hey everyone...i have a really important essay that is my worth my entire marking period grade due next friday and i really need to do good on it. I was wondering if someone could look it over for me and gimme their opinion on it/make necessary changes to it. ik matt cross said that he would give essay help but i sent him a pm and he didnt respond yet, so if anyone can help me out just tell me and ill post my essay.
oh yeah...the essay is on the book A Clockwork Orange.
Looking for someone to read my essay
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A Clockwork Orange
What is it that makes a human able to ruthlessly commit acts of violence on others without having a guilty conscience? Is it possible to force someone to change the way in which they think and act? These questions are all pertinent aspects of what happens to Alex throughout his journey in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. During the novel the reader joins Alex along his quest of unfathomable trauma, which causes his perspectives on completely brutal and immoral actions change from being real “horrorshow” to tormenting his very existence.
Primarily, In part one of A Clockwork Orange Alex commits multiple acts of brutality as a form of fun for him and his gang. For Alex and his “droogs” inflicting pain on other people is a form of entertainment. They do not do it for revenge or passion, they want the rush that is achieved by doing what is wrong. “The common motive behind many crimes that appear senseless is “Kicks”…the thrill of doing the forbidden. Ex) The Excitement in thinking about crime, executing the crime, making the getaway, and celebrating the triumph” (Case 1-2). Doing what he knows is wrong gives him a feeling of satisfaction which is why he enjoys hurting other people.“So we cracked him lovely, grinning all over our litsos, but he still went on singing. Then we tripped him so he laid down flat and heavy and a bucket load of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was Disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way” (Burgess 14). This shows how Alex does not feel remorse for his actions in any way, he enjoys what he is doing and in his twisted mind he is not doing anything wrong.
Secondly, while Alex faces the harsh realities of prison life, in an attempt to conform he commits a crime of passion that he would normally have not done. During his time in prison, he makes an honest attempt at being as good as he can so that his stay will be as short as possible. However, when a fight arises in his cell Alex loses control of himself due to peer pressure and a repressed desire for violence.
“ ‘Yeth, yeth, boyth, that’th fair. Thlosh him then, Alekth.’ So they all stood around while I cracked at this prestoopnick in the near dark. I fisted him all over…and then I tripped him and he went crash crash onto the floor. I gave him one real horrorshow kick on the Gulliver and he went ohhhhh, and then he sort of snorted off to like sleep” ( Burgess 89).
This shows how little control Alex has when Violence is surrounding him. The man did nothing wrong, but because everyone else participated in the beating, Alex lost control of himself and committed a crime of passion. “ 1. Referred to as crimes of passion, these often occur within families when, In The Heat of An Argument, a husband grabs a meat cleaver and murders his wife” (Case 1). This quote is similar to what happened to Alex because In the excitement of the beating Alex lost the ability to think rationally, and killed the man. However, this crime may change the way in which Alex thinks forever.
Furthermore, In part two of the novel Alex becomes a victim of an experiment to try and change the way in which he behaves and thinks. After killing the man in his cell, Alex is selected to participate in a horrible experiment that will attempt to condition him so that violence makes him sick. “I had truly done my best morning and afternoon to play it their way and sit like a horrorshow smiling co-operative malchick in the chair of torture while they flashed nasty bits of ultra-violence on the screen, my glazzies clipped open to viddy all, my plott and rookers and nogas fixed to the chair so I could not get away” (Burgess 112).
In this experiment, Alex was strapped down to a chair and forced to watch movies of constant violence so that he would no longer be able to think or act violently without getting sick to his stomach. The experiment conducted on him is known as Classical conditioning. “ Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov’s dogs…the dogs learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating” Grossman 5). What happened in Pavlov’s experiment is exactly what happened to Alex. The dogs started to salivate at the sight of food due to being conditioned, and Alex became sick whenever he though about violence because of his conditioning. This shows that it is possible for someone to force the way in which you think and act to change.
lastly, Due to the classical conditioning that Alex underwent, he no longer has any real feelings for anything, and in some ways is no longer a human that can experience everyday emotions. To be human is to be able to experience feelings of anger, sadness, and distress, but for Alex he can no longer experience any of these. “shorn of his individuality in the penitentiary and of his fantasy life in conditioning program, he ceases to be human in any real sense” (Zimmerman 383). After Alex is conditioned he can no longer experience any of the emotions that used to give him the rush that he loved. Everyday feelings that he often had were stripped away, along with some of his interests. “ It was that these Doctor bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence. It was because all those violence films had music with them” (Burgess 139). Before Alex was in prison, he loved listening to classical music all the time. Now that he has been conditioned to no longer be violent, everything that was associated with the movies makes him sick also. This means that he can no longer listen to music without becoming sick, which causes him to eventually attempt suicide.
In conclusion, due to the conditioning that Alex underwent, he changed from being a normal person to an emotionless being that no longer enjoyed life. By forcing Alex to watch movies of ultra violence he was conditioned to get sick at any sign of it. This proved that it is possible to change the way in which one thinks and acts by means of force. We can learn from this experiment that it is not natural to suddenly force a person to change the way in which the doctors forced Alex to change. It is not right to play with peoples emotions, and as seen in the book it can devastating effects on those who are changed.
What is it that makes a human able to ruthlessly commit acts of violence on others without having a guilty conscience? Is it possible to force someone to change the way in which they think and act? These questions are all pertinent aspects of what happens to Alex throughout his journey in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. During the novel the reader joins Alex along his quest of unfathomable trauma, which causes his perspectives on completely brutal and immoral actions change from being real “horrorshow” to tormenting his very existence.
Primarily, In part one of A Clockwork Orange Alex commits multiple acts of brutality as a form of fun for him and his gang. For Alex and his “droogs” inflicting pain on other people is a form of entertainment. They do not do it for revenge or passion, they want the rush that is achieved by doing what is wrong. “The common motive behind many crimes that appear senseless is “Kicks”…the thrill of doing the forbidden. Ex) The Excitement in thinking about crime, executing the crime, making the getaway, and celebrating the triumph” (Case 1-2). Doing what he knows is wrong gives him a feeling of satisfaction which is why he enjoys hurting other people.“So we cracked him lovely, grinning all over our litsos, but he still went on singing. Then we tripped him so he laid down flat and heavy and a bucket load of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was Disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way” (Burgess 14). This shows how Alex does not feel remorse for his actions in any way, he enjoys what he is doing and in his twisted mind he is not doing anything wrong.
Secondly, while Alex faces the harsh realities of prison life, in an attempt to conform he commits a crime of passion that he would normally have not done. During his time in prison, he makes an honest attempt at being as good as he can so that his stay will be as short as possible. However, when a fight arises in his cell Alex loses control of himself due to peer pressure and a repressed desire for violence.
“ ‘Yeth, yeth, boyth, that’th fair. Thlosh him then, Alekth.’ So they all stood around while I cracked at this prestoopnick in the near dark. I fisted him all over…and then I tripped him and he went crash crash onto the floor. I gave him one real horrorshow kick on the Gulliver and he went ohhhhh, and then he sort of snorted off to like sleep” ( Burgess 89).
This shows how little control Alex has when Violence is surrounding him. The man did nothing wrong, but because everyone else participated in the beating, Alex lost control of himself and committed a crime of passion. “ 1. Referred to as crimes of passion, these often occur within families when, In The Heat of An Argument, a husband grabs a meat cleaver and murders his wife” (Case 1). This quote is similar to what happened to Alex because In the excitement of the beating Alex lost the ability to think rationally, and killed the man. However, this crime may change the way in which Alex thinks forever.
Furthermore, In part two of the novel Alex becomes a victim of an experiment to try and change the way in which he behaves and thinks. After killing the man in his cell, Alex is selected to participate in a horrible experiment that will attempt to condition him so that violence makes him sick. “I had truly done my best morning and afternoon to play it their way and sit like a horrorshow smiling co-operative malchick in the chair of torture while they flashed nasty bits of ultra-violence on the screen, my glazzies clipped open to viddy all, my plott and rookers and nogas fixed to the chair so I could not get away” (Burgess 112).
In this experiment, Alex was strapped down to a chair and forced to watch movies of constant violence so that he would no longer be able to think or act violently without getting sick to his stomach. The experiment conducted on him is known as Classical conditioning. “ Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov’s dogs…the dogs learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating” Grossman 5). What happened in Pavlov’s experiment is exactly what happened to Alex. The dogs started to salivate at the sight of food due to being conditioned, and Alex became sick whenever he though about violence because of his conditioning. This shows that it is possible for someone to force the way in which you think and act to change.
lastly, Due to the classical conditioning that Alex underwent, he no longer has any real feelings for anything, and in some ways is no longer a human that can experience everyday emotions. To be human is to be able to experience feelings of anger, sadness, and distress, but for Alex he can no longer experience any of these. “shorn of his individuality in the penitentiary and of his fantasy life in conditioning program, he ceases to be human in any real sense” (Zimmerman 383). After Alex is conditioned he can no longer experience any of the emotions that used to give him the rush that he loved. Everyday feelings that he often had were stripped away, along with some of his interests. “ It was that these Doctor bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence. It was because all those violence films had music with them” (Burgess 139). Before Alex was in prison, he loved listening to classical music all the time. Now that he has been conditioned to no longer be violent, everything that was associated with the movies makes him sick also. This means that he can no longer listen to music without becoming sick, which causes him to eventually attempt suicide.
In conclusion, due to the conditioning that Alex underwent, he changed from being a normal person to an emotionless being that no longer enjoyed life. By forcing Alex to watch movies of ultra violence he was conditioned to get sick at any sign of it. This proved that it is possible to change the way in which one thinks and acts by means of force. We can learn from this experiment that it is not natural to suddenly force a person to change the way in which the doctors forced Alex to change. It is not right to play with peoples emotions, and as seen in the book it can devastating effects on those who are changed.
Okay, I'm reading your essay as I type so I can try and go through it step by step in my response. Don't take anything I say too harshly. What you've got is a GOOD, working rough draft. It needs revision and some mechanical work, but you'll do well on it if you put in a little more time. If it's worth as much of your grade as you say, then hopefully you'll put the time in.
First off. Use your spelling and grammar check. These days every Word Processor has one. If yours doesn't then get the google toolbar and it has one.
Next. Reread what you've written (try it out loud) and see which parts don't make sense to you. You'll also pick up a lot of your minor grammar and spelling errors this way.
Remove the Rhetorical Questions in the very beginning. They don't do anything for you. Two terms in writing composition are Passive Voice and Active Voice. Rhetorical Questions are a form of Passive Voice in less experienced writers. Instead of saying what you need your readers to understand you are asking them to come to their own conclusions without any information. While you answer those questions later in the paper, you do a diservice to your ability as a writer by not simply making your statement.
i.e.
In A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess explores the human ability to ruthlessly commit acts of violence without retaining a guilty conscience. Burgess goes further in examining the ability to forcibly change the way humans think and act through the theory of classical conditioning.
The rhetorical questions also take the place of your thesis statement. As such, you don't have one. Your thesis should be the most prominent part of your opening paragraph. "THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU, AND THIS IS HOW I'M GOING TO DO IT." Your thesis should be the prevailing theme throught the entire paper. Basically you end your paper with an argument against what happened to Alex and that theme needs to be included as part of your Thesis and should crop up in the body of the paper as well.
Another aspect, and a very important one, of Passive v. Active Voice is the use of the verb "to be" in all of it's forms.
is, be, being, are, was, am
The boy throws the ball.
The boy is throwing the ball.
The ball is being thrown by the boy.
The first of these sentences gives the best information and conciseness to the reader. The doer does.
The second one is okay, but using "is" is totally not required. The doer is now in the process of doing.
The third is pretty attrocious. The doee is being done by the doer.
It's the act of saying what you mean and meaning what you say.
When you use Active Voice you are speaking with authority.
Does this mean that you should never use instances of the verb "to be". No. However, in a two page paper likt the one you've got you should try to limit it's usage to no more than 7 instances. I counted 30 not including the ones used in your direct quotes. By limiting those you will have a paper that really holds authority in what you say.
Too many quotes that are too long. You should only have 1 to 2 quotes per paragraph (preferably 1) and they shouldn't be longer than 2 to 3 lines. If you are going to use a longer one then you had better make sure that the entire quote is relative and don't use more than one such long quote in the entire paper.
Also, you needn't quote when you can use your own words to describe the situation. In the part where you talk about the experiment done on Alex, you should get rid of the quote because you go on to describe the situation immediately after. And you do a BETTER job of it than the quote does. BUT, how did he attempt suicide and what was the result of it.
In the conclusion, I would get rid of "In conclusion".
I would reconsider a couple of points you make as well.
1st
The "Crime of Passion" issue. I don't see that as a crime of passion and your example of a husband and wife doesn't make the point. If anything it might have been temporary insanity or a reversion to his pre-prison violent self.
2nd
In the conclusion you claim that Alex went from being a "normal person" to an "emotionless person". I think it's pretty clear that Alex was not a normal person. Normal people don't beat the shit out of other people for kicks. It actually looks like he went from one extreme to the other. He started as an emotional adrenaline junky and became an emotionless bore. Also you make the statement that we can learn from the experiment that it's not natural to toy with changing the emotions of a person, but it's really only a fictional experiment so we didn't learn it in fact. I would revise that to say something to the effect of "The experiment performed on Burgess' character suggests that it is not natural etc..."
Well, that's most of what I've got for you. I hope you can make use of it. Again, you've Good working draft here and I enjoyed reading it. Seriously read it out loud though and you will catch a lot of the mechanical errors.
Now for the Admin in me: Please include your real name in your signature. Thanks, Brad
First off. Use your spelling and grammar check. These days every Word Processor has one. If yours doesn't then get the google toolbar and it has one.
Next. Reread what you've written (try it out loud) and see which parts don't make sense to you. You'll also pick up a lot of your minor grammar and spelling errors this way.
Remove the Rhetorical Questions in the very beginning. They don't do anything for you. Two terms in writing composition are Passive Voice and Active Voice. Rhetorical Questions are a form of Passive Voice in less experienced writers. Instead of saying what you need your readers to understand you are asking them to come to their own conclusions without any information. While you answer those questions later in the paper, you do a diservice to your ability as a writer by not simply making your statement.
i.e.
In A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess explores the human ability to ruthlessly commit acts of violence without retaining a guilty conscience. Burgess goes further in examining the ability to forcibly change the way humans think and act through the theory of classical conditioning.
The rhetorical questions also take the place of your thesis statement. As such, you don't have one. Your thesis should be the most prominent part of your opening paragraph. "THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU, AND THIS IS HOW I'M GOING TO DO IT." Your thesis should be the prevailing theme throught the entire paper. Basically you end your paper with an argument against what happened to Alex and that theme needs to be included as part of your Thesis and should crop up in the body of the paper as well.
Another aspect, and a very important one, of Passive v. Active Voice is the use of the verb "to be" in all of it's forms.
is, be, being, are, was, am
The boy throws the ball.
The boy is throwing the ball.
The ball is being thrown by the boy.
The first of these sentences gives the best information and conciseness to the reader. The doer does.
The second one is okay, but using "is" is totally not required. The doer is now in the process of doing.
The third is pretty attrocious. The doee is being done by the doer.
It's the act of saying what you mean and meaning what you say.
When you use Active Voice you are speaking with authority.
Does this mean that you should never use instances of the verb "to be". No. However, in a two page paper likt the one you've got you should try to limit it's usage to no more than 7 instances. I counted 30 not including the ones used in your direct quotes. By limiting those you will have a paper that really holds authority in what you say.
Too many quotes that are too long. You should only have 1 to 2 quotes per paragraph (preferably 1) and they shouldn't be longer than 2 to 3 lines. If you are going to use a longer one then you had better make sure that the entire quote is relative and don't use more than one such long quote in the entire paper.
Also, you needn't quote when you can use your own words to describe the situation. In the part where you talk about the experiment done on Alex, you should get rid of the quote because you go on to describe the situation immediately after. And you do a BETTER job of it than the quote does. BUT, how did he attempt suicide and what was the result of it.
In the conclusion, I would get rid of "In conclusion".
I would reconsider a couple of points you make as well.
1st
The "Crime of Passion" issue. I don't see that as a crime of passion and your example of a husband and wife doesn't make the point. If anything it might have been temporary insanity or a reversion to his pre-prison violent self.
2nd
In the conclusion you claim that Alex went from being a "normal person" to an "emotionless person". I think it's pretty clear that Alex was not a normal person. Normal people don't beat the shit out of other people for kicks. It actually looks like he went from one extreme to the other. He started as an emotional adrenaline junky and became an emotionless bore. Also you make the statement that we can learn from the experiment that it's not natural to toy with changing the emotions of a person, but it's really only a fictional experiment so we didn't learn it in fact. I would revise that to say something to the effect of "The experiment performed on Burgess' character suggests that it is not natural etc..."
Well, that's most of what I've got for you. I hope you can make use of it. Again, you've Good working draft here and I enjoyed reading it. Seriously read it out loud though and you will catch a lot of the mechanical errors.
Now for the Admin in me: Please include your real name in your signature. Thanks, Brad
Old Skool
What is it that makes a human able to ruthlessly commit acts of violence on others without having a guilty conscience? Is it possible to force someone to change the way in which they think and act? These questions are all pertinent aspects of what happens to Alex throughout his journey in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Alex experiences unfathomable trauma, causing his perspectives on brutal and immoral actions to change from being acceptable and fun to tormenting his existence.
Primarily, In part one of A Clockwork Orange Alex commits multiple acts of brutality with his gang for fun. For Alex and his “droogs” inflicting pain on other people is a form of entertainment. They do not do it for revenge or passion, they want the rush that is achieved by doing what is wrong. “The common motive behind many crimes that appear senseless is “Kicks”…the thrill of doing the forbidden. Ex) The Excitement in thinking about crime, executing the crime, making the getaway, and celebrating the triumph” (Case 1-2). Doing what he knows is wrong gives him a feeling of satisfaction which is why he enjoys hurting other people.
So we cracked him lovely, grinning all over our litsos, but he still went on singing. Then we tripped him so he laid down flat and heavy and a bucket load of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was Disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way (14).
This shows how Alex does not feel remorse for his actions in any way. He enjoys what he is doing and in his twisted mind he is simply having fun and not doing anything wrong.
Secondly, Alex faces the harsh realities of prison life and learns many new ways of committing crimes and harming others. Alex is now in prison and feels lonely and isolated. He wants to be accepted by the other inmates and his only way of relating to any of them is their love for crime. “it is true, that in prison a criminal expands his associations and finds support for his anti-social patterns of thought and behavior. Ex) he hears new ideas for crime in prison” (Case). Throughout the duration of time he spends in prison, Alex vastly expands his knowledge on ruthless acts of violence. He teaches fellow inmates new things and in return they do the same for him. This trade-off forms a bond between the inmates, meaning that if one ever gets into a fight they all will.
Yeth, yeth, boyth, that’th fair. Thlosh him then, Alekth.’ So they all stood around while I cracked at this prestoopnick in the near dark. I fisted him all over…and then I tripped him and he went crash crash onto the floor. I gave him one real horrorshow kick on the Gulliver and he went ohhhhh, and then he sort of snorted off to like sleep(89).
This shows how in prison a fight will not end until someone forces it to end. If someone is being beaten to death the prisoners will either watch or cheer on the fight. For many people, once they are locked away all sense of empathy is lost.
Furthermore, In part two of the novel Alex is a victim of an experiment that changes the way in which he behaves, thinks, and acts. Alex Kills a man in his cell while participating in a gang beating being cheered on by his fellow inmates. When it is found out that he killed the inmate he is selected to participate in an experiment that will condition him so that violence makes him sick.
I had truly done my best morning and afternoon to play it their way and sit like a horrorshow smiling co-operative malchick in the chair of torture while they flashed nasty bits of ultra-violence on the screen, my glazzies clipped open to viddy all, my plott and rookers and nogas fixed to the chair so I could not get away (112).
In this experiment Alex is strapped down to a chair and forced to watch movies of constant violence so that he can no longer think or act violently without getting sick to his stomach. The experiment conducted on him is known as Classical conditioning. “ Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov’s dogs…the dogs learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating” (Grossman). What happened in Pavlov’s experiment is exactly what happened to Alex. The dogs salivated at the sight of food due to being conditioned, and Alex becomes sick whenever he thinks about violence due to being conditioned. This shows that it is possible for someone to force the way in which you think and act to change.
Due to the classical conditioning that Alex underwent he no longer has any real feelings for anything in his mundane life. In some ways he is no longer a human that can experience everyday emotions. To be human is to be able to experience feelings of anger, sadness, and distress, but Alex can no longer experience any of these. “shorn of his individuality in the penitentiary and of his fantasy life in conditioning program, he ceases to be human in any real sense” (Zimmerman 383). After Alex is conditioned he can no longer experience any of the emotions that used to give him the rush that he loved. Everyday feelings that he often had were stripped away, along with some of his interests. “ It was that these Doctor bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence. It was because all those violence films had music with them” (Burgess 139). Before Alex was in prison, he loved listening to classical music all the time. Due to the fact that he is conditioned to no longer be violent, everything associated with the movies will also make him sick. This means that he can no longer listen to music without having intense feelings of nausea. He can no longer enjoy any of his old pleasures, which torments his life and makes him increasingly miserable.
In conclusion, Alex experiences unfathomable trauma that causes his perspectives on brutal and immoral actions to change from being acceptable and fun to tormenting his existence. Due to the conditioning that Alex experiences he changes from an adrenaline junkie looking for kicks, to an emotionless being that no longer enjoys life. The experiment performed on Burgess' character suggests that it is unnatural to try and force the way in which someone thinks and behaves. It is not right to play with peoples emotions, and as seen in the book it can have devastating effects on those who are changed.
Primarily, In part one of A Clockwork Orange Alex commits multiple acts of brutality with his gang for fun. For Alex and his “droogs” inflicting pain on other people is a form of entertainment. They do not do it for revenge or passion, they want the rush that is achieved by doing what is wrong. “The common motive behind many crimes that appear senseless is “Kicks”…the thrill of doing the forbidden. Ex) The Excitement in thinking about crime, executing the crime, making the getaway, and celebrating the triumph” (Case 1-2). Doing what he knows is wrong gives him a feeling of satisfaction which is why he enjoys hurting other people.
So we cracked him lovely, grinning all over our litsos, but he still went on singing. Then we tripped him so he laid down flat and heavy and a bucket load of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was Disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way (14).
This shows how Alex does not feel remorse for his actions in any way. He enjoys what he is doing and in his twisted mind he is simply having fun and not doing anything wrong.
Secondly, Alex faces the harsh realities of prison life and learns many new ways of committing crimes and harming others. Alex is now in prison and feels lonely and isolated. He wants to be accepted by the other inmates and his only way of relating to any of them is their love for crime. “it is true, that in prison a criminal expands his associations and finds support for his anti-social patterns of thought and behavior. Ex) he hears new ideas for crime in prison” (Case). Throughout the duration of time he spends in prison, Alex vastly expands his knowledge on ruthless acts of violence. He teaches fellow inmates new things and in return they do the same for him. This trade-off forms a bond between the inmates, meaning that if one ever gets into a fight they all will.
Yeth, yeth, boyth, that’th fair. Thlosh him then, Alekth.’ So they all stood around while I cracked at this prestoopnick in the near dark. I fisted him all over…and then I tripped him and he went crash crash onto the floor. I gave him one real horrorshow kick on the Gulliver and he went ohhhhh, and then he sort of snorted off to like sleep(89).
This shows how in prison a fight will not end until someone forces it to end. If someone is being beaten to death the prisoners will either watch or cheer on the fight. For many people, once they are locked away all sense of empathy is lost.
Furthermore, In part two of the novel Alex is a victim of an experiment that changes the way in which he behaves, thinks, and acts. Alex Kills a man in his cell while participating in a gang beating being cheered on by his fellow inmates. When it is found out that he killed the inmate he is selected to participate in an experiment that will condition him so that violence makes him sick.
I had truly done my best morning and afternoon to play it their way and sit like a horrorshow smiling co-operative malchick in the chair of torture while they flashed nasty bits of ultra-violence on the screen, my glazzies clipped open to viddy all, my plott and rookers and nogas fixed to the chair so I could not get away (112).
In this experiment Alex is strapped down to a chair and forced to watch movies of constant violence so that he can no longer think or act violently without getting sick to his stomach. The experiment conducted on him is known as Classical conditioning. “ Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov’s dogs…the dogs learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating” (Grossman). What happened in Pavlov’s experiment is exactly what happened to Alex. The dogs salivated at the sight of food due to being conditioned, and Alex becomes sick whenever he thinks about violence due to being conditioned. This shows that it is possible for someone to force the way in which you think and act to change.
Due to the classical conditioning that Alex underwent he no longer has any real feelings for anything in his mundane life. In some ways he is no longer a human that can experience everyday emotions. To be human is to be able to experience feelings of anger, sadness, and distress, but Alex can no longer experience any of these. “shorn of his individuality in the penitentiary and of his fantasy life in conditioning program, he ceases to be human in any real sense” (Zimmerman 383). After Alex is conditioned he can no longer experience any of the emotions that used to give him the rush that he loved. Everyday feelings that he often had were stripped away, along with some of his interests. “ It was that these Doctor bratchnies had so fixed things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence. It was because all those violence films had music with them” (Burgess 139). Before Alex was in prison, he loved listening to classical music all the time. Due to the fact that he is conditioned to no longer be violent, everything associated with the movies will also make him sick. This means that he can no longer listen to music without having intense feelings of nausea. He can no longer enjoy any of his old pleasures, which torments his life and makes him increasingly miserable.
In conclusion, Alex experiences unfathomable trauma that causes his perspectives on brutal and immoral actions to change from being acceptable and fun to tormenting his existence. Due to the conditioning that Alex experiences he changes from an adrenaline junkie looking for kicks, to an emotionless being that no longer enjoys life. The experiment performed on Burgess' character suggests that it is unnatural to try and force the way in which someone thinks and behaves. It is not right to play with peoples emotions, and as seen in the book it can have devastating effects on those who are changed.