Conditioning and Mind Control Essay

An orangish, a Tomato, and Mind Control A comparison between Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange Jonathan Demmes The Manchurian Candidate and George Orwells 1984 in relation to mind control and human conditioning. Mr. Robinson ENG 4U Nykki Armstrong January 10. 13 The greater the major power, the more dangerous the curse Edmund Burke Muammar Gaddafi, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler all have unity vital thing in common these men all had an overwhelming greed for power and control.It was through consternation and subtle conditioning that they won their power, and it was at the height of their power that the societies they had oppressed rebelled. Just as Edmund Burke says the greater the power the more dangerous the misdirect, it was their abuse of power that led to their demise. This idea of how achieving complete power over society and the individuals therein through conditioning cannot last forever, and will inevitable contribute to a rebellion and retaliation is explored by the apologues 1984 by George Orwell and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, as well Jonathan Demmes film The Manchurian Candidate.Both A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate develop this mind through the use of an unlikely anti-hero (who is also the spokesperson for the authority sweating to gain control), the individual struggle to maintain the or so basic control (while the authority counters their every effort), and the juxtaposing attributes (that mirror how society is violating the natural order). In Burgess novel the protagonist, Alex, is a typical delinquent he breaks any and all rules without any concern for the repercussions.Naturally, the reader comes to dislike him. Unexpectedly though, Burgess makes the reader feel Pathos for Alex, as he becomes a test display case for the governments new Ludovico Technique. In an attempt to rid the streets of teenagers like Alex, they select him being the worst of them all to become their spokesman of sorts. The do ctors involved in his give-and-take go to extreme lengths to rid him of any qualities they have deemed unacceptable in a perfect society.The beginnings of their treatment seems to mimic the basis of Skinners operant conditioning, although they take things many steps farther than he could, Skinner employed punishment in one early experiment and was so disturbed that he never utilise it again, whereas the doctors in A Clockwork Orange do anything they feel necessary (Freedman). The doctors turn his every action against him, and pillow slip him seemingly never-ending mental anguish, eventually conditioning him to conform to essentially anything they decide. The plan of the government backfires as soon as they release him.Once society has seen what the government has done, they vehemently go down the idea. After this, societys view of Alex changes drastically he switches from a fearsome troublemaker to a fragile victim Another victimA victim of the modern age (Burgess 113). This id ea of society and the individuals therein rejecting the controversial plans of their government is also prevalent in the film The Manchurian Candidate. In an attempt to gain all the governmental power, Sergeant Raymond Prentiss Shaw has his mind controlled by high authorities.Due to his own ideology, without being under anyones control, Sergeant Shaw would be an ideal presidential candidate, but he would be an independent one, I believe in freedom(The Manchurian Candidate). The people of power in the film believe that in order to achieve a perfect utopia, they must govern everything. When presented with the idea that his thoughts may not be his own, Sergeant Shaw is in disbelief, and thus begins the viewers idea of him as a protagonist. Similarly to Alex in A Clockwork Orange he begins an internal struggle to overcome the conditioning and mind control that has been enforce on him.At the end of the film, he successfully overpowers the control that was being held over him, and rebels against it. It is his rebellion that causes the entire plan to fail, thus making him a victimised anti-hero in the resembling sense as Alex. Contrastingly to both Alex and Sergeant Shaw, the protagonist in Orwells 1984 does not become a hero at all. charm he does struggle to gain power and the most basic control over his life, Winston does not succeed. Rather than being the force to overthrow the corrupt and sleeprictive society in which he ives, he becomes yet another powerless victim. In this sense, he mirrors both Alex and Sergeant Shaw they are all powerless against their oppressors. The key fruit flaw in the strategies of the government in both A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate is that they explicitly tried to condition their subjects using physical and bullying processes. The reason that Big Brother in 1984 was so successful in oppressing nearly everyone is that they did their controlling more implicitly through reality control, and by coercing the citizens to condition themselves.They began using a Hitler-like control method turning everyone against each other to guarantee that no one will help anyone. The society in 1984 is a mob mentality everyone is so caught up in the moment that they do not dare counter the group, Of course he chanted with the rest during the two minutes hate it was impossible to do otherwise to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive response (Orwell 19). It is through the events that victimised him that Sergeant Raymond Shaw begins to understand his own thoughts and his unclear past.Once he begins to bayion specific aspects of his life such as the events that occurred while he was at war he is able to discover what is really going on. In order for him to be controlled, a specific line must be recited. When Sergeant Shaw is aware of how his mind is being controlled, he is able to attempt to clamber it. This is depicting his mental struggle to maintain control over himself. At one point, Rosie, a woman affiliated with Sergeant Shaws platoon-mate says Maybe I was feeling fragile at the time (The Manchurian Candidate).This line encapsulates the underlying theme throughout the entire movie the fragility of the human psyche, especially when one is out of control of themselves. It is Sergeant Shaws battle to overcome this fragility that leads to his eventual rebellion. This fragility is mimicked by Alex in Burgess novel, through Alexs reaction his life and his struggle to maintain his personality while undergoing the Ludovico Treatment. Alex views himself as a leader, and therefore he must conserve that powerful role in his inner circle to continue to have his sense of self.When that power is threatened by George, Alexs preservation instinct is triggered and he physically fights to regain the order that had previously been realized Now were back to where we were, yes? (Burgess 42). This struggle to cope with a change of power is also seen during his stay in the Ludovico Tr eatment center when he realizes he has been learn, You are being made sane, you are being made healthy That I will not havenor can I understand at all (Burgess 81). When all power has been taken by the higher authority, Alex has been turned into something other than a human being (Burgess 115).This sense of dehumanising a person coincides with the theme of countering the natural order to gain ultimate power shown through the images used in Burgess novel. One of the key symbols is that of the clockwork orange. Creating a clockwork orange is to completely obliterate all that is natural about it, thus ruining it, in an effort to create something controllable and mechanised. Bruce Olsen states in his analysis of the novel that a clockwork orange applies to the conditioned Alex as well Though he appears natural from the outside, he is thoroughly unnatural within.This statement becomes a theme in both the novel and the movie The Manchurian Candidate. Another symbol is Beethovens Ninth Symphony which is a peaceful breed, and for Alex, the only way to feel appropriate emotions. During the Ludovico Treatment, the song is used against him in order to condition him again, taking something beloved and natural and making it evil, Using Ludwig like that and I was really sick (Burgess 85). Another reoccurring symbol is that of water. Water is typically associated with renewal and life, which is how it is portrayed in Burgess novel.Alex imagines his body being like emptied of as it might be dirty water and therefore filled up again with clean, symbolizing his new start after his rebellion against his oppressors (Burgess 127). Another piece of literature in which water is used to wash away sins and aid in the renewal process is Shakespeares Macbeth. The main instance in which the symbol of water is used for cleansing the sacred body is when Lady Macbeth is attempting to wash the blood from her hands in her sleep. Like Alex, she realizes it makes her impure and yearns fo r an opportunity to remove it from her body and mind.Water is also a prevalent symbol in The Manchurian Candidate. Unlike in A Clockwork Orange the water in the film is juxtaposing its typical meaning. In the film, Sergeant Shaw kills his competitor in the lake. Clearly, strike is unnatural and for Sergeant Shaw, as is the case for most people, it is unthinkable. Unthinkable that is, until the authority controlling him tells him otherwise. This illustrates the complete control held over him by whoever is dictating his actions, leaving him with no power of choice any longer (Burgess 115).Coinciding with the clockwork orange motif in Burgess novel, there is a tomato motif in Demmes film. Likewise to an orange, a tomato is natural. In the film, it is used for testing to reconfigure genetics and implantation of memories. The government plans on taking something natural, and using it for their own awful needs in their quest for ultimate power. Finally, though it is natural to want basic control and power over oneself, violating another individual or societys right to that same control will have dire consequences.As seen through Burgess A Clockwork Orange, Demmes The Manchurian Candidate, and Orwells 1984, oppression and gross abuses of power will finally lead to the destruction of said power and the rebellion of the oppressed. Referencing what Edmund Burke is quoted as saying above, any large amount of power will eventually cause greed and destruction. Burgess and Demme use the archetypal anti-hero, the internal conflict within that hero, and the reoccurring symbols to explore that theme of the destruction caused by misused power, whereas Orwell offers the alternative succumbing to the power, and accepting a total loss of control.Works Cited Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London Penguin Books, 1972. Print. Orwell, George. 1984. London Penguin Books, 1987. Print. Demme, Jonathan, dir. The Manchurian Candidate. 2004. Paramount Pictures. DVD-ROM. Olsen, Bruc e. A Clockwork Orange. Masterplots, Fourth Edition(2010). Journal. Freedman, David H. The Perfected Self. Atlantic MonthlyJune 2012 42-52. Literary point of reference Center. Web. 9 Jan. 2013. .