“The woman looked at this tree. The fruit looked good and was appealing to the eye. She took some and enjoyed it. Her husband also enjoyed it. Both of their eyes were then opened. . . The Lord God called upon man and asked, “What’s the deal?”
The choice is up to humanity. To seek God or follow your natural instincts. It is absurd to question God’s existence and truth. He is both in the Bible, and in Alex. Burgess’ protagonist answers the Lord the same question Moses asks his Israelites. You decide who you’ll serve today. (Joshua 23:15) Though some might say Alex’s choices could have been determined by his environment, they are still just as valid as the free choices we make as humans. The decision-maker, and not the situation, must bear some responsibility. Alex’s choices make his own version the Bible’s salvation story. He chooses to be anarchic and sinful, to be sanctified but it does not change the heart. He also rebels against the sanctification that leads death and then to redemption by love. Alex’s Gospel is his story.
“There are no righteous one; no, there isn’t one. . . All have abandoned their faith, and all have fallen to the same fate.” (Romans 3:2)
Alex opens the novel with the Kierkegardan ideal man. You wonder what it will be. It will be Kierkegard’s initial stage as a man, and it will be painful. The aesthetic is concerned above all with Kierkegard’s personal existence and any sensory experiences that he may have. Alex is that. Alex says that he raped the children after he said, “I lay there dirt and nagoy & fair shagged & fagged on a bed.” (46) Additionally, since the aesthetic only cares about himself, he likes solitude and his secrecy. Alex is a master at this. He locks himself into his room and leaves his family. He is also very individualistic. His parents, the governor, and the millicents are all his friends. They do not share any common beliefs or purposes. Alex says that “Badness comes from the self, the one and the you” – perhaps because they don’t share any common beliefs or purpose. . . What I do is what it’s fun to do.” (40). Later on, when the government decides that Alex needs to be reform, they follow this rule. It is not because individualism doesn’t work, but because, just like Alex and F. Alexander want to create their ideal world where their individualism reigns supreme. Alex is a violent person. However, he also enjoys hurting people because they don’t serve his individual purpose. He is a member of human society. Once he stops serving it, he loses all purpose in life. Alex is the utilitarian first killer. The aesthetic is morally dark by itself.
“Introduction. . . “Darkness was over all the surface” (Genesis 1:1-2).
The realm of aesthetic man is the dark. Alex does all of his actions in the darkness, both literally and metaphorically. They travel by night and then live in the Korona Milk Bar. (1) Alex and his droogs hide their sins from God with fig leaves. They also use words to conceal their sins. Nadsat is a degenerative symbol for the West’s Cold War loss. It is also an attempt of Alex to hide his depravity. Instead of rapes and assaults, he says “in and-out” or “tolchok”. Alex’s dark and disguised appearance is just like Adam’s and Eves’ fig leaves. It’s what he needs to enjoy the beauty he finds.
“Now the children of God saw that women’s daughters were beautiful, so the fathers of God married them all.” (Gen.
This is the beauty that aesthetic man seeks. Alex sees beauty, and like angels he accepts it. He will perform the “in-and out” trick on any woman he likes when he meets a woman. He fights Billyboy’s gang like a waltz. They do a thrust, parry and thrust, then thrust again. He fights his brothers as art, a dance, when he counts odin, va, tree and goes ak. . . . So I swam. . . I slashed. . . Up, Cross, Cut.” (54) Just like the builders at Babel, who attempted to create a “
Alex wants beauty for his selfish gain. However, this beauty, although it is disgusting, is understandable when viewed in the context of his world. All beauty, theatre, literature and art that is real have been removed by the government. Alex has been replaced by violence. It stirs the same emotions and stimulates the same passions as art. Alex constantly destroys books to fit his bizarre definitions. “Then, out comes the blood my brothers, really beautiful.” He describes the appearance of beauty as “horrorshow”, something that looks similar to the violent and violent symphonies he loves. He describes his attacks, which he orchestrated and composed, as a masterwork. Catwoman’s final breath is the crescendo. He believes that the beauty of sin is in the darkness.
Romans 1:25: “They gave up the truth about God and chose to worship and serve created things over the Creator.”
Alex is drawn to Ludwig Van’s orchestra music because it has violence. Alex gets more than just satisfaction from Ludwig Van. It also offers a promise for something more. (46). Although the music is a way for Alex to attain bliss, it is not a true state of bliss. Alex and his droogs look for the old mooko. . . . It was all about you getting introduced to God or Bog. You returned to here and now, whimpering kind of.” 3:11). He is the race prior to the golden calf. Alex chooses to live in the moment over the long-term, which is evident in his attack upon HOME. The attack is symbolic for the sinner’s rebellion against heaven. F. Alexander, who lives in a sad mirroring Burgess’s, writes at HOME that man has the power to choose God. . . capable of sweetening . . to ooze juicily at God’s last call.” (21). Alex “exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshiped and served(s) creation.” (Rom. 1:25). He likes to believe, and truth is not a part of his life.
“In him was Life, and that Life was the Light of Men.” The darkness cannot see the light of the truth, but it can shine in the darkness.” (John 1 :4-6).
However, the truth is still there. Alex and Alex both attack the man in an alley singing of love. Both parties reject this light in their darkness, as it interferes with the aesthetics of their selves. Their worlds do not have love. Love means that you must be responsible for others. This must be stopped. They try to suppress him, but he still sings The Song of Songs, the song of his love. He sings until Alex attacks his body and his blood starts to spilt. (John 19:3334) He sings even when he is being imprisoned by the real sinners. Even though Alex may not choose God to reveal Himself, it is still possible for Him to. Only through revelation can we begin to write the gospel.
After Alex has been released from prison or Egypt, the process for sanctification can begin. He is treated according to the Old Testament law. If the Israelites refuse to obey God’s law, the Lord will send curses, confusions, and rebuke to you in every area you touch, until you are completely destroyed and fall prey to the evil of your forsaking God.” 28:20). Alex will suffer similar destruction if the law is not followed. Alex must rise to Kierkegard’s aid.
The ethical man, is the second stage. He is a mechanical clockwork who uses all his actions to benefit the greater good of the world and adheres to accepted moral principles. Alex is not the ethical man. His ethics remain selfish and he is still the artistic man. After Alex’s graduation performance, the chaplain said to Alex, “He doesn’t have a choice.” He was driven by self-interest and fear of pain to do that horrible act of self-abasement. (126) Alex did not know more about his choice than the Israelites. Both choose to believe in the possibility of salvation, but they don’t understand the meaning of that faith. There is also a distinction between them: God can have control of their actions but not their thoughts. The state can say, “I thought about killing a fly and felt just a tiny bit sick.” (129) God commands the Israelites to follow His example, but it is within their rights to refuse that option, even if that means they have to accept the punishment. Alex’s sanctification is not a right to choice. He can only choose death as his alternative. In a fitting twist, Alex’s inability of choosing is only recognized by the Chaplain and him, the only characters who believe God. The Prison Charlie asked Alex to answer the question, “You have to be free. Why would you choose this prison?” After Alex is “treated”, “He ceases” to be a wrongdoer. He ceases to exist as a creature that can make moral decisions.” (126) Alex is the prisoner with the most desire for freedom. . . Sir, I have tried. . . This new treatment will get you out of prison quickly. (82) Alex desires to live the transcendent life he has been searching all his adult life. Because sanctification that alters the outer actions of a person, not his inner motivations, is unreliable and eventually fails to save, he chooses death. One reason he commits suicide is that he cannot do good. This man God rejects is the one who is neither hot nor cold. It would be great if you could feel hot or cold! Therefore, you will be spilt out of my mouth because you are neither hot nor cold, but you’re lukewarm. 3:36. The creator of man has the option to choose. He becomes lukewarm when he doesn’t exercise that option. The state made Alex into an inhuman being, unable to take any other ethical action. Lucifer could have been one these inhuman beings. Having no ability to follow his evil instincts but still being a part what he believed was life, he chose hell’s eternal torment. The chaplain asks God if he would choose goodness over freedom. His answer is in the Garden of Eden. If God didn’t want us to choose, there wouldn’t have been a tree. As Lucifer and first humans demonstrated, freedom of choice is far more important than forced paradise. This is what Alex realizes as he tries to commit suicide. Alex’s second act is the best. He sees that the punishment for failing to follow the path towards good has been removed and he can return to his natural state. Alex is saved from the state bondage and is thus redeemed. His first redeemer, F. Alexander, is his guinea-pig. However, neither F. Alexander nor Alex are responsible for his redemption. He must do his part to redeem himself. These are the mechanisms which make up a clockwork who doesn’t believe grace. Alex was robbed of the one thing he truly believes in: love. Although he can’t admit to the pain of being rejected by his parents, he realizes that it is because he has become a better person and expects that others will treat him similarly. This is the kind of love he wants, and one he doesn’t have before.
He finds himself dependent on the actions of others. He must be a part a community. But he soon realizes that love will help him survive. Alex must follow the law, but not love. His redemption does not require perfect love. He must instead pay the cat-taxes for the wrongs he did. Although he seeks forgiveness, he cannot forgive himself for the wrongs he did. Perfect love is not possible. Alex does not fall under the law if perfect love. He is not under the law of perfect love. It does not seek to change the mind, but the actions. He will have to pay the price for the wrongs he did. His parents turn against him, the elderly librarians attack him, and his friends again betray him. Alex is betrayed again by his friends when he realizes that F. Alexander may have hope. These actions all have as their core, “An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth.” But revenge is not the way of redemption. Alex is looking for love. IN LIBRARY OF OLD MEN. Alex is left with nothing to turn to after all his other saviors have failed him. The only thing that could save him was the unity with God. Although he has already rejected this path before, he now turns to God, Bog, and all of His Holy Saints and Angels (141). F. Alexander plays the symphony of salvation rejections that causes him to leap out of his window in order to join them. Two reasons stop him. The first is that he cannot choose to go to heaven. It is an inability to make a choice. This is exactly what the novels last two sections have been about. If one chooses goodness out of desperation, it is not really good. As with the apple of Eden, God does not want this forced choice. If he has not chosen God in life, he can’t choose God in death. Alex is not concerned about F. Alexander’s death and rape. He enjoys the news, which gives him the most restful night of his life. He has never been forgiven or redeemed. “So I tell you: Ask for it and it’ll be given to your; seek and find; knock to open the door. Alex doesn’t ask, but he expects to hear the door open. He has yet to choose God. HOME summarizes the paradox well. Alex hopes to return to HOME, the place he was once a victim to, and be welcomed back with open arms. Home is the home of the prodigal Christian boy, who model Christian forgiveness. Alex says that Home is a space of peace and forgiveness. He lies about the crime and refuses responsibility. He cannot redeem himself. . . We can’t say that we have ever committed any sin. He is a liar. He is not able to forgive or redeem himself, he is just another Alex. Additionally, he’s just as much an aesthetic man than the state or Alex. He uses Alex to further his own Cause, first his article, then his vengeance. He is equally inept at loving as Alex. HOME can’t be achieved without repentance from the sinner and forgiveness on the part of the host. Maybe this could have been achieved if the truth was told. However, it isn’t because Alex returns home in darkness, absence of light and absence of truth. He also arrives home in love. This love is what makes forgiveness possible and makes redemption impossible. So he leaps out of the window to seek redemption. But he can’t without either love or free choice. (1 John 4:18) He fell to his knees and thought that “my whole body was like empty, as dirty water is then filled with clean water.”
(172) He is now baptized by the government. The government gives him conditional freedom of will, in exchange for his support for the government’s reelection efforts. Alex is free to return to his freedom. His aesthetic self will now recognize the evil of the world. He and the government lie together, and God cannot live in a lying life. Alex is now replaced by the brutal symphony Ludwig Van’s Ninth and his dazzling Ninth. He is now an orange, and it seems almost inevitable that he will choose evil. (Rom 1:24)
“If I speak in tongues of men or of angels but have no love, I’m only a resounding cymbal or a loud gong. Although I might have enough faith to move mountains, I can’t have love if I don’t have it. “I may give everything I have to the poor, or I may burn my body, but I don’t gain anything from it if I lack love.” Romans 13:1-3
After his many redemptions Alex sits once more in the Korona Milk Bar. He doesn’t purchase the drinks for the elderly women, not because of his dislike, but because it isn’t in his best interest to abuse them again. All he can see is the same degeneration he’s experienced throughout his life. There’s nothing that could be considered worthy of his aspirations. Mozart, he claims, didn’t write cal. He wrote music that was heavenly. This is what Alex has long aspired for since the first novella. This time, he chooses it at his own discretion. He chooses it because he loves it. The irony in Alex being denied the opportunity to be with God was that by saving his life, the government has made it possible for Alex to recognize his need to love, confess and forgive, even though he now has everything he ever desired. He no longer chooses God because it was the only option. Instead, he chooses God when all options are available and realizes that love is the only thing he desires. Alex is saved by his love. Baal was the one who saved the Israelites from their sins. But the “bolshy orchestras with” the trombones and trumpets is not enough. Alex finds that his love for God makes him feel more like a singer of romantic songs. . . “Just a goloss with a piano.” His new musical taste is free of violence. It’s a simple, longing, desire, and seeking love. He wants to age in love. He longs for a life filled with love, but he isn’t sure what that will look like. He sees a woman’s beauty and not as something to abuse, but as someone to cherish. (1 Cor. 13:7) Alex correctly diagnoses the problem. He sees a woman and recognizes that there is human love. His spiritual growth, or the inner transformation of the soul by love, is what he experiences. He desires to be able to find the God-given love in his desire for a wife. Alex longs to experience this type of love. Kierkegard’s ultimate stage, where a single individual has an intimate relationship with God, is now over. It is only through redemption in the love of God, not via external forces like Ludwig van or Ludovico, that you can enter this private relationship.
The government denies that salvation is possible through human power. Burgess strongly refutes this belief. Alex can be convinced that love on Damascus can save a murderer just like Paul. He does. Now what? It will be the clockwork red. God is the one perpetually turning the orange, but Alex is free to accept it. Alex accepts the God-given law of endless clockwork for an orange. Ludovico and Ludwig Van make you clockwork oranges. F. Alexander is the only one who can truly redeem Alex. He chooses to follow the religious path and not the aesthetic path. He experiences a second life, which he calls “something I would have had to get strted on”, (191). In realizing that this is not his ideal life, he admits it out loud. He is now mature and has given up on his youth. Paul says the same thing, “When perfection comes it disappears.” As a child I spoke like an infant, thought like an infant, and reasoned as a child. I put aside my childhood ways when I became man” (1 Cor. 13:10-11). He is an orange for choosing to make his own decisions, but a clockwork for choosing to live under the control of someone higher than him. An orange because this regime is hostile to love. A clockwork as love is a long-standing tradition. An orange is a person who chooses to redeem himself. He chooses to follow the laws of redemption, and it is a clockwork. Paul concludes his book with Alex, saying: “Love is the ultimate law and brings righteousness to all who believe.” (Rom. 10:4) This is what the clockwork orange looks like. The redemption and perfection of the Christian. Alex’s Gospel.
