Literature – censorship and banning and Effects of reading “violent” or “obscene” literature During adolescent years, the human mind is susceptible to becoming highly influenced by the knowledge that it acquires and therefore it is quite reasonable that what information it receives is controlled. However, once at reaching maturity in the adult phase, a person can successfully determine for themselves whether to read something and implement it in their life or not. Themes and controversial material – explicit portrayal of violence/sexual themes The dystopian tale of ultra-violence A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess caused the author much discontent as out of the more than fifty works he published during his lifetime, it was the book that …show more content…
Thus, conveyed in simpler terms, people are always on a quest for happiness. Society continuously expresses that to find true and inner peace in life one must ‘do what makes them happy’. However this quest for happiness comes with many strings attached. If one person’s ambitions become contradictory with the physical and emotional well-being of many, then that person is accused of being a criminal against society. Therefore, the interests of the society as a whole are put before the goals of one person. Sometimes, if not at all times, this is necessary as we see in A Clockwork Orange where Alex finds pleasure in ultra-violence and sexual assault along with his three droogs –Pete, Georgie and Dim. As the four companions run around town committing heinous crimes and cunningly evading the law, one this becomes extremely clear that they must be stopped from causing any further harm to the innocent citizens at any cost. But the questions arises that ‘is this cost a person’s freedom to choose their own fate?’ Alex apprehension by the government and making him face the punishment for all his past crimes …show more content…
‘We are not concerned with motive, with the higher ethics. We are concerned only with cutting down crime –’” This becomes a Christian allegory of free will. Alex has to change his ways and turn towards the path of goodness but he must choose to be good. He must learn and be capable of growth instead of becoming a wound-up toy others can play with and change however they like. To say that what happened to him was wrong is not the same as saying that what he did was right. It was absolutely necessary for a threat to the public like him to be neutralised, but Burgess suggests that the way in which he was dealt with was not completely correct. Cinematic adaptations by Stanley Kubrick and differences between the books and films Both the books, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and Vladimir Nabokov’s were adapted into films by one of the most influential and critically acclaimed directors of Hollywood, Stanley Kubrick. The two films were heavily censored due to the fact that the type of violence and sexuality presented in books if translated into the films would cause major uproar among the public and critics. Causes of the dissimilarities What is appropriate and