The Functions of Language in the Novel a Clockwork Orange and How Those Functions Are Achieved in the Film

The functions of language in the novel A Clockwork Orange and how those functions are achieved in the film.

The argot in the novella A Clockwork Orange has many functions. Anthony Burgess uses the Nadsat to alienate the reader, veil the violence and occasionally draw the reader into the action. Although Burgess uses language to achieve these functions, Stanley Kubrick uses various cinematic techniques to achieve these functions in the film. This will be further substantiated in the essay.

Anthony Burgess makes use of a fictional register in the novella A Clockwork Orange. In the words of Dr Branom, Nadsat is described as “Odd bits of rhyming slang, a bit of gypsy talk, too. But most of the roots are Slav.” (Burgess, 2007:86). The argot is predominantly based on Russian and other linguistic components such as compound words, rhyming slang as well as Shakespearian and Elizabethan English (Lekka, 2017?). A Clockwork Orange was originally released in the United Kingdom, an openly capitalist and anti-communist country. As Nadsat is largely based on Russian, Russia being a communist country, the author subliminally creates the effect of alienation in the reader (De Alencar Costa, Noletto, 2016:258). Although the reader begins to understand the Nadsat as the reading of the novella progresses, the period between learning and understanding the argot causes certain alienation in the reader (De Alencar Costa, Noletto, 2016:262).

Furthermore, alienation of the audience is achieved using Nadsat in the novella, Kubrick achieves this effect in the film through the visual depiction of sex as a commodity and a weapon (Walsh, 2016). Kubrick’s depiction of the violent scenes in the film have an ingrained level of sexuality, creating repulsion within the viewer. Furthermore, the film combines concepts of immaturity or childhood innocence with abusive sexuality to further distort the viewer’s sentiment towards sex. Through this, Kubrick increases the viewer’s feelings of disgust and perversion, alienating them from Alex and his droogs (Walsh 2016).

Albeit Burgess alienates the reader in the novella, the reader is also occasionally drawn into the action. There are multiple occurrences where Alex addresses the reader, and his droogs, directly in the novella: “The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like…” (Burgess, 2007:1), “I opened my glazzies up to sign, not knowing what I was signing and not, O my brothers, caring either.” (Burgess, 2007:132). Through this, Burgess makes the reader an unwilling participant in the events initiated by Alex and his droogs as well as a spectator in his Ludovico treatment sessions.