Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, which was adapted from Anthony
Burgess's novella, is referred to as an example of "ultraviolent" text. This film should not
be viewed as pornographic or lewd, as it has been seen in the past, but should be seen for
it's artistic value. Often times the viewer of the film sees only what is place directly in
front of his/her eyes. Dissecting A Clockwork Orange would be beneficial to the watcher
because it is one of the most artistic films in it's time. The idea of a clockwork orange is
to raise moral issues of a human being. Many times this theme is overlooked while
watching the movie. Anthony Burgess explains the defintion of a clockwork orange as
well as the theme of his novel in the preface he published in modern american texts:
"...a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and
evil. If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange--
meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in
fact only a clockwork toy to be wound by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly
replacing both) the Almighty State. It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally
The scenes are constructed in a musical-esque ideal. The violence is
choreographed to music. In contrast to most controversial movies, we see these heinous
acts performed by Alex, the protagonist, as art in motion and, in some cases, even feel
appreciation for them. The viewer never sees the outcome of his victims. We never see
how Alex has affected them. Violence is made light of in this film until it turns on Alex.
Then the viewer sees how violence can affect one person, Alex. The viewer has
connected with Alex throughout the entire film, so when this occurs we feel hatred for the
An eye motif is dominant throughout the film and makes prolific use of close...