Social Dimensions in the Novel A Clockwork Orange By Anthony Burgess
As far as the subject of our analysis is considered, we have decided to discuss a dialogue from the novel A Clockwork Orange by English writer Anthony Burgess. The story is a bizarre and dystopian insight into the near- future town in Britain. The main protagonist, a 14-year-old young boy, Alex de Large, is a leader of a gang of adolescent thugs whose favorite hobby is all-night rides full of beatings and sexual violence. Soon enough, Alex is imprisoned after committing a murder and being in prison he is imposed to the so-called “Ludovico Treatment Therapy” which results in making him feel nauseous whenever he thinks of acting on sexual or violent urge. For our purposes we have chosen an introductory dialogue between Alex and his social worker, Mr. Deltoid, a day after the night when Alex and his friends had beaten up an old man and boys from the rival gang. As far as the setting is concerned, the conversation takes place at Alex’s parents’ place in a supposed-to-be near future:
I heard a goloss shouting through the door: “Come on then, get out of it, I know you are in bed.” I recognized the goloss right away. It was the goloss of P.R. Deltoid, what they called my Post-Corrective Adviser. When I opened up he came shambling in looking shagged, a battered old shlapa on his gulliver, his raincoat filthy. “Ah, Alex boy,” he said to me. “I met your mother, yes. She said something about a pain somewhere. Hence not at school, yes.”
“A rather intolerable pain in the head, brother, sir, “ I said in my gentleman’s goloss. “I think it should clear by this afternoon.”