including: the novel-Malay Trilogy (1956-59)-the American version is called The Long Day Wanes)(1965) and Honey for the Bears)(1963). Nothing Like the Sun)(1964), Enderby Outside of enderby (1968), Napoleon Symphony)(1974), Earthly Powers)(198), The Pianoplayers)(1986), Any Old Iron)(1989), A Dead Man in Deptford)(1993); Non-fiction-ReJoyce (1965), Here Comes Everybody)(1965), Flame Into Being: The Life and Work of D.H. Lawrence (1985).

Orange with Clockwork

The story in Orange with Clockwork takes place in the near future. The hero and narrator of the story is alex, just 15 years old. One winter night, alex and his accomplices George, Peter and Tim were sitting in the Cowa's milk shop in London, drinking drinks. They wore fashionable clothes at that time, white coats, white scarves, tight trousers, plus a pair of briefs-shaped protective pants, and boots suitable for kicking. They sat around bored, so they shouted "Go out, go out" and crowded out into the street. When they saw a man who looked like a teacher walking alone, they went forward to find something. They tore up the man's book first, and then punched and kicked him for a while. Then, four teenagers walked into the "Duke of new york" hotel to squander money, and then robbed a small shop. Four people still felt that they were not satisfied enough, and they injured an alcoholic in the road until he was bleeding. Near the city power plant, alex and his gang met another gang of hooligans headed by Billy, and the two sides met each other, until the sound of the police car's flute dispersed. Then, four people stole a car and drove rampantly to the suburbs. They drove to a villa called "home" (meaning "home"). alex lied that his companion had a sudden illness and wanted to use the phone to trick the hostess into opening the door. Then four people wearing masks rushed into the villa. They found that there was only one man and one woman in this well-dressed house. The man sat in front of a typewriter and worked with a stack of manuscripts entitled "Orange with Clockwork". Obviously, this man is a writer. Four people began to tear up the manuscript, and then violently attacked the woman in front of the bound male owner. Finally, they smashed the furniture in the room and left. They drove back to the city, pushed the car into the ditch, went to Kaulawa's milk shop for a while, then broke up and went home separately. Alex lives with his parents in the No.18A apartment building in the city. It's getting late, but he plays stereo music. Neighbors have long been used to not complaining, so they can only use sleeping pills to force themselves to sleep. Alex went to a reformatory at the age of eleven. My father works in a factory, and my mother works in a vegetable market. She goes out early and comes back late, so she has no time to take care of him.

The next morning, his mother called him to get up for school before going to work, and he pretended to have a headache to cope with it. The reformatory teacher came to see him and warned him not to commit a crime. Alex didn't care. After the teacher left, he went out again, tricking two ten-year-old girls into running amok. In the evening, his father asked him what he was doing outside every night. He said that he was doing odd jobs and gave the money he had robbed to his father, saying that it was earned by his own work. Then he slipped out of the house and planned to steal jewelry with three accomplices. I didn't expect that alex laid hands on him too hard, and when the theft failed, she made a copy of the hostess and fell into the hands of the police because she was abandoned by her accomplices. The next day, the woman died in the hospital, and alex was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

two years have passed. In prison, alex murdered again. On this day, alex asked the prison priest who treated him kindly whether the "Ludwig Therapy" published in the newspaper would really cure criminals and make them no longer willing to commit crimes. The priest is deeply suspicious of this and thinks that this therapy is to impose "goodness" on others, rather than really teach people to repent and turn over a new leaf. As it happens, the Minister of the Interior came to inspect the prison, hoping to make room for political prisoners, so he decided to take alex as an experiment to see if "Ludwig therapy" was effective. The next day, alex was sent to the newly-built treatment center. When he heard that the treatment only took two weeks, he began to daydream, thinking that he would be free soon. Everyone knows that the process of treatment is very painful: his head and limbs are firmly fixed, and his eyelids are spread so that he can't close his eyes. Then he is forced to watch various violent movies for hours in the morning and afternoon every day in this posture, which makes him feel headache, nausea and general discomfort every time. The doctor who treated him found that the language used by alex is a popular language among teenagers, mainly composed of the language used by Slavic propaganda tools and various idioms, slang and fluency. The doctor also explained to alex that the policy of Ludwig's therapy is to link the violence in the film with the physical discomfort of the prisoner when watching the film through "association method", so that the prisoner's body has a reflective aversion to violence, so as to achieve the goal of not engaging in violence again. Sure enough, when alex tried to escape, he found that being beaten was better than hitting people. The treatment produced results, and the attending doctor specially held a public examination for him. Among the people who came to observe were the Minister of the Interior, prison chaplain, warden and others. Alex refused to fight and was able to resist the temptation of women, which surprised the spectators. Even the prison priest had to admit that the treatment made alex a true Christian. However, alex himself had doubts. He asked himself, "What am I? Is it an orange with a clockwork? " He seems very dissatisfied with his mechanical reaction. In any case, he was free. Alex went home with his little package.

Although the newspaper hyped that Ludwig's therapy was a great success for him, and the crime eradication was just around the corner, his parents didn't know anything about his release from prison. Now his room is occupied by a tenant, and he has no place to live. Facing his surprised and helpless parents, alex turned and left the home that he missed day and night. He wanted to commit suicide, but he couldn't find a non-violent way. He went to the library to look up books and was besieged because he was recognized. The police arrested him and beat him up. Finally, in a daze, alex once again came to the "home" villa and was received by the writer. The writer's wife has passed away. The writer is actively engaged in political activities against the current government, because he believes that the Ludwig therapy promoted by the government is turning people into machines, denying people's right to legitimate choice and violating human nature. He wants to use alex against the government. When the writer began to suspect that alex had attacked his home, he teamed up with friends to induce alex to commit suicide. However, A attempted suicide and was taken to the hospital for rescue. All kinds of people came to visit him, and the Minister of the Interior personally visited him, calling him a friend and promising him a decent job after he left the hospital. The hospital gave him another treatment, which made his body no longer disgusted with violence: he was really cured.

Orange with Clockwork belongs to the futuristic classic. Orange with Clockwork is not so much a dystopian novel as a nightmare prediction of the contemporary world. Orange with Clockwork is the best-selling work of Burgess, a prolific writer, and it is also one of his masterpieces. Alex, the protagonist in the book, is regarded as one of the most typical violent images in contemporary novels. His personality is characterized by no sense of morality and guilt. He takes pleasure in violence and is a worrying product of anti-moral civilization created by today's material civilization society. Alex is also typical in that his name and the names of his associates are used together in English and Russian. Burgess traveled a lot. He also visited the Soviet Union before writing this book. Many critics have pointed out that although "Orange with Clockwork" is set in Britain, the author must have written this book based on American and Soviet societies. One example is Burgess's theoretical questioning of Skinner, an American psychologist and a famous behaviorist school representative. The influence of the trip to the Soviet Union is more obvious in the book. Ah, these teen—agers in Rieks use a special language called "Nachaji", which is borrowed from Russian by the author. The original meaning is "teenage", which is equivalent to "teen-"in English. The words "good" or "great" in Nachachi are also borrowed from Russian. The clever use of this word lies in that the author changed one of the consonants slightly and became the word "horror movie" in English, which vividly hinted at the psychological characteristics of western teenagers who like to watch horror movies.

The author's profound language skills are creatively reflected in this book. Burgess's satirical ability is also actively reflected in the novel. During his imprisonment-release experience in alex, he highlighted the disadvantages of democratic government and autocratic government. First, alex was wanton and even killed because the democratic government relaxed the management of social security. Later, he was subjected to inhuman treatment measures for the sake of social stability and became another victim. In Burgess's works, both governments have been deeply satirized and criticized. The autobiographical color in the works is also worth mentioning. First, Burgess designed one of his imitators in the book. The imitator is also writing a book entitled "Oranges with Clockwork". The main purpose of the book is also to oppose the inhuman education of criminals by the authorities and turn people into machines with no choice. Another similarity is that Burgess's wife was attacked by hooligans in London when she was pregnant, and she had a miscarriage. However, if the novelist in the book is identified with Burgess, there will be misunderstanding. Burgess is superior to the author in the book, because he believes that human beings have a good side and cares more about the personal happiness of others, and at the same time opposes the extreme behavior of the author in the book. Burgess's satirical brushwork is very sharp. Popular views on western society; Elegant music and poetry can influence and educate teenagers, and he specially designed alex to have the ability to appreciate classical music. Alex's favorite music happens to be Beethoven and Mozart. In connection with the actions of German fascists who deliberately played classical songs during the Second World War, Burgess' critical intention is very clear: moral education has nothing to do with personal interests.

There used to be two different endings in Orange with Clockwork. The first published British version had one more chapter than the later American version, in which alex began to get tired of violence. When he saw his acquaintance as a teenager get married and live a stable life, he realized that he wanted to live like this. He wants to get married and have a son, and he also wants to educate his son not to make the mistakes he has made. Of course, alex knew that he could not realize these wishes. This chapter adds a little optimism to the work, but it also lacks some ironic power, so it is not as powerful as the deleted ending. According to the abridged ending, alex, who has recovered his interest in violence, will undoubtedly commit another crime, and imprisonment or execution is his inevitable outcome. Burgess thought it was an improvement for this more intense ending.