ipl-logo

Allusions In A Clockwork Orange

1245 Words5 Pages

A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess, deals with the essence of humanity and morality. Being difficult topics to grapple with, many turn to a religious perspective to inform their beliefs on these subjects. Burgess himself is a strongly Catholic individual and this ideology shows through in the ideas presented by A Clockwork Orange. The book contains a number of allusions to the Bible, Jesus and God’s intentions for humanity. These religious references build upon each other to develop Burgess’ notion that God created humans with free will, and how this leaves humankind flawed and prone to evil tendences. Though, despite this, humanity’s free will is the most important thing to both God and humanity itself. Burgess sees humans as beings …show more content…

Ironically, the foundation of Burgess’ argument is laid towards the end of the book, on page 203. This allusion describes how God, or Bog as our anti-hero Alex calles him, is supervising everything that is happening and how he is holding events to their course. In this same page, Burgess, through Alex, describes people as being like wind up toys set in motion by God to bump into obstacles and find their path. Based on this passage, Burgess seems to believe that God set things in motion in a purposeful way, and that he created people with free will so that they could go out and exercise it and find their way in life. Using allusions to God’s omnipotence, Burgess lays out his belief that it is God’s intention for humans to have free …show more content…

When encountered early in the book, the implication of this religious imagery is not fully apparent. However, once viewed in the context of the later Christian allusions found in A Clockwork Orange, it becomes clear that this is the proclamation of Burgess’ intent in this novel. Burgess views humanity as an organic thing, full of great potential to please God, and he sees the implication of conditioning, specifically, or more generally anything that would sap the essential ability of humans to choose, as a detriment to God’s

Show More
Related

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

    707 Words  | 3 Pages

    The title of the short story is “The Yellow Wallpaper” and in fact, the vile wallpaper that the narrator hates is a huge ideogram in the story. “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892. As the narrator she goes on to tell a story of how she lived with her caring husband who is also her physician after giving birth. Even though she may be a woman with a high social placement, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” goes insane for many different reasons such as tonics, depression and isolation. To start with she is constantly having to take tonic’s each hour in the day.

    Read More

  • Essay On Bishop Tond Brown

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Bishop Tod Brown’s letter to the church of Orange titled, “Reverencing and Defending the Value of All Human Life,” Bishop Brown writes to his dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord to subtlety persuade them to vote yes for proposition 85. Through diction, tone, and allusions, Bishop Brown, carefully and effectively nudges and sways his people of the Church to choose a certain position on certain propositions in the upcoming election. Without stating out straight forward his bare message, Bishop Brown uses certain words to appeal to his audience, a seemingly holy and encouraging tone of importance, and careful allusions to reach out to his people and guide them in a certain direction. Through diction and tone, Bishop Brown is able to sway his fellow people into seeing things a certain way. By using “loaded” words, or

    Read More

  • Ap English Literature Allusion Essay

    477 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moreover, all authors uses allusion to explain and support that education is the key to life itself. Prose states, “Maya Angelou and Harper Lee are not the only authors on the list... The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Catcher in the Rye, John Steinbeck.” She giving example of famous authors, and the book they have wrote. How, these book are the best novels to read, get a lesson from.

    Read More

  • Good Over Evil In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

    1182 Words  | 5 Pages

    Each soul born into this life affects people and makes contributions in their sphere of influence. While some people contribute in positive ways striving each day to be kind, caring for others and upholding high morals and standards of society, others seem destined to pass each day hurting people while breaking society's written and unwritten rules for behavior. Free will gives people the capacity to make daily decisions that will determine their destiny and allows people to choose “good over evil.” The idea of free will is also known as tishmel, a Hebrew word meaning “Thou mayest” choose. Tishmel is a significant word to humankind because it offers hope of redemption for all souls.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jonathon Edward's Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    1039 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, the Humanists believed differently, they emphasized what the man can do himself and for others; this is how they please God (Lawson “The Revolutionary Period and the Age of Reason Background”). In present day, it seems that humanity does good deeds to help make a better world; however, people can be selfish and afraid of consequences that make them do well for themselves in certain situations.

    Read More

  • Humanism In Brave New World Essay

    1022 Words  | 5 Pages

    Today, this would sound awful and would be awful. Even the protagonist in the novel knows this and states, “We are the dead” (Orwell 176) and “We are not human” (165). In Brave New World, the society to them is beautiful. The pleasure of sex and taking drugs is beautiful. This is all based on humanistic beliefs and not biblical ones.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Free Will In E. O. Wilson's Altruism

    803 Words  | 4 Pages

    In St. Augustine’s Confessions the origin of freewill is found as Augustine describes the ways in which humans are evil because of our ability to make the decision to sin. Augustine affirms that, although God is omniscient, humans can still make conscious decisions along

    Read More

  • Ernest Hemingway Foreshadowing Analysis

    250 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hemingway uses details of natural and manufactured setting to foreshadow nick and marjories break up and to emphasize their differences. As nick and marjorie pass through Hortons Bay, there are several ways Hemingway foreshadows the break up by marjorie talking about their old ruin and nick responds by saying "there it is. " Marjorie has a different viewpoint on the relationship rather then nick. Marjorie also said "It seems more like a castle" while nick responds by saying nothing. Marjorie is viewing this like a fairy tale.

    Read More

  • Genesis 1 Research Paper

    1021 Words  | 5 Pages

    Because of this, we can spiritually participate in God’s creation in a way that exceeds the physical and spiritual capabilities of other creatures. Also, because humans have a free nature, and the ability to think consciously and conscientiously, all of these actions have moral

    Read More

  • Pico Della Mirandola Vs Machiavelli Essay

    488 Words  | 2 Pages

    He believed that “how [humans] live is so far removed from how we ought to live,” and that does not help us learn and

    Read More

  • Monotheistic Religion

    678 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the meantime religious is of significance as a guidance for secular life that The Bible regulate human’s conduct such as the Ten Commandments (Aitken1968). God presents the objective moral values in the world. In terms of the Christian theist, it reflects to the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions. ‘They make the existence of a god more probable than it would have been without them’ and hence produce a defensible argument from morality to the existence of God (Mackie 1982, 115-6). From Richard Dawkins’s perspective, our morality has a Darwinian explanation that ‘altruistic genes, selected through the process of evolution, give people natural empathy’ (Dawkins 2009, 209-226).

    Read More

  • Epictetus In Shakespeare's As You Like It, Act II Scene VII

    537 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps, if he was a minister, he might go so far as to consider it his ‘mission statement’. It is obvious the philosopher believes we have no control over our destiny. In his collected writings, known as The Handbook, he tells us we are merely ‘actors in a play [we] did not write.’ (788) He believes we must accept our parts and fulfill them to the best of our abilities, whether our lives be long or short, happy or filled with misery.

    Read More

  • Clockwork Orange Wrongness

    1941 Words  | 8 Pages

    “Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?” (Burgess 95). In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess suggests that man struggles with choice. Though it is those struggles and choices made from grappling that make man human.

    Read More

  • The Garden Of Eden Story In The Book Of Genesis

    345 Words  | 2 Pages

    Based on the Garden of Eden story, humans have various features from different aspects. Human nature is the typical characteristics that human beings are born with. It is inherent and unavoidable. Some of the characteristics are good and some are not. When humans face a choice in a situation, how to make a decision will reflect their humanities.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Sun Also Rises By Hemingway

    626 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway depicts the male ego as fragile and damaged, especially damaged in between the two world wars. Jake, rendered impotent, is the obvious symbol; nonetheless, all of the men encompass the struggle of the diminished male ego. In the quote above, the introduction of a homosexual party exacerbates the sense of male insecurity even further. Jake entered the bar alone. He saw a group of young men, “some in jerseys and some in their shirtsleeves, got out.

    Read More

More about Allusions In A Clockwork Orange

Open Document