Link to original post: http://agingerjournal.blogspot.com/2012/12/open-prompt-4-12912.html
1972 in retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.
The Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess opens with Alex and his droogs drinking and planning out their evening. But this seemingly normal evening spirals into something much darker and more complex, showcasing themes and messages that appear thought the rest of the book. Free will, violence, and opposition.
After Alex and his friends finish drinking they try to figure out what to do with their night . From this simple decision Alex exercises free will in the form of his thoughts and actions. Anthony Burgess puts priority on "freedom to choose being the greatest human attribute" - that this presence of moral choice sets humans apart. Alex displays this theme on several occasions when making choices. For example, after leaving the milk bar he and his friends beat up an elderly professor, lie about it to the police officers, and goes out again to rob a corner store and beats the shopkeeper and his wife. This sets up how Alex's free will and immoral choices steer him towards a path paved with rape, theft, and violence. This idea is carried on later in the book as Alex makes a series of decisions that take him down a different path - he chooses to volunteer for the government experiment, he chooses to visit his mother and father again (who are still too frightened by his pervious actions to choose to accept him back into their lives), and when he chooses to look past his previous history and start a "normal" life at the end of the book.
Leading into the next theme, violence. The obviously example of violence shown would be when Alex and his gang assault the old man, rip his clothes, and destroy his books; when they attack and steal from the shopkeeper and his wife, who are later hospitalized. This theme creates the start to a chain of violent rapes, murders, beating, and betrayals; illustrated in the chapters to come. His acts of violence come back to haunt him when Alex is unable to defend himself and ends up seeking refuge from his old gang buddies, finding safety in the house of the man whose wife he raped and killed. Upon discovering Alex's true identity the man attempts to drive Alex to suicide. Furthermore, after Alex is released from an government experiment, unable to commit violence, he is beaten up at the hands of his old gang buddies. The once violent youth has his past power turned against him, illustrating that violence can crop in a variety of different ways.
The chain is carried on with the theme of opposition. No matter the circumstances, Alex is always up against something. Whether its Alex vs. the government, Alex vs. the police, Alex vs. his victims, Alex vs. his droogs, Alex vs. himself, etc., he always faces a force that sides against him. In the first chapter Alex is mostly up against his victims - as he and his gang beat and rape and steal. After committing these crimes he and his buddies come back to bar to drink, and end up lying to some police officers about their whereabouts to cover up their crimes. This sets the theme for Alex vs. the government, something that will repeat itself throughout the rest of the book as Alex is sent to jail, undergoes the experimental treatments, and is beat up by police men when he is thrust back into society, utterly defenseless. Whether Alex faces an internal or external struggle he always faces some sort of opposition.
This opposition, coupled with violence, free will set up in the first chapter only hint at the inner workings and atrocities hidden in its pages. But as Alex and his droogs sit down to plan out their evening, little do they know that not only are they setting up themes for the rest of the novel, but prompting countless reflections from readers in the years to come. As A Clockwork Orange stands the test of time as a classic piece of literature, the themes illustrated in the novel also mirror things we face in our own lives, namely: opposition, violence, and free will.
