What Is A Clockwork Orange A Counterculture

The dystopian novel, A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess, was originally published in 1962. It takes place in the future, where the streets are overrun with violence and crime. The main character, Alex, commits horrible crimes, including rape and murder with his group of friends. After breaking into a house, Alex is arrested and undergoes an experiment called Ludovico’s Technique. He can no longer make immoral choices, and feels sick when he thinks about any wrongdoing. He is vulnerable and is beaten by the people he once associated with. He is then used as a symbol of the government’s corruption, but does not want to be involved with the revolution. He tries to kill himself, and the technique is undone when he wakes up in the hospital.
The book ends with Alex thinking about changing his ways, and possibly starting a family.
The book is more than just about a troublemaker teen, but can be compared to the events that were happening in the 1960s, namely, the counterculture movement and the Cold War. The 1960s were filled with a changing youth culture and global affairs. Any person living through this period was most likely affected by the changing times in some way. The novel does not specifically state the location of the book, but it can be closely compared to Britain. The cultural changes and events that were happening in Britain during the 1960s can accurately be reflected in the novel, A Clockwork Orange.

According to SparkNotes, Anthony Burgess, a British author, was inspired to write A Clockwork Orange after visiting Leningrad in 1961. He was also one of the few British citizens that had visited Russia during this time. Burgess also did not like American ideals, as he thought they were too lenient with crime. His personal beliefs and observations may have influenced some of the events that occurred within the novel (SparkNotes). Burgess used a totalitarian government in his book, which could be compared to communist Russia, and uses violence as a central theme. The International Anthony Burgess Foundation states that “Burgess was interested by this emergence of a world that had not existed in his own youth, and he anticipated the arrival of Mods and Rockers when he presented Alex and his droogs” (The International Anthony Burgess Foundation). This idea of a changing youth culture is strongly present in the book. Burgess saw Britain change over the years and he may have expressed those observations through his novel.
Possibly the most important connection found within A Clockwork Orange and British society is the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
This movement was occurring in both Britain and America, with both influencing each other. According to author Barry Miles, “the underground was a catch-all sobriquet for a community of like-minded anti-establishment, anti-war, pro-rock'n'roll individuals, most of whom had a common interest in recreational drugs” (Miles). During the time, the younger generation had more free time and money to spend. Music, drugs, and sex became popular among the youth. In A Clockwork Orange, Alex and his group have money at their disposal and lots of freedom. Alex’s parents do not question him, and mostly leave him to do what he pleases. Additionally, they are unaware that he does drugs. The adolescents in the book all drink milk laced with drugs from the Korova Milkbar. When Alex speaks to the reader, he says that “what they sold there was milk plus something else. They had no license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding some of the new veshches which they used to put in the old moloko” (Burgess 3). Alex and his gang spend much of their time at the Korova Milkbar and get high. The drug use in the book can be related to the dramatic increase of drug use by adolescents in the 60s. This counterculture also led to a generation gap that caused friction between the old and
young.
This generation gap caused a complex relationship between the youth and authority figures, which sometimes resulted in conflict.
Alex and his advisor, P.R. Deltoid, do not agree with each other and eventually, Deltoid gives up on Alex and spits on him when he is arrested. As stated previously, the counterculture in the 60s separated the young and the old. For the former, they were able to have more freedom and developed a very liberal stance. This differed from the latter, who had to fight in a war and had more conservative views. These groups became separated and resulted in a generation gap of opposite views. A Clockwork Orange shows these differences in ideals through the rebellious actions that Alex and his gang perform, such as sex and drugs. In the 60s, the older generation was not used to seeing such acts as open as they were becoming. The book exaggerates this split, resulting in the clear separation between teenagers and
adults.
This conflict had also created a fear between the two groups. David Matthews, a journalist for HistoryExtra, says that the “relationship between adults and the young, was increasingly characterized by fear and suspicion in both directions” (Matthews). In the novel, there is a clear line between the adults and adolescents. The adults are somewhat afraid because the youth are engaging in both violent and sexual acts. In the beginning of the book, Alex gives money to his parents to do something together. His father replies with, “‘we don’t go out much now. We daren’t go out that much, the streets being what they are. Young hooligans and so on’” (Burgess 54). His parents were aware of what might happen to them. This can be a comparison to the friction between the two age groups that was happening in reality. As stated by Matthews, the two groups were afraid of each other. The generation gap in the 60s had older people thinking the youths were out of control and had radical beliefs.
In addition to the fear between the two groups, the language used in the book can also be compared to the generation gap. The book uses a fictitious argot called Nadsat, which draws influence from many languages, but primarily Russian. The word, nadsat, translates roughly to teen, in Russian. Alex, at 15, speaks this language and even some of the adults comment on it, often confused. When Alex is in the jail, he asked what he will do when he is released. He responds by saying:
“Oh, I shall go home. Back to my pee and em.”
“Your-?” He didn’t get nadsat-talk at all so I said:
“To my parents in the clear old flatblock.”
“I see,” he said. (Burgess 123)
The officer did not understand the language, which is another example of the generation gap. This language further separates the youth from the adults. Martin Nixon says that “when we examine which characters speak using nadsat, it becomes readily apparent that they are of an extremely different age and social standing to those who don't” (Nixon). Nixon explains that the words and slang used differ between age groups. The vernacular used in the novel force one to identify with Alex, and see him separate from others. This further separates the ages and makes the generation gap more apparent. The counterculture of the 60s created a generation gap that can be compared to the novel through the language and actions of Alex and his gang.
Alongside the counterculture that was happening, the Cold War was ongoing, and it can be related to some of the ideas in the book. A Clockwork Orange was originally published in 1962, which was during the middle of the Cold War. Britain was not as affected by the war as some other countries, but it still made an impact on the citizens living there. SparkNotes says that “Burgess regarded communism as a fundamentally flawed system, because it shifts moral responsibility from the individual to the state while disregarding the welfare of the individual” (SparkNotes). In the book, the government requires all adults to work, and Alex’s mother works at a state-owned store. This government control has taken away the freedom of the citizens. The title, A Clockwork Orange, describes the government’s desire to take away freedom. F. Alexander, one of the revolution leaders, asks, “Will not the government itself now decide what is and is not crime and pump the life and guts and will of whoever sees fit to displease the government?” (Burgess 180). The government is trying to make everyone the same, like clockwork. The government also uses Ludovico’s Technique to take away free will. This technique prevented Alex from making any immoral decisions, resulting in a loss of choice. His freedom is gone, and likewise, a totalitarian government takes away freedom from the citizens.
While Ludovico’s Technique can be compared to the lack of freedom to those living under a communistic country, Nadsat, once again, can also be linked to the Cold War, specifically, the spread of communism. As stated earlier, Burgess drew from many languages when creating Nadsat, but Russian was the main influence. This Russian influence could be compared to the fact that communism was spreading, and possibly infiltrating other countries. Nadsat is spoken by a small population in the book, and that could be linked to the idea that communism was slowly spreading to the West, including Britain.
In addition to the central events of the counterculture and Cold War, the novel can also be connected to other happenings during the 60s. SparkNotes states that Alex and his gang were influenced by two groups of the time, the Stilyagi, and the Teddy Boys. The former was a group that Burgess had seen while in Leningrad. He had, “encountered… gangs of thuggish Russian teenagers. While Burgess was eating dinner at a restaurant one night, a group of bizarrely dressed teenagers pounded on [his] door” (SparkNotes). The latter was a popular subculture in Britain in the late 50s to early 60s. This group eventually evolved into the Mods and Rockers in the mid-60s. The “Teddy Boys were the first real high profile rebel teenagers, who flaunted their clothes and attitude like a badge, It comes as no surprise then that the media was quick to paint them as a menace” (Teddy Boys). Alex’s group cared a lot about their appearances, and made sure to dress in the style popular with teenagers, as described by:
The four of us were dressed in the heighth of fashion, which was in those days was a pair of very black tights with the old jelly mould, as we called it… Then we wore waisty jackets without lapels but with these way big built-up shoulders. (Burgess 4)
Like the Stilyagi and Teddy Boys, Alex, and his group were all somewhat defined by their fashion. In the 60s, these groups were popular with rebellious teenagers. These subcultures were edgy and sometimes engaged in violence, similar to Alex and his group. This new youth culture and fashion further sets apart the age difference, adding more evidence to the idea that the generation gap was reflected in the book. Both of these cliques share similarities with Alex, as they were all gangs with a unique style, and had a reputation for violence. The book has a strong theme of violence associated with it, which could be a result of the heightened crime at the time. The crime that occurs in the book could be compared to the increasing crime rates in Britain. The crime levels in the 1960s were much higher than the levels during the previous years. Parliament.uk says that:
During the 1960s there was an acceleration in recorded crime: it was the only decade in the century where crime doubled. Crime continued to rise according to this measure for much of the remainder of the 20th century, with an average of over one million crimes recorded each year in the 1960s. (Parliament.uk)
In the book, Alex and his gang often engage in very violent acts. In the first chapter of the book, Alex beats a kid walking by himself with no reason. In the following chapters, he rapes and murders F. Alexander’s wife. While the violence in the book is exaggerated to the actual crime rates in Britain, it can easily represent the shift that was happening. People were not used to seeing or hearing about this new surge in youth delinquency. The overstated crime in the book could be paralleled to the fact that crime had increased a dramatic amount in the 60s. The crime was also one of the causes of the tension between the adults and youth, which is prevalent throughout the book. The youth criminality is more of a literal comparison between the book and reality.
Along with the violence, sexual themes are present through the book. As stated in the previous paragraph, Alex rapes F. Alexander’s wife in the beginning of the book. In a later chapter, Alex rapes two other girls in his room. According to Kimberley Watson, a writer for Historic UK, sexual views in Britain were more conservative, until the 60s. The pill was legalized which vindicated women, and made sex more recreational (Watson). The depiction of sex could be related to the fact that it was becoming more accepted in society. It was probably somewhat shocking for the older, more conservative group, to suddenly see such sexual themes in mainstream media. Sex was a minor theme in the novel, but in the 60s, the reality was that it was becoming a more open topic. The book, A Clockwork Orange, reflected many of the cultural changes that were found in the 1960s, especially the effects of the counterculture and the Cold War. The language, violence, drugs, sex, and crime that all occur in the novel, can be compared to events that were happening in Britain during the 60s. History and literature complement each other, and this book proves that literature can reflect the culture of the time.