The choice between good and evil is a
decision every man must make throughout his life in order to guide his actions
and control his future. This element of
choice, no matter what the outcome, displays man's power as an individual. Any efforts to control or influence this
choice between good and evil will in turn govern man's free will and enslave
him. In the novel A Clockwork
Orange, the author uses symbolism through
imagery, the characterization of Alex, and the first person narrative point of
view to prove that without the ability to choose between good and evil, Man
becomes powerless as an individual.
The
symbolism through imagery proves how Alex's ability to choose between good and
evil is his ascendancy over the innocent and the weak. The first symbol is the music to which he
listens and loves. It is the only thing
in Alex's life that he truly cares for.
This music represents the element of his choice and free will. When his ability of choice is robbed in an
attempt to better him, he loses his love for music in which he exclaims, "And all the time the music got more and
more gromky, like it was all a deliberate torture, O my brothers . . . then I jumped"(131). The music that represents his freedom to
choose is now gone. He is left without
any reason to live. When he realizes that
he is no longer a man because of his absence of choice, Alex decides to end his
life. The author illustrates through Alex's
violent actions, how they represent his abuse of power through his freedom of
choice. Alex consistently chooses evil
as a means to display his power over the innocent and the good. While beating and raping a young girl, he
states with pride, "So he did the strong-man on the devotchka, who was
still creeching away . . . in very
horrorshow groodies"(22). This
proves that he feels he must display his power through his abuse of
choice. His love for violence symbolises
his abuse of power as an evil trait, but his love for music symbolises his
human side. In the end of the story Alex
decides that he is ready to become a man.
During this rapid evolution from adolescence to manhood, Alex chooses a
wife, a family, a life, and in essence
he chooses good for the first time in the story. "There was your humble narrator . .
. I knew what was happening, O my
brothers. I was growing up"(147). Alex realizes that he may choose good and
still maintain a strong element of choice.
He becomes stronger because he now has a broader selection to choose
from. He sees that the abuse of the
ability of choice is not what makes Man powerful. It is instead, the realization that the
choice between good and evil, no matter what decision, is the power within Man.
Using the characterization of Alex, it effectively illustrates how the element of
choice is linked to the power within man.
The author uses violence to represent the abuse of power when the right
of free will is controlled. Alex
believes that his decision towards evil proves his freedom of choice;
subsequently it also proves his abuse of the power within him. The violent acts described are graphic and
are intended to shock the reader. They
also show that the suppression of others is wrong, because it is destructive to
the natural rights of man. He
consistently chooses evil and violence to show his power of choice, "And now I was ready for a bit of
twenty-to-one . . . then I cracked this
veck"(7). Alex beats, rapes, robs
and pillages the weak and innocent to prove domination and control, thus
proving his choice towards evil. In a society that "lets the young get on
to the old . . . there's no law nor
order no more"(14). He takes on a
role of authority in a society of anarchy, and uses violence to portray his
abuse of this ascendancy over the weak.
Although he is impervious to the choice of good, Alex does not remain
ignorant to this choice throughout the entire novel. In the beginning, he believes that violence
is the only way to prove his control.
This then leads to his loss of control through the loss of his ability
of choice. Only in the very end does
Alex finally evolve and become a well-rounded character. He realizes that he does not have to choose
evil and abuse his position to prove his right of choice. Proven is his freedom to decide between good
and evil. "But where I itty now, O
my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet
flowers"(148). Alex now knows that
his future is open for his choices to lead him.
For good or for evil, it is his right to decide, and this is what truly
proves his power. Through these thoughts
narrated by Alex, he illustrates how horrible it is to be powerless and how it
proves through characterization that man develops power through the element of
choice.
These thoughts and feelings prove that
through a first person narrative point of view, the author is able to
effectively demonstrate how the element of choice is essential to man. Throughout the story, Alex is the narrator
for the reader. The only feelings and
insight originate from Alex's point of view.
This view is very biased and one sided,
thus evoking a sense of sympathy and compassion from the reader. Even though he commits horrible,
senseless acts of violence, they are
lightened by his narrated thoughts to prove his control. Alternatively, any attempt to control Alex is shown as a
horrendous attack and abuse of power.
When the ability to choose independently between good and evil is
stripped from Alex, he realises the importance of choice to his rights as an
individual. "I was not your
handsome young narrator any longer, but a real strack of a
sight"(55). Alex has lost all of his rights and control of
himself, which leads to his loss of self respect. He has now lost what gave him ascendancy over
the weak, his free will and ability of choice.
As stated in the story, "goodness is chosen from within"(67). When choice is forced, man no longer has any
power within himself. He is told from
the prison warden, "When a man
cannot choose, he ceases to be a man"(67).
After being told, Alex is still able to sign over his rights as an
individual. In each stage, his point of
view proves how he loses his natural power as he loses his choice. When Alex regains his ability to decide
between good and evil, he narrates,
"And there was the slow movement and the lovely last singing . .
. I was cured all right"(139). Through this thought, he proves power through
the ability of choice. He once again
decides upon evil to display his power through violence. This thought is crucial to the reader's
understanding of how close the ability of choice is related to individual
power. The demonstration of his free
will and his loss of power through the absence of choice is effectively
accomplished through the use of first person narration.
Throughout this story, choice has proven many aspects of power and it's
abuse. Through strong symbols in
imagery, Alex's characterization, and his point of view, the absence of choice
is proven as the most debilitating and most overlooked depravation of man's
individual power. In everyone's life,
the struggle for power exists in all situations. The decision between good and evil is the
power that anyone must have as an individual.
The choice of which path to take is dependant on the person and the
situation, but the realization that both exist is a power unto itself.
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