In the 1960’s our developing world faces many of it’s impurities. The youth of this nation fight for equal right, equality of the races and freedom of speech. But not all the protests are legal. Many people are guilty of treason and must be punished but with an over crowded prison system were will these political prisoners be sent. The common criminals are flooding the system with there petty robbers, assaults and murders. We need to deal with the common criminal before we can deal with the political.
The novel The Clockwork Orange written by Anthony Burgess depicts the life of a child of the night (Alex). Him and his droogs (friends) see life as something worthless as they rape, assault and murder their way though their teenage-hood. To help cure this problem the government comes up with a new way a deal with criminals. This method included the relation between crime and physical pain. The method is first used on Alex when he was arrested. It works and he is released into society a violence free man.
In the end Alex grows out of the treatment and goes back on a crime spree. He continues this until he grows out of teenage hood. The novel itself is well written, though it is a hard read. It contains over 200 Russian words that the reader must decipher themselves due to the fact that Anthony Burgess will not allow a glossary in any of his printings. The novel which is narrated by the man character pulls you into his life and shows the reader what goes through the mind of the criminally insane.
The flow of the novel is easy to follow with little confusion on what is in each section. Many insights can be derived from this book and it can be used to support many different topics. A well rounded book that gives the reader wanting more. The power of youth is growing in the 60’s. Teenager fight for their rights but when they have nothing more to fight for they will need something else to do. Most teens when bored turn to drug and crime as a source of pleasure. To deal with this me must stop it by sending the youth to correctional facilities.
When these don’t work adult punishments must be given. But what if we could trace back into the mind and find why we commit crimes. The Clockworks Orange first tries to help us understand why one commits a crime. No one will ever understand why someone would want to kills or rape or assault anyone. There may never be an answer for it. Some people like the feeling most guess. With this in mind there must be a way to counteract this good feeling. Once we understand why we must find a way to treat the criminals.
Many governments, monarchy and dictatorships have tried to deal with this problem. The government within the novel tries to associated physical pain to the idea of violence. Some scientists believe the reason one turns to violence is because it makes the individual feel good, that it satisfies a hungry (even sexually needs). This method works in te novel but has side effects just like all other methods. It leaves the individual helpless in all threatening situations. The method of criminal control fails just like many that have in real life.