Alex? Why does Alex hit Dim at the milk bar? What is the irony here? • Analyze Alex’s relationships and the roles he plays in: • His gang • His family • Up to this point (in the book), what moral wrongs have Alex committed? Go through the book and list them. If you were sentencing Alex, what would be his punishment? Do you think he can be reformed?

16. What are Alex’s strengths? What , if anything, is morally good about Alex? Does he have an ethos/personal values? Find and explain the good choices Alex makes. Think about his relationships with his family, droogs, prison-mates, and the charlie. • Find all instances where the charlie speaks in Part 2. What are his reservations about the technique? Why is it significant that he is a chaplain? • What is the general demeanor of the doctors? Describe their physicality and analyze the way they speak to Alex. List all differences between Dr. Branom and Dr. Brodsky and analyze.

17. (On the final exam…) • Identify the theme of the book with & without the last chapter. • Tell me what YOU think the title means, AND reference my lecture (the next 2 slides)

18. The Title • Burgess wrote that the title was a reference to an old Cockney expression "As queer as a clockwork orange." Due to his time serving the British Colonial Office in Malaya, Burgess thought that the phrase could be used punningly to refer to a mechanically responsive (clockwork) human (orang, Malay for "person"). • Burgess wrote in his later introduction, "A Clockwork Orange Resucked," that a creature who can only perform good or evil is "a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil."

19. The Title • In his essay "Clockwork Oranges," Burgess asserts that "this title would be appropriate for a story about the application of Pavlovian, or mechanical, laws to an organism which, like a fruit, was capable of colour and sweetness." This title alludes to the protagonist's negatively conditioned responses to feelings of evil which prevent the exercise of his free will. (Wikipedia.com)