A Clockwork Orange is overall a very difficult read for me, so looking into more of the form and genre of the book was very therapeutic for me. As Jake mentioned in Blog 1, he mentions the book as a: “dystopian, satirical black, comedy.” Along with that, A Clockwork Orange is also science fiction. In total, this book has four different genres. Also, as Butler mentions in Cinema of the Mind, this is very much like omni-sensual cinema (pg1). Burgess does a great job at initiating all of our senses in the first couple of chapters to make us feel highly uncomfortable in the shoes of Alex.
For example, “We could tell she would creech murder given one chance, so I was round that counter very skorry and had a hold of her, and a horror-show big lump she was too, all nuking of scent and with flipflop big bobbing groodies on her,” (page 13). Not only the language that Burgess use is very uncomfortable but he uses it in a way where you can picture how exactly Alex pictures this older woman. A couple pages after this Alex says, “Still, the night is still young,” (page 15). This suggests in the text that there is going to be a repeat of violence. This brings me into qualitative progressive form as well to show that Alex and the theme of violence is very consistent. Before looking more into the text I wanted to see if there was anything mentioned about the themes of violence in A Clockwork Orange and I was able to find this:
Back to the text, on pages 34-35 Alex wanders by blood casually, only focused on his own self wanting to only to get back to his own place. This also ties into the dystopian genre and how this is normal for Alex to see violence that he hasn’t created himself. It seems like blood, gore, and violence in general is a natural thing for Alex and the world surrounding him, and he loves it.
Like I said previously, this text is very difficult to read deeper but I tried different approaches. From here on out, I think the text is going to become even more violent and Alex is going to turn on his own consciousness and knowing the meaning of the word “good” at all. There is a lot to figure out with this text still. I have a lot of questions for the author and for Alex. For Alex: Why do you have such a need to fulfill violence to innocent people? For Burgess: Why did you choose this language choice to describe all of these horrible acts of violence? As our group continues to observe this book, we hope to find answers to our questions.
KKJM Reads 
In your comment, you referenced Butler in your blog. That is very interesting to read at the opening of your blog. What was so difficult to read? I know that the teenage language “nadst” is very unusual to read and definitely was difficult for me to comprehend. How did you get through the reading? I would try to interpret the language in my own way. I also frequently would refer to a glossary of the slangs terms on that I had wrote into a notebook. Is there anything you would suggest to close read better.
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After reading this post, as well as listening to Thursday’s lecture about how each genre only exists because there is a recurring situation in the world that calls for it to exist, I began to think a lot about the situation that calls for a book like A Clockwork Orange to exist. Based off of the abundance of violence, references to an oppressive government, and mentions of the axis powers of World War II throughout the novella, I felt that the situation that has to exist in order for books of this genre to continue to be written is citizen’s dissatisfaction of their country’s government and politics. This could very well be a projection on my part, but although this book is set in London and its surrounding areas, many parts of the texts, such as its references to brutal police officers, being required to work, and its strict societal rules, reminded me of a communist country like the Soviet Union during the time at which this work was published. I felt as though this book was a warning of what could happen if a government is given too much power, as well as a hint that this could happen sooner than people think, since the book is set in the near future. So, in order for books of this genre to cease to exist, people all over the world would have to stop feeling as if their governments’ reach extended too far into their lives.
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I agree, the slang or language within and throughout The Clockwork Orange made it hard to get through the context. While reading I really tried addressing Alex as if he were my “friend” that almost went off track. Relating back to our class discussion, that was the chair I sat in. I tried to not view him as the “dangerous” or “breaking the law” but viewed him as a teenager not wanting to follow the rules society gives him. You say, “It seems like blood, gore, and violence in general is a natural thing for Alex and the world surrounding him, and he loves it.” To me, it seems like he does not want to be this “bad” dangerous kid, he is simply living his life the way he knows the way that feels good or right to him. It just so happens that he is enjoying blood, gore and violence. Relating to your question, why does he choose this language to describe the violence? I feel like this, my comment lightly explains that. This is the being of Alex, it’s through his blood and veins. Violence. If you live something everyday, violent or not, it becomes a way of life.
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