On A Clockwork Orange In Light Of The Instinct Theory

John Anthony Burgess is a famous British novelist,known as one of the most prolific and important British writers in the 20th century.A Clockwork Orange is Burgess’ most famous and controversial work,called by Time as "the treasure of English literature,a philosophical novel".Many critics have made fruitful studies on dystopia,linguistics,existentialism,psychology and other aspects of the novel,but so far,few scholars in China have applied the theory of instinct to a relative systematical analysis of the novel.Instinct theory is an important branch of Freudian psychoanalysis,which is to explore the relationship between psychological process and social environment from the point of human spiritual world,namely,primal instinct.Based on Freud’s theory of instinct,this paper analyzes the relationship between the development and changes of psychological instincts of Alex and other characters in A Clockwork Orange and the pathological social phenomenon at that time,so as to promote the understanding of human’s own spiritual world.First,the representation of life instincts in Alex and other figures is analyzed,which includes sexual instincts driven by the pleasure principle and ego instincts dominated by the reality principle.It is concluded that in a chaotic society at that time,life instincts play more role in self-pleasing and self-saving,rather than the power of loving others.Secondly,the performance of death instincts in the main characters is discussed,which includes the sadism of attacking the outside world and the masochism of self-destruction.It is also expounded that when the characters are extremely frustrated,the negative mental energy surges,which eventually leads to the behavior of attacking others or even themselves.Finally,this paper explores the co-existence and transformation between life instincts and death instincts,as well as their common characteristics of conservativeness and compulsion to repeat.Alex,as a typical character in the specific social environment,underwent the psychological process cycle in the chaotic and violent society at that time:from the original attack to the outside as to save himself,to losing hope of life in the face of external setback,until finally he got back to the power of love.His mental energy grew up ultimately.Through the interpretation of this process,the paper aims to reveal the connotation that Anthony Burgess has been emphasizing,that is,the pursuit of harmony,freedom,and ultimately personal growth.This will have higher realistic guiding significance to modern people’s cognition of their own spiritual world and encourage them to face life difficulties more leisurely.