What is the meaning of Clockwork Orange?
Clockwork Orange is taken from an old Cockney expression, “as queer as a clockwork orange”¹, and alludes to the prevention of the main character’s exercise of his free will through the use of a classical conditioning technique. With this technique, the subject’s emotional responses to violence are systematically paired with a negative stimulation in the form of nausea caused by an emetic medicine administered just before the presentation of films depicting “ultra-violent” situations. Written from the perspective of a seemingly biased and unapologetic protagonist, the novel also contains an experiment in language: Burgess creates a new speech that is the teenage slang of the not-too-distant future. The novel has been adapted for cinema in a controversial movie by Stanley Kubrick, and also by Andy Warhol; adaptations have also been made for television, radio, and the stage. As well as inspiring a concept album, the novel and films are referred to in, and have inspired, a number of songs
The term “clockwork orange” isn’t explained in the movie. On the last page of the book it refers to the universe as created by God. It means that the world works in a mechanistic way. The theme of the book and of the movie is that the central character has to be brainwashed in order to turn him into someone who can be a useful member of society.
