A Clockwork Orange And 1984 Comparison Essay

“It may be horrible to be good,” the church pastor tells Alex in the novel A Clockwork Orange (Burgess 55). Dystopian writings typically follow this sentiment; a society promotes an all powerful government at the expense of the common people. After World War II, dystopian novels explored the possibility of instilling such dystopias in the cities affected by the war. George Orwell’s 1984 and Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange both portray London as a post-war dystopia; however, the authors’ dystopian visions of London differ in the morality of the protagonists, the morality of the authoritarian governments, and the physical vision of London. 1984 and A Clockwork Orange demonstrate two different struggles for citizens in dystopias. Orange George Orwell’s 1984 follows protagonist Winston Smith in the year 1984, where an authoritarian government has risen to power following World War II. Throughout the story, Winston is attempting to disrupt the government’s plan to gain absolute power by diminishing the citizens’ ability to think as individuals. Winston attempts to begin a revolution; however, two men who appear to be Winston’s allies are …show more content…
The novel 1984 ends with a pessimistic view for the future as Winston is tortured by the government and loses his will to resist; Winston succumbs to the grip of the government, pronouncing his love for Big Brother at the conclusion of the novel. Alex is treated to an optimistic ending in which he is supported by the government and free to pursue what will make him happy. In Alex’s case, the government has succumbed to his will; Alex’s triumph demonstrates the idea that an individual evil more acceptable than an evil society (Rabinovitz 48). Alex, as an individual, must balance the amount of good and evil inside himself, but the overriding societal evil of the government, like that of the government in 1984, is shown to be