While reading the opening of A Clockwork Orange, I was particularly struck by the tone in which Anthony Burgess describes the gore and violence of the boys. Because the book is written so informally and with a stream of consciousness narrative, and the violence is described with such nonchalance, it is easy to almost read through the violence without internalizing it. On page 19, they "saw one young malchick with his sharp, lubbilubbing under a tree, so we stopped and cheered at them, then we bashed into them both with a couple of half-hearted tolchocks, making them cry, and on we went."In describing his encounter with an opposing gang, Alex says "and there I was dancing about my brivta like I might be a barber on board a ship on a very rough sea...it was real satisfaction to see me waltz - left two three, right two three - and carve left cheeky and right cheeky, so that like two curtains of blood seemed to pour out as the same time." (17) Burgess has an extremely unique tone - utilizing Russian slang, fragments and run-ons, and strange catch phrases (ie. horrorshow, O my brothers, etc). Coupled with the emotionless narration of Alex, the criminal violent behavior of the gang seems understated, a routine way to pass time and have a few laughs.
I also found Burgess's use of slang fascinating. The first chapter of the book was nearly impossible to understand for me - I couldn't tell what the boys were actually doing, nor did I have a clear understanding as to the setting of the conflict or the source of the violence. Upon reading the subsequent chapter, however, the definitions of particular words became less relevant and the overall meaning much clearer. The word girl alone had countless representations in Burgess's language - devotchka, ptitsa, soomka, sooka, baboochka, cheena. I think it's incredible that Burgess was able to create a narrative in which entire sentences don't have a clear meaning, but the storytelling still remains in tact and the reader is able to understand.
That sounds really fascinating, and yet potentially frustrating. In the book "Brave New World" in the third chapter, the author had three different conversations going on at once and each line is a different conversation, and while it is confusing and hard to keep track of, all of the conversations arrive at the same place, and it turns out that it did not really matter where all of the conversations started out at, it just the end and overall meaning and story that counts. I think that both of our books could potentially be related to "The Road" -- I can't say for "Clockwork Orange" definitively because I am not reading it, but that the language that author's use is not necessarily essential to the story line but have meaning when one looks deeper into them or sometimes take a broader view of the sentence or phrase to make sense of it. Also, in "the Road" some of the violent images were described in a detailed way and yet still seemed unimportant, occasionally I would read a description and think about the beauty if which the words were strung together before i realized the horribly imagine in which it describes. "Clockwork Orange" seems sort of similar in the way that one does not necessarily realize the horror the words are describing, while they are describing them in such a downplayed way. I hope you enjoy the rest of your book!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Liz - the offhanded depictions of violence are meant to reinforce the numbness of the citizens within that world. Alex finds "enjoyment" in violence, but not really, because it doesn't ultimately fill the void. The man in The Road retells the scenes of violence in his deadpan manner because he is similarly desensitized to it.
ReplyDeleteNeha, Excellent response! From seeing your skit, and reading your response, your book seems rather raw and uncut. The use of slang puts you in the characters mind, and lets you better connect with their personalities. Your comment regarding the violence, and the non-chalant way of describing reminds me exactly of The Road. When I read that the Boy and the Man had reached the coast, I had to double take because it happened so quickly. The ability to pass off a major event as nothing is a skill both McCarthy and your author seem to possess. Your dystopia seems very different, and very unpleasant compared to A Brave New World. It is intriguing to analyze these contrasting societies, and see how they vary. The analysis of dystopian ideals can reach staggering depths, and diving in is only half of the fun.
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