Works Cited

Chapman, Murray. "Stanley Kubrick." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Dirks, Tim. "A Clockwork Orange (1971)." Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic History. Web. 04 May 2011. <http://www.filmsite.org/cloc.html>.

GradeSaver. *Questions*. GradeSaver, 29 April 2011 Web. 29 April 2011.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Alex in A Clockwork Orange."  Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Apr 2011.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on A Clockwork Orange.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.

The Setting

In the movie, A Clockwork Orange, you kind of assume on the location that the story takes place in. There are some scenes that take place in the hill country of England and some that appear to be in the bad parts or almost the “hood” of England. The time period that the movie takes place in is the near-future (Dirks). When you see the movie, it is almost like you get the futuristic feel from the furniture, the houses, and even the way everyone dresses. Not to mention the scientific experiment they do on Alex is in itself futuristic and not of this time.

Photo Courtesy of: http://366weirdmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/a_clockwork_orange.jpg

The Lead Character

Alex DeLarge is the main character in the movie A Clockwork Orange and is also the protagonist of the story (GradeSaver). Alex is also widely known as the gang leader to his friends Georgie, Dim and Pete. Alex’s top favorite things are classical music and violence (GradeSaver). His character is very dominant and very demanding of his friends. Together, all of the friends commit several violent acts from a range of murder to rape. Alex believes that the natural way to live is by being evil and in his eyes to be evil is to be human (Shmoop Editorial Team). After the murder that Alex commits he is sent away to prison where his free will that he once had is taken away. At this time Alex’s goodness in the world is practically made and forced upon him and he takes the next step from immature child to a mature adult (Shmoop Editorial Team).

Photo Courtesy of: http://pickadolla.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/alex.jpg?w=510&amp;h=304

The Major Themes

One of the major themes in A Clockwork Orange is the order in society versus free will. In the movie the main character, Alex DeLarge, commits immoral crimes due to free will, but only until he is sent to prison where they instill good behavior on him. The government, in the movie that is, is trying to fight to bring order to the streets by taking away free will of the people (SparkNotes Editors).

Another theme in the movie is the interdependence of life and art (SparkNotes Editors).  In the movie Alex is involved in crimes such as rape, murder and theft.  However, when he commits these certain crimes he seems to always be dancing or singing during the act of the crime to almost distance him and make it seem like the crime he committed isn’t THAT bad. According to the SparkNotes, “Art both channels and expresses human impulses, and it can therefore enhance or deaden life.”

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.behindthehype.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/a-clockwork-orange.jpg

The Director

Stanley Kubrick, also known as the director of A Clockwork Orange, was born on July 26^th, 1928 in New York City to Jack and Gertrude Kubrick (Chapman).  As a child, Kubrick enjoyed hobbies like chess and photography.  He began creating films around 1951, the first one being a documentary called Day of the Fight (Chapman). From here on, Kubrick continued to make bigger films which include the very popular 2001: A Space Odyssey, Eyes Wide Shut and The Shining, to name a few.

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.cinema.com/image_lib/news_stanleykubrick.jpg

The Beginning

A Clockwork Orange, in my opinion, is truly a remarkable book and film. I chose to do the film part of this because it is a very interesting movie. The characters in the film are very unique and I feel that the story line in general is a one of a kind. I feel that Stanley Kubrick did a great job transferring this book into a film. Another reason I chose to research this particular film is so I could hopefully give some background information so other people who have or have not seen it can enjoy it as much as I did.

Picture Courtesy of: http://ubcfilmsociety.com/posters/a-clockwork-orange.jpg