A Clockwork Orange

In our eleventh episode of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are diving into A Clockwork Orange, both the Stanley Kubrick film of 1971 and the novella by Anthony Burgess from 1962.

Content Warning: themes of sexual violence, physical violence, and suicide

In this episode, we look at multiple layers of dystopian society: the violent world where Alex and his droogs commit their ultraviolence; the police and prison system; and the Ludovico technique which claims to cure Alex of his criminal ways with negative reinforcement in the face of sex and violence.

We discuss the purpose of the penal system, whether punishment, revenge, the safety of society, or repentance and reform. Here we reference our latest newsletter and its reflections on the death penalty.

We evaluate Burgess's views on good and evil, the nature of young people, and the origins of criminality. We also consider Kubrick's visual contributions to the story, such as the use of music, choreography, the futuristic aesthetic, and the use of sexual imagery.

In this episode, we make reference to Anthony Burgess' own later reflections on A Clockwork Orange, and to the way the book responds to the work of B F Skinner.

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