IndexIntroductionThe Coming of Age Genre or Bildung FictionA Clockwork OrangeConclusionIntroductionA Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a novel that explores the nature of youth, and in particular the ability of a young person to grow, change and develop. In the case of Burgess's narrative, the central character is called Alex, and the reader follows him as he engages in senseless acts of violence with his group known as the Droogs. When Alex is incarcerated, however, he is subjected to an experimental technique, known as the Ludovico treatment, intended to "cure" his extremely violent tendencies. Although this appears to have been successful, Alex is once again "cured" by his reprogramming, something which causes his violent impulses to return. Basically, it's only when Alex sees two of his former gang members who have grown up and become police officers that he begins to feel like he actually wants to change his behavior and become a productive member of society. Consequently, it is possible to argue that a key element of the novel concerns the way in which it juxtaposes the type of forced conversion that Alex is forced to undergo, with a real situation of growth and development, something that only happens as a result of a change in life interior of a person. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The difference between these two types of change, one of which is forced on Alex by scientists attempting to "cure" him, and the other of what occurs as a result of his own action and growing maturity, plays a key role in whether or not we can understand A Clockwork Orange as a conventional coming-of-age narrative. To investigate this, it is necessary to first investigate the precise qualities of the coming of age genre itself, and then understand how Burgess's novel does or does not meet these criteria. The Coming of Age genre or the Bildung narrativeThe so- The so-called coming of age genre is closely linked to the bildung narrative or the "formation" narrative. Typically this type of narrative is linked to the novel, in particular to the so-called Bildungsroman. This narrative dates back to the late 18th century, including novels such as Goethe's The Apprenticeship of Wilmhem Meister. Typically, these novels involve characters transitioning from a state of young adulthood to a state of maturity and encountering a series of challenges, obstacles, and disappointments along the way. It is through these challenges, however, that the individuals in question are able to progress and become well-rounded, well-rounded people. In this sense, then, a clearly important aspect of the coming of age genre concerns the way in which an individual protagonist, or in this case the antihero, relates to the world around him and to various social conventions and institutions. According to Melissa Gelinas, therefore, a key element of any coming-of-age story is the way in which it provides the reader or audience with an “in-depth relationship with the protagonist of the text” but also an “understanding of the cultural criticisms” of the author, examined through the protagonist and his peers”. In this sense, a typical coming-of-age narrative is one in which a person progresses from immaturity to maturity and in which, as a result of this process, an author is able to demonstrate his or her own perspective on the various institutions and social situations he or she confronts with the protagonist. It is important to emphasize, however, that the coming of age narrative is not simply limited to a combination of satire and personal experience. Rather, there are important conventions relating to the nature of the transformation that aprotagonist undergoes, and also relating to the way in which this transformation occurs and precisely what it is about character changing. Gelinas, for example, expands his discussion of Bildung narrative by stating that there are three key elements through which one should understand the relationship between the protagonist and the world within an adequate representation of such a narrative. She states that the first of these factors involves the idea that “the protagonist is represented in the process of becoming – her gradual attainment of a sense of self, as part of a larger world is crucial”. According to this point, it is crucial that the protagonist of the Bildungsroman comes to understand himself as part of something that is bigger than himself, but also as something in which he must participate in order to have a sense of self. Secondly, Gelinas argues that the true Bildungsroman will be a narrative in which "the changes that occur" in the protagonist will acquire "narrative meaning", in the sense that, in one way or another, the fact that the protagonist of the narrative has reached a new state of maturity will have to directly impact the world of the novel as a whole. Finally, Gelinas argues that the world of the novel itself must be “presented as a place of potential learning and awakening,” meaning that the reader must believe that the protagonist will be able to continue to make his or her own way in the world by following his or her own development or development. . their reaching maturity. According to this way of thinking, therefore, it is not possible for a true Bildungsroman to focus on a social outcast or someone who is completely against society. Rather, this narrative form must involve someone who eventually becomes a member of society and who is never so isolated from society that he is unable to live or work within it. While the traditional conventions of Bildungsromans are clearly important when considering A Clockwork Orange it is also important to note the challenges to these conventions, particularly in relation to those who argue for a different approach to the Bildungsroman in relation to the modern world. For example, Edward Engelberg argues that modern versions of the coming of age genre may actually involve several generations of the same family or group of people, and that it is more important for these people to engage in what he calls a "trial and error war." mistakes with experience”. ” rather than being successful in their goals. Rather, according to Engelberg, the most important aspect of such a modern coming-of-age tale is its ability to ensure that the reader comes to glimpse some kind of development or possible change in the world, even if this development does not actually occur successfully. . In this sense, to understand whether or not A Clockwork Orange should be understood as a coming-of-age narrative, it is necessary to understand both how it meets the traditional criteria for such a narrative and, also, how it can be seen as a challenge. A Clockwork Orange The beginning of A Clockwork Orange clearly establishes Alex as both the narrator and the antihero of the novel. It also seems to suggest that Alex is clearly immature and is essentially a delinquent who has little interest in anything other than hedonistic pursuits. The opening of the song makes this trait of his character evident, as it describes his desire to get drunk and commit acts of violence. Specifically, Burgess writes that drinking something can "give you a nice little horror show for fifteen minutes admiring Bog and all his holy angels and saints in your left shoe with the light exploding all over your mog." The hint in this passage is clearly that Alex enjoys recreational drugs as they allow him to have intense psychedelic experiences. Thedesire to have such experiences can typically be associated with a youthful, immature and hedonistic attitude. Importantly, as is an important convention of the coming of age narrative as discussed, this feature of Alex's behavior likely also relates to Burgess's views. about the world, and in particular about a society that encourages such hedonism. Alex explicitly states that although there is a law against alcohol, there is no law against drinking milk mixed with drugs. He then also goes on to comment that taking these drugs will also allow him to "sharpen" him to commit acts of violence. This violence forms a key part of how Alex's character is presented, and Burgess makes it clear that it is only pursued for the sake of entertainment. Discussing the violence the Droogs will commit, Alex states that his pockets were so full of money that "there was no need, from the point of view of accumulating more money, to kick some old veck in an alley and lick him while swimming in the water. his own blood” but, “as they say, money is not everything.” Through this description of the violence that Alex will be happy to commit, it is clear that he is motivated by a purely hedonistic desire, something that serves no purpose outside of his enjoyment. In this way, Burgess establishes a connection between Alex's hedonic drug use and his hedonic enjoyment of violence, as drugs facilitate violence. It can be argued that this fact demonstrates that, as in a conventional coming-of-age narrative, Burgess uses elements of his story to criticize the superficial nature of society, something which, he believes, actively encourages the violence in which Alex engages. As such, in addition to showing Alex's inherently immature nature at the beginning of the novel, this initial depiction of violence ties A Clockwork Orange to the coming of age genre as a whole. The first section of the novel is dedicated to showing the hedonistic activities of Alex and the other Droogs, activities which culminated in Alex's arrest and incarceration following the murder of an elderly woman and after being betrayed by other members of his group whom he had humiliated in a previous brawl, which broke out after they attempted to usurp him as leader of the gang. After his arrest, Alex is subjected to the "Ludovico Technique" which aims to permanently change his behavior and make it impossible for him to act on his violent tendencies, as well as his sexual desires, making him associate any thought of carrying out violent or sexual acts with a deep feeling of terror and nausea. In a sense, it is evident that this technique is intended to produce a “change” in Alex that would be, in one way or another, similar to the kind of change a person would undergo in the conventional coming-of-age narrative, in how much it would allow him to be a functional member of society, to overcome his violent impulses, and to stop treating people as if they were simply objects of his entertainment. At the same time, however, it is also clear that the change the technique brings to Alex is false and does not come from any real growth or maturity on his part. Rather, Alex is treated as if he were simply a mechanical object to be reprogrammed. Rather than actually facilitating his personal development, therefore, it can be argued that the Ludovico Technique is another aspect of Burgess's social criticism throughout the novel. The nature of this criticism is easier to understand when considering Burgess's views on the novel form. as a whole and on its ownrelationship with other social issues. According to Charles Sumner, Burgess argued that novels themselves were an expression of a society that valued individual freedom and that without this freedom it would be impossible to write novels. According to this reading, therefore, it is possible to consider Alex's initial resistance to what he has to undergo in the Ludovico Technique as heroic in a certain sense, since it allows him to maintain his individuality against a social institution that wants to reduce him to the level of a pure machine . Sumner writes, for example, that “in maintaining his individual self despite government efforts to erase it, Alex defends the raw human material that constitutes him. Burgess sees this as necessary for the survival of the fiction.” According to Sumner's reading of the novel, this "raw material", while it may be profoundly violent in Alex's case, is something that should be preserved and should not simply be programmed out of a person, no matter how violent he may be. be his behavior. This is because Sumner believes that Burgees wants to defend the beauty of individuality, no matter how horrible it may be. At points in the central section of the novel, during which Alex is subjected to the technique, it is certainly true that he appears to be an individual who believes he is resisting authority and engaged in a sort of heroic rebellion that preserves individuality in the face of 'social institution that wishes to make all people equal. In a passage where he reflects on his treatment by the prison system, Alex states that “the non-self cannot have evil, that is, those in the government, judges and schools cannot allow evil because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the history of brave and evil men who fight these great machines?”. According to his thinking in this passage, Alex is subjected to the Ludovico Technique by a social institution that wishes to erase all traces of individuality and create a situation in which people are reduced to "non-selves" instead of actual human personalities . . By resisting the transformations he undergoes, Alex gains a sense of self-understanding. It is important to underline, therefore, that the Ludovico Technique is not the only significant change that occurs in Alex at this stage of the novel. Rather, the fact of being subjected to the technique also leads him to reflect on the nature of society and to acquire a specific sense of self. At this stage, however, this sense of self is not exactly the sense one would expect to find in a conventional coming-of-age drama, as it is not a sense based on an understanding of Alex as an individual who is part of a larger world. Rather, Alex simply considers himself oppressed by the world, which means that he is clearly not yet ready to integrate into it and grow accordingly. At other points in the narrative, Alex makes it clear that other people the government stands upon attempting to change remain resistant to their treatment and express an essential individuality that cannot be taken away from them. He states for example that “of course some of the malchicks living in the 18th had, as might be expected, embellished and decorated the aforementioned large painting with a pencil and ballpoint pen, adding hair and stiff sticks and dirty slogans inflated out of the dignified rots of these nagoy (naked, that is) cheenas and vecks”. In this sense, it is clear that Alex is not the only individual who feels resistant to being forcibly changed. Indeed, at this point in the novel it is possible to argue that Burgess is almost writing a satirical version of a coming-of-age story or bildungsroman. This satire lies in the fact that, instead of stimulating a.