Stylistic Analysis on Nadsat of a Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Essay by pjdis416 • November 13, 2012 • Essay • 225 Words (1 Pages) • 2,691 Views
Essay Preview: Stylistic Analysis on Nadsat of a Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The style of the text is recognizable due to Nadsat. This unusual language grabs the attention and interest of the readers.
The protagonist Alex speaks Nadsat which is a combination of Russian and English. For example, "droog" means friend while "moloko" means milk. Although Alex can speak standard English when he wants to, he is indifferent to the social norms when he speaks Nadsat to his friends. Author deliberately uses Nadsat as it brings readers to Alex's world. Readers can also understand the character and his point of view.
The language insulates readers from the harsh and violent in the text and develop a rapport with Alex. In order to understand the language, readers divert their attention from making judgments on Alex and others. Burgess uses Nadsat, which often represents violent actions, to brainwash the readers. While readers decoding Nadsat, they are trapped in vocabularies which points to their subliminal mind.
Nadsat, which Russian-influenced, suggests that the society contains elements of both West (democracy) and East (Communism) in the time Burgess writes. This represents Burgess's inspirations for the society. Nadsat is the fashionable slang of the teenagers in the text, readers experiences the youth subculture creeps into and exists independently of the rest of society
This slang would not be outdated because of its uniqueness and the playful language is the unique style of the text.
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