Response Journals

A Clockwork Orange-Response Journals

I loved the writing style of A Clockwork Orange. I thought that the way that Anthony Burgess used the Nadsat speech was a really great way of pulling the reader in. It made me sit up and pay attention to what it was that I was actually seeing, instead of just skimming through most of the descriptions like I usually do. It really caught my attention and made me think, which is not something I usually do while reading.

The thing about this book that bothered and disturbed me the most was the fact that the government was no better than the hooligans. Police officers seem to take immense pleasure in beating the people in their custody. Violence seems to be the norm as opposed to being the exception in everyone's lives. Even the heads of government have a violent demeanor. They do it in a Ð''for your own good' sort of way, but that just makes it all the worse. They basically torture the main character, Alex, into hating violence, and while it works for the most part, it's still accomplished in a very inhumane way.

There is one thing about the main character, Alex, which confused me while I was reading, and is still bothering me now. Why does a boy who has everything going for him choose to live a life of violent crime? That is the part that really bothered me. Alex's parents obviously love him, because not only do they buy him the things that he loves and wants, even though he is a criminal and they know it, they accept him in the family, and don't turn him away. They still treat him as a close member of the family despite his faults, proving their love for him.

Alex proves throughout the duration of the book that he is a very intelligent young man, but he lets it all go to waste on petty criminal acts. It is further wasted while he is landed in jail for two years of his young adult life, years when he should have been honing that knowledge. It made