Clockwork Orange, A Easter Egg - Semi-Cameo

In the book, the author is writing a novel when he is attacted. The name of the novel: "A Clockwork Orange."

just to let you know, if any of you have read the book, then you realize that the same author that got attacked in the book was writing a novel called "A clockwork orange." Actually, the title of the novel is referred to a few more times by alex after that. That's just a way for the author to connect his title to the story (that way, it'll make sense for people who don't know the real meaning of a clorkwork orange).

A clockwork orange was a British catchphrase circa 1920-40. In full it goes, "That's as queer as a clockwork orange." A similar catchphrase would be "that's as queer [strange] as a five-speed walking stick." In other words, something that doesn't/shouldn't happen. See the collection of interviews with Burgess titled "1985".

I saw this movie for the first time when I was about twelve and I've been in love with it and other SK movies since. I always thought that clockwork orange was like a metaphorical reference to the way that Alex comes full circle (like clockwork) from being bad to being good and returning bad at the end of the film.

I've heard that the term "Clockwork Orange" comes from an old saying that goes something like "As queer as a Clockwork Orange". I think this is right?!?

'A clockwork orange' also means something organic that is made mechanical. In the film, Alex, as a human, is organic. When he undergoes the Ludovico treatment, he is mechanized, to be good A Clockwork Orange.

Something else that is interesting about the Ludovico treatment mentioned above, the same name pops up in the Hellbound Heart (otherwise known as Hellraiser) as the street the house is on - coincidence?

The author attacked by Alex and his droogs is, indeed, supposed to be Anthony Burgess. In 1944, during a blackout, a group of drunken, AWOL soldiers attacked Burgess in his home and gang-raped his wife. This was the inspiration for the scene in the book and film. Burgess's wife eventually drank herself to death as a result. Stanley Kubrick and Malcolm McDowell improvised the singing of "Singing in the Rain" during the attack. After the film was released in England, a copy-cat crime occurred, so Kubrick yanked the film from distribution in England. In fact, "A Clockwork Orange" went unseen until May, 2000, shortly after Kubrick's death. I know this because I was visiting England and saw the film listed on the marquee of a London theatre.

My interpretation of the significance of the title: A clockwork orange symbolizes something that is good on the outside, though actually no more than a robot on the inside. When Alex is made good, that is what he becomes, a clockwork orange -- he no longer has free will, and must behave within the constraints set by somebody else, making him like a robot. To be totally bad or totally good, with no free will is 'as queer as a clockwork orange'. The book asks us whether it is better to choose to be bad, or to be conditioned to be good.

Speaking of Semi Cameos, The body Guard of the old man that Alex cripples is played by none other than Darth Vader.

It's strange that the phrase "clockwork orange" means something that is unnecessary, considering that the sun could easily be considered a clockwork orange.

The title, and expression, "Clockwork Orange" is derived from two things, and explains the whole meaning of the book. Clockwork means mechanical and cyclical. Orange means Man. It is used because Anthony Burgess used to confuse the words for Orangutan and Orange in one of the many other languages he spoke (can't remember which one). Orangutan means "Man of the trees". In this context Anthony Burgess used it to mean man, both in the sense of an individual human being, and the species itself. What it is getting at is that man is cyclical. During his life he will go through different stages, at each phase have a different attitude to the others, and eventually reproduce - completing a cycle. Then his offspring will do exactly the same, ad infinitum. Hence clockwork. The final chapter of the book moves towards this cycle restarting - Alex starts to imagine marrying and having a baby when he meets his old droog with his wife and child. The conclusion being that his child will grow up in much the same way as he did, and eventually marry and have children who will in turn .......... Read his biographies, and also "A Clockwork Testament".

Actually, it says "Alex Burgess." A nice joke, but rather inconsistent with Alex's own admission that his last name is "DeLarge." (Alexander the Great!)