A Clockwork Orange anyone?

[freakydorky]

First things first, raise your hand if you missed me!!!! Anyway, has anyone read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess? I need to write a paper on it, and i need help! I can't pick an appropiate overall theme to the story. And what motifs of science fiction did the author convey and how. The rest I think I can handle, but I'm just lost on these! Help.... especially DDLM who I know has read every book ever written!

 

[slayerpower]

I read the book for a college English class. The book is about free will. Is it better to force people to be good for the good of society or let people be bad because taking away their choices would rob them of their humanity? I believe the author is in favor of free will.

 

[nerd4hire]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by motif in this case, but try these terms with a google and "Science fiction" after them. See if they fit.

dystopia
near-future
social commentary
soft sci-fi.

And yeah we missed you in Drogyn.

 

[freakydorky]

thanks so much guys!!!! I'm reading it for a college sci-fi/fantasy class and have to write my first college paper on this book. Wish me luck.

Edit:

can anyone give me specific examples of any of the following?
extrapolation
estrangement
science fiction novum?

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I saw a film called Clockwork Orange in Britain, until today I thought the book would have been about the same thing.
From what's been written here, I'd confidently say the book Clockwork Orange has got nothing to do with the film as the film had no sci-fi at all. The film was a study of a sub-culture that glorified violence, racism, white superiority, male dominance and Nazi-ism.
I watched it to understand what my friends were talking about.

 

[slayerpower]

If the movie you saw had Malcolm McDowell playing Alex, then yes, it is based on the book. The movie does not have much sci-fi, but it does have a little. It is set in the near future and Alex is conditioned to feel pain when he tries to commit violence, which could be scientifically possible.

 

[ViS]

Kind of like a vampire having a chip in his brain :silly:

I loved the book and also enjoyed the movie. How are you going with the language in the book? It's hard to grasp at first. I ended up keeping a log of words that I didn't know and would refer back to them when I worked out what the word meant.

I agree with slayerpower. The book is about choice and what society believes to be "good". If you force a behaviour on someone and remove their right to excercise free will, does it remove their humanity?

As for Sci Fi motifs, I guess one would be the idea that it's possible to cause pain when simply thinking about violence. If they are talking about motifs being a recurring idea in a movie (as is my understanding), then the actual experiment would be about the only Sci Fi element, as the rest could be a part of everyday life, both today and back in the 60's when it was written?

There are many other motifs in the film, such as the classical music, the phrase "So what's it going to be then, eh?" etc, but not many would be regarded as SciFi.