full title A Clockwork Orange
author John Anthony Burgess Wilson (Anthony Burgess)
type of work Novella
genre Dystopia; philosophical novel; social satire; black
comedy
language English
time and place written 1958–1961, England
date of first publication 1962
publisher W.W. Norton & Company
narrator Alex narrates A Clockwork Orange immediately
after the events of the novel.
point of view The narrator speaks in the first person, subjectively
describing only what he sees, hears, thinks, and experiences.
tone Irreverent; comical; hateful; playful; juvenile
tense Past, though in the last few paragraphs the narrator
switches to present tense
setting (time) The not-so-distant future
setting (place) A large town or small city in England, as well as an
English countryside village
protagonist Alex
major conflict Alex asserts himself against the State, which seeks
to suppress his freedom by psychologically removing his power to
make free choices.
rising action Alex commits several violent crimes that disrupt the
order of the State.
climax Alex is apprehended by the police and sent to jail,
where he eventually undergoes behavioral conditioning that kills
his capacity for violence.
falling action Alex becomes a being incapable of making moral decisions,
and he is caught up in a political struggle between the current government
and a cabal of revolutionaries.
themes The inviolability of free will; the necessity of commitment;
the inherent evil of government; “duality as the ultimate reality”
motifs Nadsat; classical music; Christ
symbols Milk; synthemesc, vellocet and drencrom (hallucinogenic
drugs); night/darkness; day/lightness
foreshadowing In Part One, Chapter 1, Alex foreshadows more violence
before the night’s end by telling us that the “night is still very
young.” In Part One, Chapter 3, the names Gitterfenster and Bettzeug foreshadow
Alex’s impending imprisonment and suicide attempt, respectively.
In Part One, Chapter 5, Alex foreshadows the parallels between himself
and Christ, which will continue throughout the novel, and shape
the novel’s three-part structure. In Part One, Chapter 5 Alex foreshadows
his apprehension by the police, as well as everything else that
befalls him, when he tells us that he leads his droogs to his doom.
In Part Two, Chapter 7, Alex foreshadows the conflict in Part Three
between the State and F. Alexander’s faction of political dissidents
when he tells us that his mention of F. Alexander’s manuscript “A
Clockwork Orange” hushes the room for a minute.
