So I found what "horrorshow" means- "good, well, wonderful, excellent"(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:A_Clockwork_Orange) I find it funny that horrorshow, a word I associate with a haunted house in Salem, or a crime scene out of an episode of Dexter, rather than something "excellent." Also the way Burgess uses horrorshow is interesting, it's used in almost the same way we old say "like" but it adds, tome at least, a weird, almost psychopathic twist in the narrative: "Pete and Georgie had good sharp nozhes (knives), but I for my own part had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva (razor)which, at the time I could flash and shine artistic." (From top of page 16) This whole scene involving the fightbetween Alex and his friends against a rival gang lead by a "fat stinking" guy named Billyboy was just oddto read. The way it was written was this weird blend of humor, gore, and a strange essence of romanticized violence. I kind of wanted to laugh at how over the top it was, and the fact that that the boys' actions were my definitions of a horrorshow.
Also, just interested in what anyone has to think about the page with "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE" on it, found on the desk of the man who's house they broke into. The section that Alex read aloud: "The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of growth and capable of of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my sword-pen--" (from page 21-22) It took a while for me to process this and all of what it meant during reading, but now it seems to me that this alludes the theme of the novel which could be human nature- whether we are inherently good- and what happens to society/people when we apply too many rules and restrictions. (This is just my first take on it, I'm most likely wrong and will change my mind by the next chapter.) From this I get the idea that the world that Alex lives in is subject to too many rules and regulations "appropriate to a mechanical creation," I wonder kind of government is in power, something following the idea of Big Brother in 1984? Or one that controls what people can read like in Fahrenheit 451?
I like your comment on the use of "horrorshow" as a synonym for good, particularly in this terrifying world, where everything seems like a real horror show.
ReplyDeleteI also find it interesting that you mention the concept of the government or controlling body and its absence, which may be part of what Burgess is trying to suggest. There are two extremes - to be lawless and "free," or be controlled and a "clockwork orange." This is definitely an emerging theme!
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ReplyDeleteIf one only considers the first couple chapters, it seems that the government is lax. They let juvenile delinquents roam the streets at night, terrorizing the people the government is suppose to protect. As enlightenment philosophers would have us believe, (namely Rousseau, though other people contributed to this idea as well, such as Hobbes and Locke) people form social contracts, and therefore governments to be protected from those who would take their "natural rights" away, though ironically, by forming a social contract one gives up some of their "natural rights". In this world, the government does not provide security for its citizens, yet it still takes away their rights. As the narrator notes that the state had a law that "everybody not a child nor with child nor ill go out rabbiting", rabbiting being the nadsat talk equivalent of working (36). So the government is apparently forcing people to work. The government also tries to have influence on people's thoughts by having world casts. It seems like they are trying to make all adults passive law-abiding citizens. However, there is little effort to control the youth. The narrator tells us that "there always [seems] to be more rozzes and millicents about during the day" when compared to the night(42). Why would the government not care about keeping the youth out of trouble, unless they had some diabolical plan by which the violent youths keep rebellious adults from assembling to overthrow the government? If crimes happen more frequently at night, then why don't they put more police on patrol at night? (Interestingly, in the real world, according the the U.S. department of Justice, Juvenile crimes happen most frequently right after school, with crime happening equally before and after this point). Also, the government does not seem to understand the cause of the problem, or the way to a solution as P.R. Deltoid points out in his conversation with Alex. Considering that they have probably seen this problem for a while, that is pathetic. So the government is at once controlling and laissez-faire. Alex does not seem to be subjected to rules or regulations, as fences only keep law-abiding people out. So what is Burgess saying about government? Perhaps he is saying that government is inherently corrupt and has a tendency to want to control. I bet he is not a fan of governments.
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