A Clockwork Orange Literary Analysis Essay

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Clockwork Orange – Literary Analysis

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess introduces the reader to the main character, Alex, who can be analyzed and criticized using a psychoanalytic lens. Throughout the novel Alex prominently displays the lack of control his superego possesses over his id. He consistently thinks and reacts violently. He acts on impulses and instincts rather than on reason or practicality. He states “What I do I do because I like to do.” (Burgess, 31). This statement illustrates Alex’s obedience to his id and the absense of though of reprocussion. Dr. Brodksy, the specialist put in charge of “curing” Alex, stated, “Our subject is, you see, impelled towards good by, paradoxically, being impelled towards evil.” (94) Alex will …show more content…
His power, ironically, is stripped by two of his “friends” which leads the leader to believe it is a repressed fear. We see this when Alex describes his reaction to the events of the nightmare, stating “Then I creeched: “Don’t hit, please don’t brothers…and each time I got a real horrorshow tolchock with this whip…” (28) Alex has repressed the fear of being put in a submissive position, with someone else in control. We see Alex display his dominance on several occasions, including in the Korova Milk Bar. “ “There has to be a leader. Discipline there has got to be. Right…I” I said, “have been in charge long now…” (24) Alex is threatened by the thought of a power shift in his gang, and thus he uses the displacement defense mechanism to take out the anger he feels on his friends, and consequently is caught by the police. Alex’s ongoing priorities of accumulating power and envoking fear into others leads to his nightmare of Georgie and Dim abusing and defeating him. Alex’s constant need for dominance and control over his surroundings provides enough evidence to conclude that he has a God complex, and represses the fear of having power taken from
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