Censorship That Totally Changed the Message #1. Publishers Remove Final Chapter of A Clockwork Orange, Alex Never Redeems Himself The Original: After raping a woman, murdering another, and ruining Beethoven for classical music enthusiasts everywhere, Alex, the main character/sociopath in Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange, eventually transforms into a very good boy indeed. But not because of the infamous force him to watch violence until he hates violence experiment. No, in this version, Alex renounces violence by -- wait for it -- growing up. Now mellowed out and mature, he pledges to settle down, start a family, and only kill people if they really, really deserve it. Hows that for a character arc? Then Came the Censors: When Burgess tried to release his book in the U.S. in the mid-60s, the publishers decided that optimism and hope werent realistic enough. As they saw it, masochistic American audiences wouldnt get Alexs redemption. After all, villains dont magically evolve into pleasant, law-abiding citizens: They stay evil for all eternity and occasionally go into politics. And just like that, American publishers simply deleted the chapter. No clever editing, no forced rewriting, nothing. For over 20 years, American editions of A Clockwork Orange ended the moment Alex realized he had much more violence and rape to commit, thereby emphasizing the novels pessimistic tone (and increasing the chances for a possible sequel). And thanks to Stanley Kubricks 1971 film based on it, the censored Clockwork Orange is far more famous than the original. So, you might have lost the battle, Burgess, but you also lost the war.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:04:32 +0000
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