Browsing by Subject "identification"

This thesis examines how Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" uses depictions of violence to tell the story and how these depictions simultaneously challenge the reader to examine their own relationship to violence as well as society’s overall attitude towards it. By using both theory on what possible positive effects depictions of violence can have on the reader and Phelan’s theory on narrative ethics, this thesis will show that the depictions of violence are necessary for the societal criticism Burgess presents in his story as well as for the reader to challenge their own expectations of the nature of violence and the people who commit violent acts. The aim of this thesis is to show why even unpleasant topics should be depicted in literature. Since the reader of fiction is able to identify with the events and the characters of the story, they are able to experience situations and emotions that would be unpleasant for them if faced with in real life, such as fear, anger and sorrow. However, because the reader knows they are not actually in any real danger, the experience of these emotions can become pleasurable. The notion that experiencing negative emotions can become enjoyable goes all the way back to Aristotle, who claimed that by feeling emotions of fear and pity in fiction (drama), the audience is able to experience catharsis and what Aristotle called “proper pleasure”. There exists a wide debate among literary critics whether matters dealing with ethics and morals are even relevant when examining a text. This thesis presents both sides of the argument: I claim that a text should be evaluated purely on its aesthetical values, but also that bad ethics in the story do not make the text worse, any more than good ethics would make a mediocre text better. A Clockwork Orange supports both of these arguments. The inventive language and references to previous literary staples such as Dante’s Divine Comedy make it an interesting piece of writing even with the questionable ethics. However, examining the story on an ethical level reveals that, especially when considering Burgess’ original, unabbreviated ending, the novel actually denounces violence instead of glorifying it. The thesis examines the novel on four different levels based on Phelan’s (2013) four aspects of narrative ethics: ethics of the told; ethics of telling; ethics of writing; and ethics of reading. The conclusion of this study is that since Burgess is in control of what is told and how, he has a responsibility of the way the violence is depicted in the story. Burgess uses language and ambiguity that distances the reader from the events, and he ends the story in a way that condemns the violence that occurs in the beginning of the story.