An Analysis Of The Protagonist’s Two Freedoms In A Clockwork Orange From The Perspective Of Freedom Theory Of Fromm

A Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece of Anthony Burgess.It is named one of the“100 most readable novels of the 20 th century” and makes Anthony Burgess well-known.It tells a story about a troubled teenager who lives in the future society of England.Because of his restlessness in adolescence,he embarks on the road of negative freedom,and then he is punished by the society.After reforming,he reintegrates into the society,and his self-consciousness gradually awakens,then he pursues positive freedom through love and labor.This paper applies Fromm’s freedom theories to interpret A Clockwork Orange and discusses the following two problems.First of all,it is about how the negative freedom is reflected in the protagonist;secondly,after being transformed,how the protagonist pursues the positive freedom.This paper starts with the introduction of Anthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange and the academic studies at home and abroad about A Clockwork Orange.It takes the research of freedom theories of Fromm as the theoretical framework,and deeply explores the factors that cause the protagonists to pursue negative freedom.According to Fromm,when people break away from the primary bonds,they will feel isolated and powerless.In order to avoid these disturbing feelings,modern people have embarked on the road to escape freedom,which is the negative freedom we have mentioned above.There are three mechanisms of negative freedom: authoritarianism,destructiveness and alienation.Then Fromm proposes that how modern people can obtain real freedom.He asserts that only when people’s self-consciousness woken up,and through spontaneous activities such as love and labor,can they obtain positive freedom,that is,real freedom.However,for various reasons,the protagonist in A Clockwork Orange has to step on the road of negative freedom.After being transformed,with the awakening of his self-consciousness,he begins to seek positive freedom.This paper uses Fromm’s freedom theories to interpret A Clockwork Orange,aiming to explain the protagonist who is recklessly pursing negative freedom finally awakens.He realizes that only positive freedom can bring him genuine self and belonging.This inspires us to understand that negative freedom can only bring people superficial enjoyment.Only positive freedom can bring people happiness.At the same time,I hope this paper can arouse more people’s concerns about the negative freedomof the contemporary society.