A Clockwork Orange: Analysis of Setting
"A Clockwork Orange: Analysis of Setting" examines the dystopian landscape that serves as the backdrop for Anthony Burgess's novel. Set in an unnamed future British city, the environment is characterized by a bleak and industrial atmosphere, reflecting a society in decay. The streets bear the names of prominent 20th-century British writers, while cultural landmarks like the Public Biblio and the Filmdrome exhibit signs of neglect, suggesting a disconnection from the past. Alex, the protagonist, navigates this grim urban landscape with his gang, known as "droogs," seeking escapism in a world filled with violence and chaotic energy.
Key locations include Municipal Flatblock 18A, where Alex lives in a rundown apartment adorned with a mural that contrasts the beauty of classical music he cherishes with the surrounding decay. The Korova Milkbar, a popular haunt for Alex and his friends, serves drug-laced milk, introducing the reader to a culture that blurs the lines between pleasure and pain. Another significant setting is the cottage of writer F. Alexander, which symbolizes a lost era of gentility yet ultimately becomes a site of manipulation and betrayal. Throughout the novel, these settings not only establish the tone and mood but also deepen the exploration of themes such as free will, the impact of societal decay, and the consequences of violence.
A Clockwork Orange: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1962
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Dystopian
Time of work: Indeterminate future
Places Discussed
City
City. Unnamed future British city where Alex and his “droogs,” or friends, roam. The landscape is cheerless and industrial; echoes of the past and its culture can be seen, but these are largely decayed or corrupted. Streets are named for twentieth century British writers, and Alex and his gang wear masks of “historical” figures including Peebee Shelley (Percy Bysshe Shelley) and Elvis Presley. The Public Biblio, or library, is frequented only by the old and the poor, and the Filmdrome, or cinema, is decaying from lack of use. Giant housing developments, such as the Victoria Flatblocks, are home to most of the population. Past the flatblock developments is Oldtown, where Alex and his friends go in search of valuables to steal. Like its aged but elegant houses, the people of Oldtown seem to represent an earlier Britain. They include old men with sticks and old “ptitsas,” or women, with cats. While robbing the Manse, a house in Oldtown, Alex beats and kills an old woman. The fifteen-year-old criminal is sentenced to fourteen years in prison.
Staja 84F
Staja 84F. State prison in which Alex is imprisoned for robbery and murder. In this overcrowded, depersonalizing environment, he is addressed by number rather than by name. When a seventh man is thrown into Alex’s cell, originally built for three, it sparks a brawl that ends with the new man dead and Alex again accused of murder. Ironically, this incident wins Alex his freedom. Alex is chosen as a subject for Ludovico’s Technique, a conditioning treatment designed to reform criminals. Given drugs to make him physically ill, he is forced to watch violent films, accompanied by classical music. Within weeks, Alex cannot see or think of violence or hear music without feeling horribly sick.
Municipal Flatblock 18A
Municipal Flatblock 18A. Apartment in which Alex lives with his parents. The building’s dingy halls are adorned with a socialist mural showing naked working men and women, their dignity marred by obscene graffiti. The elevators are smashed, so that Alex must walk ten flights up to his small flat. Despite the general dreariness of his surroundings, Alex has made his bedroom an oasis of civilization. Surrounded by stereo speakers on the walls, ceiling, and floors, Alex lies on his bed listening to Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart and dreaming violent dreams. When Alex returns home after his nonviolence conditioning, he is surprised to find the walls free of graffiti and the elevators running, and his stereo and albums sold.
Korova Milkbar
Korova Milkbar. Public drinking place in which the novel opens; a favorite haunt of Alex and his droogs. The milkbar has no liquor license but sells milk laced with drugs, either hallucinogens or stimulants.
HOME
HOME. Cottage in a village outside the city that is the home of the writer F. Alexander. Following a night of violence in the city, Alex and his droogs drive out to the country and stop at a comfortable middle-class cottage with a sign reading “HOME.” In the course of their break-in, which ends with the beating of F. Alexander and the rape of his wife, Alex reads part of Alexander’s work, A Clockwork Orange, in manuscript. The book, which gives Burgess’s novel its title and central metaphor, is a condemnation of the attempt to impose upon human beings restrictions appropriate to machines. The writer’s home, like the houses in Oldtown, seems a relic of an older, gentler era.
Alex returns to HOME as a victim. Released from prison, he is driven to the country by his former droogs, now policemen, and beaten. He makes his way to F. Alexander’s place, where the writer, not recognizing Alex, who had worn a mask during the break-in, welcomes him. F. Alexander’s cottage, warm and cozy, seems to offer Alex salvation, but it turns into another trap for him. The writer’s political cronies want to martyr Alex to the cause of liberty, even commenting that it would be better for their purpose if he could look worse than he does. They spirit him to another flatblock, lock him in a room, and play music until Alex, maddened from pain, jumps from the window.
Bibliography
Coale, Samuel. Anthony Burgess. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1981. A general discussion of Burgess’ work, including an examination of the philosophical issues in A Clockwork Orange.
Morris, Robert K. The Consolations of Ambiguity. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1971. Compares A Clockwork Orange to The Wanting Seed (1962), another of Burgess’ dystopian novels.
Petix, Esther. “Linguistics, Mechanics, and Metaphysics: A Clockwork Orange.” In Anthony Burgess, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Defines the author’s dualistic worldview and relates it to the language and images of the novel.
Ray, Philip E. “Alex Before and After: A New Approach to Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange.” In Critical Essays on Anthony Burgess, edited by Geoffrey Aggeler. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1986. Argues that the three sections of the novel represent changes in Alex’s inevitable development.
Tilton, John W. Cosmic Satire in the Contemporary Novel. Cranbury, N.J.: Bucknell University Press, 1977. Argues that the restoration of the last chapter greatly increases the depth of the novel.