The book has 21 chapters, which, as Burgess explained in the introduction, “…is symbolic of human maturity […] since at 21 you get to vote and assume adult responsibility” (“Introduction” x). In the first chapter, we meet Alex as the childish Id. By the end of the book, Alex has embraced the Id, been forced into the Superego, and then relapsed back to the Id. Though he is older, Alex continues to speak the language of the teens, nadsat, which is a bunch of slang that turns words with serious definitions into sing-song play words. When Alex runs into one of his old droogs, his friend has a wife and is no longer talking in nadsat. Alex begins thinking about his life and how his childhood is gone. The fact that Alex never had a true childhood makes him afraid to grow up and stop his old ways of “ultraviolence” and “the old in-out”. Alex overcomes this fear, and gives the reader an explanation of why his story must end. In the last few pages of the book, Alex realizes that “[e]ighteen [is] not a young age” and he “…should find what [he] really want[s]”, ending his epiphany feeling surprised and full of pride when he says, “I was like growing up” (Burgess …show more content…
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