The concept of truth is explored differently by both Greene and Burgess throughout their novels; the search after truth being highlighted upon through its denial and conflict within the books. Brighton Rock explores this through the use of the characters individual searches after truths, A Clockwork Orange supporting this by Alex's similar individual hunt for truth within his religion and the morality brought by it. Brighton Rock depicts a 'search after truth,' as being one of the most fundamental aspects of the story due the search for truth in both morality and religion presented by Greene. For instance, Greene presents an overall search after whether there is truth in either religion or general morality within the novel by emphasising the Catholicism, " It'll be no good going to confession ever again- as long as we're both alive." This implies that there is conflict in Pinkie's beliefs in right versus wrong and good versus evil, the term 'confession' telling us that by confessing your sins, you are revealing what you have done wrong, hence a struggle in morality and religion, Pinkie opposing both here. The first person narrative within the speech enforces the reader to believe that Pinkie doesn't understand these terms associated with being Religious or having moral ambitions, Pinkie only understanding the concept of evil and being in search of the truth as to his religious thoughts. Pinkie's appearance of knowing his religion and saying he's a "Roman" contrasting with the reality that he is in a state if confusion not truly understanding himself. This is echoed through 'A Clockwork Orange.' as at the beginning of the novel Alex believes he is in a state of knowing his moral beliefs - that of choosing wrong over right. However, Burgess soon illustrates Alex's confusion as he talks of 'Bog' or God, which implies to the reader that perhaps he attains some religious and moral thoughts. Therefore, a searching after truth is seen as one of the most fundamental aspects of the story due to Greene and Burgess conveying both Pinkie and Alex's search for truth within their religious and moral identities.
Within Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange, the desire and search for truth is a key motive for the characters and their manipulation of the plot, however characters such as Pinkie within Brighton Rock use religion to hide from the truth. Burgess conveys the character of Alex seeking the concept of truth about the corruption of the state both collectively within his gang but also independently searching for the truth about religion and morality within ‘A Clockwork Orange’. The search for truth is presented as a key theme and aspect of characters actions within Brighton throughout the novel. Greene emphasises this within the final lines of the novel when he expresses “she walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of all”. The word “rapidly” emphasises Rose’s desperation and desire to discover one of her fundamental aspects/motives within the novel: the search for truth. Greene uses pathetic fallacy to symbolise and represent Rose’s mood and emotions when approaching this discovery by describing “the thin June sunlight”. This light-hearted, optimistic use of pathetic fallacy is immediately contrasted and contradicted by the omniscient narrative perspective describing her approaching revelation as “the worst horror of all”. The effect of the 3rd person be aware of the reality of her ‘truth’ conveys Rose’s naivety and innocence in terms of her understanding and comprehension of Brighton as the omniscient narrator understands the lack of achievement associated with and the hopeless nature within society when searching for truth within Brighton. The words “worst horror” illustrates the reality of Rose’s search for truth and hope for subsequent happiness yet in reality the truth will horrify and destroy her. The effect of Greene placing this as the very last sentence of the novel not only supports the statement as it has a lasting impact on the reader emphasising the scale of this aspect within Brighton Rock as well as being a direct link to the start of the novel where the “the new silver paint sparkled on the piers”. This lack of change and contrast between the quotes and ideas presented in them again reiterates how fundamental the search for truth is for the characters as well as wider society in Brighton. Similarly, In ‘A Clockwork Orange’ Burgess conveys a sense of lack of completion to Alex’s search for truth within the novel. Both ‘Brighton Rock and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ have a circular structure in terms of the characters search for and the presentation of the theme of truth. Within the final chapter, we again meet Alex and his gang in the milk-bar deciding what to do with the night, similar to the opening of the novel, again portraying Alex’s search for the truth. Furthermore, Alex’s relationships with the chaplain, forcing him to use religion to search for the truth as well as his relationship with F. Alexander again forcing him to question the government in order to find the truth, both manipulate and shape Alex’s views in order for him to achieve the truth.
Initially, the question assumes that you agree with the statement, starting off with an immediate bias that tilts the balance of an argument one way, in this case, to agree with truth being a fundamental aspect of the story. For an opinion to be formed on such a statement the definition of truth needs to be explored, truth in a theme? Truth in a character? Truth in a belief, perhaps. In this case it seems that both authors, Burgess and Greene, depict a searching after truth as a key element in their novels, as outlined by the evident cyclical nature of each story, even to the characters, yet the persistence in continuing on with life, even after an attempt to end it (in Alex's case). In Brighton Rock it seems that Rose, even after being linked to Pinkie for so long, persists on her journey of searching, despite knowing everything about Pinkie, after being exposed to his imperfections and oddities - the truth, the novel ends with her seeking the truth from a tape given to her by Pinkie. The dramatic irony provided here by the readers' knowledge of the tape contents is portrayed as a comment on searching after the truth: that it does not yield happy endings. Rose is searching for truth in her relationship, in life almost, as she makes it clear that a husband and children are what she wants from life, and ends the novel en route. The quote from the end of the novel seems to show Greene's intention to reveal the inevitability both of searching after truth, and of the pain it will bring, outlined in all three main characters: Pinkie in his death, Ida in the lack of reward in her "success", and Rose in her implied ending. ''if he loved you... That shows.' She walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of all.' The clarification from the priest should be the truth and the end of the matter, enough for her to know, especially now that Pinkie has passed. Yet the entire description of her approach to the truth is obscure, "thin" as a an adjective linked to sunlight is strange, seemingly out of place, mirroring her wrongful position on the path towards the truth, not belonging. Furthermore, "thin" is a word that has in the past been used in conversation about Pinkie, the fact that the omniscient narrator uses it now encourages us to see how wrong it is for Rose to be travelling further, after the favourable clarification given by the priest, she still pushes on, when everything is pointing her in the reverse direction. The quote "Bite all the way down... You'll still read Brighton." relates to this situation as a microcosm for discovering more about Pinkie, from Rose's perspective, she expects something different and "Good" within him somewhere, the reason that she persists in 'biting' when in reality, he is the same all the way through. Greene intends to demonstrate to us the destructive power of searching after truth, but also the inevitability of the issue, and so has it embroiled in his three main characters. Similarly to Rose Alex persists after truth, searching for something more, before eventually, as Rose is on her way to do, comes to realise something that he would have been better off not knowing. Approaching the moment of collision, as Alex leaps from a window, he says "I viddied clear that not one chelloveck in the whole horrid world was for me." Just as Rose is unquestionably going to do, Alex has discovered that there is no escaping your role as an outcast (in Rose's case no escape from the truth about Pinkie), no matter how far you look, like Brighton rock, you will see the same thing, it just requires searching after the truth that you already knew deep down, to come to the realisation on the surface. However, Alex also comes to the realisation that he can change somewhat in the future, and Rose's ending, no matter how certain it may seem, is not depicted in the book, it is possible that she too matures, and takes after Alex.
Within the stories of Brighton rock and A Clockwork Orange, truth is a concept explored in depth. In Brighton Rock the plot is driven by this want for Ida to discover the truth of her friend Hale’s fate. It permeates the novel. In “A Clockwork Orange” we observe how the government has given up its search for the cause of evil in people. In Brighton Rock we see clearly Ida’s struggle for the truth, yet after she finds this truth she carries on with her life as if nothing happened. Linking this to the theme of Brighton Rock being set in a fallen World where the characters cannot escape their fates we can see how perhaps Greene is showing the search for truth although can drive a story, in the end the truth is only as meaningful as those who discover it mean it to be. An example of how Ida is unmoved by her experience is ‘“Somebody else would’ve been dead if we hadn’t showed up,” It was her own choice.’ This detached voice is how Ida tries to distance herself from the event by using words such as “we” and “It was her own choice”. This accompanied by the detached third person narrative which is resent in this chapter could be interpreted as representing Ida’s dissociated state. As Ida represents society of the time, this can therefore be interpreted as society only searching for the truths that interest them, and that once a mystery is solved, it ceases to be interesting. Linked this idea of searching for truth we see how the government in “A Clockwork Orange” has given up on discovering the truth behind the evil ways of teenagers, and now seeks to simply reprogram them. This is expressed by “The Government cannot be concerned any longer with outmoded penological theories. Cram criminals together and see what happens. You get concentrated criminality, crime in the midst of punishment. Soon we may be needing all our prison space for political offenders.”This Supports Brighton Rock in the idea that the search for truth is futile, as the cyclical nature of both Brighton Rock and “A Clockwork Orange shows. Although a small amount of development occurs in Alex on a personal level, the world he lives in has not been impacted by him or his ordeal any significant amount. In conclusion The search for truth within Brighton Rock is presented as a futile gambit in Brighton Rock in which the results of uncovering the truth are less than spectacular, this is supported by the response of the government in “A Clockwork Orange” to teen violence.
Both Anthony Burges and Graham Greene question the concept of truth through the various characters viewpoints within the novels. In Brighton Rock the character of Ida Arnold is presented as a representation of morality through her actions as she first tries to solve the mystery of Hales murder and then going on to attempting to ‘save’ Rose from the fate that awaits her with Pinkie. This clearly illustrates her as a character that seeks the truth displaying the concept of ‘searching for truth’ as an important one. The idea of truth is also highlighted through the contrasting nature of Pinkie to Ida. Pinkie searches for truth in Religion whereas Ida looks for it in morality as previously stated. The quote “These atheists they don’t know nothing. Of course there’s hell. Flames and damnation.” Clearly shows Pinkies fixation with religion, the casual dismissal of atheists highlights to the reader how Pinkie feels that he is most certainly on the right path for truth and that any other path is quite frankly ridiculous. As well as presenting his viewpoint, Greene also uses this quote to portray Pinkies narrow mindedness to the reader, possibly trying to show how if you want to find truth, it is essential to approach with an open mind. This idea is similarly presented in A clockwork orange as the government is seen to approach society with a very narrow minded perspective as they choose to change people rather than attempt to locate the route of the problem. This evidently fails as can be seen by the ending to the novel. This is presented through the quote: “very hard ethical questions are involved, he went on, you are to be made into a good boy, 6655321” This clearly shows the state to be ignoring all questions about the treatment that Alex is to undertake showing a complete lack of open mindedness meaning that in the end they will never discover the truth that they are searching for of the method for perfecting society.
Within both Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange searching for truth is a key motive however it is often difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is false due to characters differing opinions and the descriptions given by the impartial 3rd person narrative. Greene presents this discrepancy through the use of contrasting imagery within the theme of appearance vs reality whereas Burgess demonstrates this through Alex’s final thoughts on how the world works and his belief that he now understands the true nature of the world and how it works. This is evident in Brighton Rock at the beginning of the novel through the theme of appearance vs reality when Hale observes the tourists as they enter Brighton, as they stepped “in bewildered multitudes into fresh and glittering air: the new silver paint sparkled on the piers, the cream houses ran away into the west like a pale Victorian water-colour”. The semantic field of glamour is used to demonstrate how Brighton uses an extravagant façade to distract people from its true nature and as an attempt to hide the darkness that lies at the centre of it, this is done through the words “silver”, “sparkled” and glittered” which catch people’s eyes and distracts them from the other, duller sights around them. The depiction of Brighton being a “pale Victorian water-colour” romanticises Brighton in another attempt to create a distinction between the tourist attraction and the endless conflict that goes on within the real Brighton, however as the houses are “cream” it implies that this attempt is only partial successful as “cream” is a dirty shade of white, which represents purity and innocence, demonstrating how the evil within Brighton has now begun to spread to its physical appearance even though they have attempted to cover this up through the use of “silver paint” as “silver” has connotations of wealth and prestige, directly contrasting to the dark nature of Brighton however “paint” implies that it is a cheap attempt to cover the problems rather than addressing them properly. The use of the third person narrative gives the description an impersonal tone that is unbiased by the personal views of the characters, therefore it demonstrates the stark reality of Brighton, where its true nature is hidden behind flimsy distractions in an attempt to hide the problem from the tourists. In contrast Burgess uses Alex’s opinion to demonstrate how the truth is unobtainable as he says “tomorrow is all sweet like flowers and the turning vonny earth… and your droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really”. This demonstrates how he believes his experiences have shown him the true nature of the world, however he has only experienced the nadsat version of life, raping, stealing and killing, whereas other people may have experienced a less violent life within the novel. This shows how his inability to empathise with others has led him to believe he understands how the world actually works whereas this is actually just a small part of the world that may not be applicable to it as a whole.
Brighton rock is fundamentally a story in which the characters are trying to understand the truth. Be that in the car of Ida the truth about hales murder or for instance Pinkie and his longing to understand if he can fit into society and why society is the way that it is. Ida is fundamentally looking to see the truth behind Hales murder, along her way she helps others to find theirs like Rose. In A Clockwork Orange we see clearly that the government is corrupted, not looking for the truth instead allowing individuals like Alex to commit these deeds and eventually work for them. Alex however sees the truth he understands what the government are doing and as a result they change his personality and control him, due to fear of the truth getting out. This fear of the truth is also sown within Brighton Rock and the character of Rose, she appears at the start of the book to be totally in love with Pinkie not questioning why he is with her, as the book progresses and she begins to understand Pinkie and realises the monster that he she tries to avoid it. It appears as though Rose doesn't want to accept the truth, this again empathised with her relationship with Ida, Ida tells her about hales murder and tells her to get away from pinkie as he is dangerous, yet she doesn't. This opposite of a searching for the truth that we see with Ida may show how weak a character Rose is, or the nobility of Ida on her hunt for the truth. Throughout Brighton Rock Ida represents the society of the time. By having the character of Ida longing for the truth it shows how society at that time was a lot less corrupted, and people in particular were a lot less worried about such things as religion. This as as Ida doesn't believe in Good and Evil she believes in wrong and right, due to this she sees murder differently to the way in which Pinkie does he sees it as an evil act. The is equally shown in A clockwork Orange as Alex begins to look for answers in religion as he knows that society is so corrupt so he can't find his answers there. This feeling is shown with Rose and shared with Rose.
In Brighton Rock, one of the most prominent characteristics is a search for the truth/. This is seen in Ida who is trying to obtain the truth regarding Hale’s death. Pinkie is seen trying to attempt to understand society more and Rose is presented to be pursuing a life in which she belongs to something greater. This is seen throughout the novel as she sees Pinkie as a way to escape her dull life. This ultimately fails as she is naive to his violent and emotionless personality but as she finally loses all hope after Pinkie’s death, we become vaguely aware the experience that will await her. The book ends with her leaving to listen to a record in which Pinkie has left a vile and aggressive message for her. This is seen in the quote “she walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of”. This is significant because after the entire journey in pursuit of the truth, when she finally loses all hope of finding it, she is about to discover it no matter how detrimental of an effect it has on her. The word ‘horror shows the reader of the extent of the damage that this will cause to her, it would be truly horrific, a worst nightmare. The shock that she will receive from the record would be comparable to that of a horror show. The significance of this quote coming at the end of the novel shows that Greene wants the reader to reflect on the life that Rose is left with after the events of the novel. The reader cannot be certain of what life will leave her with but it will be a thought provoking end to the novel that will occupy the mind of the reader. What happens to Rose? No-one can ever know, this question is one that exposes the true tragedy surrounding her character. Her search for the truth fails until she is no longer prepared for it; it is when Rose is caught off guard that she is made aware of the harsh reality of her relationship with Pinkie.
Throughout both Brighton Rock and a Clockwork Orange, both authors, Greene and Burgess, use their characters in order to challenge the concept of ‘truth’. This is achieved through the use of the contradicting ideologies between individual characters, seen clearly between Pinkie and Ida in Brighton Rock, and Alex and the ‘State’ in a Clockwork Orange. This leads to the readers themselves questioning the real ‘truth’ of each of the novels as well as whether the characters involved find their ‘truths’ that they are searching for. In Brighton Rock, we see the conflicting ideas of Pinkies religious beliefs,of ‘good and evil’, centered largely around damnation and hell, and opposing him is Ida’s secular morality ideologies in which she finds strength in the thought of ‘right Vs wrong’. Pinkie accepts the Catholic teaching about heaven and hell, however he is only able to form an idea of hell, and seems unable to conjure up an image of heaven; this is shown with the quote "Of course there's Hell. Flames and damnation." This suggests to the reader that Pinkie almost finds comfort in the thought that hell is waiting for him after death, almost glamourising death to the reader. However Pinkie’s ending in the novel is anything but glamorous and is not emphasised enough by Greene to make it seem like Pinkies death was heroic and did was not paramount in the grand scheme of things. Also in Brighton Rock, Ida opposes Pinkie in what they believe to be ‘the truth’ this is on the other hand, Ida does not go to church and is not religious; 'life was so important. She wasn't religious. She didn't believe in heaven or hell, only in ghosts, ouija boards, tables which rapped'. as well as this, when Rose talks of confession and repentance, she replies 'That's just religion'. Then later, 'I know one thing you don't. I know the difference between Right and Wrong'. This shows the reader that Ida is adamant that the ‘truth’ lies in her belief of non-religious motives and plain revenge. In a Clockwork Orange, Alex believes that all individuals go through a phase of their life in which they are rebellious, and that it is necessary for this to happen in order to prepare them for later life in which they realise the error of their ways and make a change in their life of their own accord, rather than by the use of force. However the opposing mindset of the state in Burgess’s novel is to force change upon the younger generation, in the hope that it will cure their erratic behaviour and set them on the right path to become model citizens.
In both the novels Brighton Rock and a Clockwork orange, truth is considered to be on of the key themes, and the search for truth or something more. In Brighton Rock there is the search for religious truth seen in the character of Rose and seen in certain aspects of Pinkie, also there is the search for moral truth seen in Ida, and also in the government in A Clockwork orange. In Brighton Rock the character of Rose, lives her life by the religious code, until Pinkie influences her, but he lets the religious ideas seep through as a clever way of hooking her in, she believes and trusts Pinkie as she longs for something more, and he is the key to that in her ignorant mind. Ida however searches for the moral truth, as she represent justice in this novel, as she plays detective hunting down Pinkie for Hale's murder. When Ida gets justice we are left with the question of was all of this worth it? Rose is left back where she began, Pinkie is dead and she isn't satisfied, suggesting maybe this wasn't really truth to unfold. Similarly in A Clockwork Orange, this idea is mirrored as the state hunt down Alex for his crimes, trying to balance out society again, however this backfires as the state is corrupt and remove his free will from him, leading to an unfortunate cruel chain of events. In Brighton Rock Ida says 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' more than once in the novel, reinforcing the idea that she must solve this crime, as it's right; letting the truth out. However Ida is a women of no religion yet, she bases her morals almost purposely against region, and here is using a religious quote to back up her views, showing the religious world seeping through, a truth she chooses to ignore.
In A Clockwork Orange and Brighton Rock, Greene and Burgess explore the theme of truth. In Brighton Rock the thesis of truth is surveyed through the character Ida. Ida’s companion Hale was “mysteriously” murdered, with the police corrupt and gangs controlling Brighton society, the truth behind the matter was cloaked and the event claimed irrelevant. Ida’s strong willed persona made it her value to seek the truth behind Hale’s murder, justice is what she believes will avenge Hale’s death. This is supported through the quotation “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, Ida repeats this classic moral quotation to justify the righteousness of her actions. Despite the noble logic encasing Ida’s need to justify Hale’s murder, her self-centered personality is thought to also heighten her need to investigate the truth. The revelation of the truth will only make her more certain of her nobility, perhaps encouraging the prestige side of Ida to expose itself. The search of the truth may appear respectable at first, but investigating the darker sides of the characters sheds the shady reasoning’s for wanting the truth, it will not always be used for moral decisions. In A Clockwork Orange the same ideas of using the truth for the wrong reasons is echoed from Brighton Rock. The program put in place to find the truth behind the mindset of young criminals is searched throughout the novel. It is to their belief that they are doing what is morally correct when researching this program, by doing so they will be able to manipulate the mindset of criminals, turning them into the noble everyday citizens of society. Although the self-belief of righteousness, they are blindly taking away the moral human rights of the criminals. Their desire to have a idealistic, working society blinds them from realising that like Brighton Rock, they are manipulating the truth in order to heighten darker sides of themselves. Natasha Syed
In both 'Brighton Rock' and 'A Clockwork Orange', there is a key theme being the search for truth, furthermore the hunt for justice. Within each character in 'Brighton Rock' there is an aspect of a search for truth, whether that would be moral or religious truth. The most fundamental representation of a 'search for truth' is represented through Ida's relentless hunt for justice and her eagerness to avenge Hale's death. A quote to supplement this idea would be "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", connoting strong themes of religion, opposing Ida’s solitary view on morality. This Is a clear representation of an internal conflict within Ida and her battle against religion, relating to a searching after truth as she doesn’t truly know of her own belief. At first glance, Ida’s reputable and heroic act to search for justice seems honourable, however, when taking a closer look at her reasoning’s for her quest it seems notably immoral. The idea of a search after truth is then ricocheted throughout ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Within ‘A Clockwork Orange’ society is blinded by their lust for an committed working society, keeping the truth out of sight in order to amplify their shadier sides. This can be shown through society on their hunt for justice against Alex, in the process of this, it becomes noticeable that in fact the state is corrupt. This is exemplified through the act of them taking away Alex's free will. Alfie Narborough
The concept of truth is explored differently by both Greene and Burgess throughout their novels; the search after truth being highlighted upon through its denial and conflict within the books. Brighton Rock explores this through the use of the characters individual searches after truths, A Clockwork Orange supporting this by Alex's similar individual hunt for truth within his religion and the morality brought by it.
ReplyDeleteBrighton Rock depicts a 'search after truth,' as being one of the most fundamental aspects of the story due the search for truth in both morality and religion presented by Greene. For instance, Greene presents an overall search after whether there is truth in either religion or general morality within the novel by emphasising the Catholicism, " It'll be no good going to confession ever again- as long as we're both alive." This implies that there is conflict in Pinkie's beliefs in right versus wrong and good versus evil, the term 'confession' telling us that by confessing your sins, you are revealing what you have done wrong, hence a struggle in morality and religion, Pinkie opposing both here. The first person narrative within the speech enforces the reader to believe that Pinkie doesn't understand these terms associated with being Religious or having moral ambitions, Pinkie only understanding the concept of evil and being in search of the truth as to his religious thoughts. Pinkie's appearance of knowing his religion and saying he's a "Roman" contrasting with the reality that he is in a state if confusion not truly understanding himself. This is echoed through 'A Clockwork Orange.' as at the beginning of the novel Alex believes he is in a state of knowing his moral beliefs - that of choosing wrong over right. However, Burgess soon illustrates Alex's confusion as he talks of 'Bog' or God, which implies to the reader that perhaps he attains some religious and moral thoughts. Therefore, a searching after truth is seen as one of the most fundamental aspects of the story due to Greene and Burgess conveying both Pinkie and Alex's search for truth within their religious and moral identities.
Within Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange, the desire and search for truth is a key motive for the characters and their manipulation of the plot, however characters such as Pinkie within Brighton Rock use religion to hide from the truth. Burgess conveys the character of Alex seeking the concept of truth about the corruption of the state both collectively within his gang but also independently searching for the truth about religion and morality within ‘A Clockwork Orange’.
ReplyDeleteThe search for truth is presented as a key theme and aspect of characters actions within Brighton throughout the novel. Greene emphasises this within the final lines of the novel when he expresses “she walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of all”. The word “rapidly” emphasises Rose’s desperation and desire to discover one of her fundamental aspects/motives within the novel: the search for truth. Greene uses pathetic fallacy to symbolise and represent Rose’s mood and emotions when approaching this discovery by describing “the thin June sunlight”. This light-hearted, optimistic use of pathetic fallacy is immediately contrasted and contradicted by the omniscient narrative perspective describing her approaching revelation as “the worst horror of all”. The effect of the 3rd person be aware of the reality of her ‘truth’ conveys Rose’s naivety and innocence in terms of her understanding and comprehension of Brighton as the omniscient narrator understands the lack of achievement associated with and the hopeless nature within society when searching for truth within Brighton. The words “worst horror” illustrates the reality of Rose’s search for truth and hope for subsequent happiness yet in reality the truth will horrify and destroy her. The effect of Greene placing this as the very last sentence of the novel not only supports the statement as it has a lasting impact on the reader emphasising the scale of this aspect within Brighton Rock as well as being a direct link to the start of the novel where the “the new silver paint sparkled on the piers”. This lack of change and contrast between the quotes and ideas presented in them again reiterates how fundamental the search for truth is for the characters as well as wider society in Brighton. Similarly, In ‘A Clockwork Orange’ Burgess conveys a sense of lack of completion to Alex’s search for truth within the novel. Both ‘Brighton Rock and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ have a circular structure in terms of the characters search for and the presentation of the theme of truth. Within the final chapter, we again meet Alex and his gang in the milk-bar deciding what to do with the night, similar to the opening of the novel, again portraying Alex’s search for the truth. Furthermore, Alex’s relationships with the chaplain, forcing him to use religion to search for the truth as well as his relationship with F. Alexander again forcing him to question the government in order to find the truth, both manipulate and shape Alex’s views in order for him to achieve the truth.
Initially, the question assumes that you agree with the statement, starting off with an immediate bias that tilts the balance of an argument one way, in this case, to agree with truth being a fundamental aspect of the story. For an opinion to be formed on such a statement the definition of truth needs to be explored, truth in a theme? Truth in a character? Truth in a belief, perhaps. In this case it seems that both authors, Burgess and Greene, depict a searching after truth as a key element in their novels, as outlined by the evident cyclical nature of each story, even to the characters, yet the persistence in continuing on with life, even after an attempt to end it (in Alex's case).
ReplyDeleteIn Brighton Rock it seems that Rose, even after being linked to Pinkie for so long, persists on her journey of searching, despite knowing everything about Pinkie, after being exposed to his imperfections and oddities - the truth, the novel ends with her seeking the truth from a tape given to her by Pinkie. The dramatic irony provided here by the readers' knowledge of the tape contents is portrayed as a comment on searching after the truth: that it does not yield happy endings. Rose is searching for truth in her relationship, in life almost, as she makes it clear that a husband and children are what she wants from life, and ends the novel en route. The quote from the end of the novel seems to show Greene's intention to reveal the inevitability both of searching after truth, and of the pain it will bring, outlined in all three main characters: Pinkie in his death, Ida in the lack of reward in her "success", and Rose in her implied ending. ''if he loved you... That shows.' She walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of all.' The clarification from the priest should be the truth and the end of the matter, enough for her to know, especially now that Pinkie has passed. Yet the entire description of her approach to the truth is obscure, "thin" as a an adjective linked to sunlight is strange, seemingly out of place, mirroring her wrongful position on the path towards the truth, not belonging. Furthermore, "thin" is a word that has in the past been used in conversation about Pinkie, the fact that the omniscient narrator uses it now encourages us to see how wrong it is for Rose to be travelling further, after the favourable clarification given by the priest, she still pushes on, when everything is pointing her in the reverse direction. The quote "Bite all the way down... You'll still read Brighton." relates to this situation as a microcosm for discovering more about Pinkie, from Rose's perspective, she expects something different and "Good" within him somewhere, the reason that she persists in 'biting' when in reality, he is the same all the way through. Greene intends to demonstrate to us the destructive power of searching after truth, but also the inevitability of the issue, and so has it embroiled in his three main characters.
Similarly to Rose Alex persists after truth, searching for something more, before eventually, as Rose is on her way to do, comes to realise something that he would have been better off not knowing. Approaching the moment of collision, as Alex leaps from a window, he says "I viddied clear that not one chelloveck in the whole horrid world was for me." Just as Rose is unquestionably going to do, Alex has discovered that there is no escaping your role as an outcast (in Rose's case no escape from the truth about Pinkie), no matter how far you look, like Brighton rock, you will see the same thing, it just requires searching after the truth that you already knew deep down, to come to the realisation on the surface. However, Alex also comes to the realisation that he can change somewhat in the future, and Rose's ending, no matter how certain it may seem, is not depicted in the book, it is possible that she too matures, and takes after Alex.
- Ed Hobson
Within the stories of Brighton rock and A Clockwork Orange, truth is a concept explored in depth. In Brighton Rock the plot is driven by this want for Ida to discover the truth of her friend Hale’s fate. It permeates the novel. In “A Clockwork Orange” we observe how the government has given up its search for the cause of evil in people. In Brighton Rock we see clearly Ida’s struggle for the truth, yet after she finds this truth she carries on with her life as if nothing happened. Linking this to the theme of Brighton Rock being set in a fallen World where the characters cannot escape their fates we can see how perhaps Greene is showing the search for truth although can drive a story, in the end the truth is only as meaningful as those who discover it mean it to be. An example of how Ida is unmoved by her experience is ‘“Somebody else would’ve been dead if we hadn’t showed up,” It was her own choice.’ This detached voice is how Ida tries to distance herself from the event by using words such as “we” and “It was her own choice”. This accompanied by the detached third person narrative which is resent in this chapter could be interpreted as representing Ida’s dissociated state. As Ida represents society of the time, this can therefore be interpreted as society only searching for the truths that interest them, and that once a mystery is solved, it ceases to be interesting. Linked this idea of searching for truth we see how the government in “A Clockwork Orange” has given up on discovering the truth behind the evil ways of teenagers, and now seeks to simply reprogram them. This is expressed by “The Government cannot be concerned any longer with outmoded penological theories. Cram criminals together and see what happens. You get concentrated criminality, crime in the midst of punishment. Soon we may be needing all our prison space for political offenders.”This Supports Brighton Rock in the idea that the search for truth is futile, as the cyclical nature of both Brighton Rock and “A Clockwork Orange shows. Although a small amount of development occurs in Alex on a personal level, the world he lives in has not been impacted by him or his ordeal any significant amount. In conclusion The search for truth within Brighton Rock is presented as a futile gambit in Brighton Rock in which the results of uncovering the truth are less than spectacular, this is supported by the response of the government in “A Clockwork Orange” to teen violence.
ReplyDeleteBoth Anthony Burges and Graham Greene question the concept of truth through the various characters viewpoints within the novels. In Brighton Rock the character of Ida Arnold is presented as a representation of morality through her actions as she first tries to solve the mystery of Hales murder and then going on to attempting to ‘save’ Rose from the fate that awaits her with Pinkie. This clearly illustrates her as a character that seeks the truth displaying the concept of ‘searching for truth’ as an important one. The idea of truth is also highlighted through the contrasting nature of Pinkie to Ida. Pinkie searches for truth in Religion whereas Ida looks for it in morality as previously stated. The quote “These atheists they don’t know nothing. Of course there’s hell. Flames and damnation.” Clearly shows Pinkies fixation with religion, the casual dismissal of atheists highlights to the reader how Pinkie feels that he is most certainly on the right path for truth and that any other path is quite frankly ridiculous. As well as presenting his viewpoint, Greene also uses this quote to portray Pinkies narrow mindedness to the reader, possibly trying to show how if you want to find truth, it is essential to approach with an open mind. This idea is similarly presented in A clockwork orange as the government is seen to approach society with a very narrow minded perspective as they choose to change people rather than attempt to locate the route of the problem. This evidently fails as can be seen by the ending to the novel. This is presented through the quote: “very hard ethical questions are involved, he went on, you are to be made into a good boy, 6655321” This clearly shows the state to be ignoring all questions about the treatment that Alex is to undertake showing a complete lack of open mindedness meaning that in the end they will never discover the truth that they are searching for of the method for perfecting society.
ReplyDelete-Jack Wright
Within both Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange searching for truth is a key motive however it is often difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is false due to characters differing opinions and the descriptions given by the impartial 3rd person narrative. Greene presents this discrepancy through the use of contrasting imagery within the theme of appearance vs reality whereas Burgess demonstrates this through Alex’s final thoughts on how the world works and his belief that he now understands the true nature of the world and how it works.
ReplyDeleteThis is evident in Brighton Rock at the beginning of the novel through the theme of appearance vs reality when Hale observes the tourists as they enter Brighton, as they stepped “in bewildered multitudes into fresh and glittering air: the new silver paint sparkled on the piers, the cream houses ran away into the west like a pale Victorian water-colour”. The semantic field of glamour is used to demonstrate how Brighton uses an extravagant façade to distract people from its true nature and as an attempt to hide the darkness that lies at the centre of it, this is done through the words “silver”, “sparkled” and glittered” which catch people’s eyes and distracts them from the other, duller sights around them. The depiction of Brighton being a “pale Victorian water-colour” romanticises Brighton in another attempt to create a distinction between the tourist attraction and the endless conflict that goes on within the real Brighton, however as the houses are “cream” it implies that this attempt is only partial successful as “cream” is a dirty shade of white, which represents purity and innocence, demonstrating how the evil within Brighton has now begun to spread to its physical appearance even though they have attempted to cover this up through the use of “silver paint” as “silver” has connotations of wealth and prestige, directly contrasting to the dark nature of Brighton however “paint” implies that it is a cheap attempt to cover the problems rather than addressing them properly. The use of the third person narrative gives the description an impersonal tone that is unbiased by the personal views of the characters, therefore it demonstrates the stark reality of Brighton, where its true nature is hidden behind flimsy distractions in an attempt to hide the problem from the tourists. In contrast Burgess uses Alex’s opinion to demonstrate how the truth is unobtainable as he says “tomorrow is all sweet like flowers and the turning vonny earth… and your droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really”. This demonstrates how he believes his experiences have shown him the true nature of the world, however he has only experienced the nadsat version of life, raping, stealing and killing, whereas other people may have experienced a less violent life within the novel. This shows how his inability to empathise with others has led him to believe he understands how the world actually works whereas this is actually just a small part of the world that may not be applicable to it as a whole.
Brighton rock is fundamentally a story in which the characters are trying to understand the truth. Be that in the car of Ida the truth about hales murder or for instance Pinkie and his longing to understand if he can fit into society and why society is the way that it is. Ida is fundamentally looking to see the truth behind Hales murder, along her way she helps others to find theirs like Rose. In A Clockwork Orange we see clearly that the government is corrupted, not looking for the truth instead allowing individuals like Alex to commit these deeds and eventually work for them. Alex however sees the truth he understands what the government are doing and as a result they change his personality and control him, due to fear of the truth getting out. This fear of the truth is also sown within Brighton Rock and the character of Rose, she appears at the start of the book to be totally in love with Pinkie not questioning why he is with her, as the book progresses and she begins to understand Pinkie and realises the monster that he she tries to avoid it. It appears as though Rose doesn't want to accept the truth, this again empathised with her relationship with Ida, Ida tells her about hales murder and tells her to get away from pinkie as he is dangerous, yet she doesn't. This opposite of a searching for the truth that we see with Ida may show how weak a character Rose is, or the nobility of Ida on her hunt for the truth.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Brighton Rock Ida represents the society of the time. By having the character of Ida longing for the truth it shows how society at that time was a lot less corrupted, and people in particular were a lot less worried about such things as religion. This as as Ida doesn't believe in Good and Evil she believes in wrong and right, due to this she sees murder differently to the way in which Pinkie does he sees it as an evil act. The is equally shown in A clockwork Orange as Alex begins to look for answers in religion as he knows that society is so corrupt so he can't find his answers there. This feeling is shown with Rose and shared with Rose.
In Brighton Rock, one of the most prominent characteristics is a search for the truth/. This is seen in Ida who is trying to obtain the truth regarding Hale’s death. Pinkie is seen trying to attempt to understand society more and Rose is presented to be pursuing a life in which she belongs to something greater. This is seen throughout the novel as she sees Pinkie as a way to escape her dull life. This ultimately fails as she is naive to his violent and emotionless personality but as she finally loses all hope after Pinkie’s death, we become vaguely aware the experience that will await her. The book ends with her leaving to listen to a record in which Pinkie has left a vile and aggressive message for her. This is seen in the quote “she walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of”. This is significant because after the entire journey in pursuit of the truth, when she finally loses all hope of finding it, she is about to discover it no matter how detrimental of an effect it has on her. The word ‘horror shows the reader of the extent of the damage that this will cause to her, it would be truly horrific, a worst nightmare. The shock that she will receive from the record would be comparable to that of a horror show. The significance of this quote coming at the end of the novel shows that Greene wants the reader to reflect on the life that Rose is left with after the events of the novel. The reader cannot be certain of what life will leave her with but it will be a thought provoking end to the novel that will occupy the mind of the reader. What happens to Rose? No-one can ever know, this question is one that exposes the true tragedy surrounding her character. Her search for the truth fails until she is no longer prepared for it; it is when Rose is caught off guard that she is made aware of the harsh reality of her relationship with Pinkie.
ReplyDelete- Dylan Peters
Throughout both Brighton Rock and a Clockwork Orange, both authors, Greene and Burgess, use their characters in order to challenge the concept of ‘truth’. This is achieved through the use of the contradicting ideologies between individual characters, seen clearly between Pinkie and Ida in Brighton Rock, and Alex and the ‘State’ in a Clockwork Orange. This leads to the readers themselves questioning the real ‘truth’ of each of the novels as well as whether the characters involved find their ‘truths’ that they are searching for.
ReplyDeleteIn Brighton Rock, we see the conflicting ideas of Pinkies religious beliefs,of ‘good and evil’, centered largely around damnation and hell, and opposing him is Ida’s secular morality ideologies in which she finds strength in the thought of ‘right Vs wrong’. Pinkie accepts the Catholic teaching about heaven and hell, however he is only able to form an idea of hell, and seems unable to conjure up an image of heaven; this is shown with the quote "Of course there's Hell. Flames and damnation." This suggests to the reader that Pinkie almost finds comfort in the thought that hell is waiting for him after death, almost glamourising death to the reader. However Pinkie’s ending in the novel is anything but glamorous and is not emphasised enough by Greene to make it seem like Pinkies death was heroic and did was not paramount in the grand scheme of things. Also in Brighton Rock, Ida opposes Pinkie in what they believe to be ‘the truth’ this is
on the other hand, Ida does not go to church and is not religious; 'life was so important. She wasn't religious. She didn't believe in heaven or hell, only in ghosts, ouija boards, tables which rapped'. as well as this, when Rose talks of confession and repentance, she replies 'That's just religion'. Then later, 'I know one thing you don't. I know the difference between Right and Wrong'. This shows the reader that Ida is adamant that the ‘truth’ lies in her belief of non-religious motives and plain revenge. In a Clockwork Orange, Alex believes that all individuals go through a phase of their life in which they are rebellious, and that it is necessary for this to happen in order to prepare them for later life in which they realise the error of their ways and make a change in their life of their own accord, rather than by the use of force. However the opposing mindset of the state in Burgess’s novel is to force change upon the younger generation, in the hope that it will cure their erratic behaviour and set them on the right path to become model citizens.
Tom Brooks
DeleteIn both the novels Brighton Rock and a Clockwork orange, truth is considered to be on of the key themes, and the search for truth or something more. In Brighton Rock there is the search for religious truth seen in the character of Rose and seen in certain aspects of Pinkie, also there is the search for moral truth seen in Ida, and also in the government in A Clockwork orange. In Brighton Rock the character of Rose, lives her life by the religious code, until Pinkie influences her, but he lets the religious ideas seep through as a clever way of hooking her in, she believes and trusts Pinkie as she longs for something more, and he is the key to that in her ignorant mind. Ida however searches for the moral truth, as she represent justice in this novel, as she plays detective hunting down Pinkie for Hale's murder. When Ida gets justice we are left with the question of was all of this worth it? Rose is left back where she began, Pinkie is dead and she isn't satisfied, suggesting maybe this wasn't really truth to unfold. Similarly in A Clockwork Orange, this idea is mirrored as the state hunt down Alex for his crimes, trying to balance out society again, however this backfires as the state is corrupt and remove his free will from him, leading to an unfortunate cruel chain of events. In Brighton Rock Ida says 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' more than once in the novel, reinforcing the idea that she must solve this crime, as it's right; letting the truth out. However Ida is a women of no religion yet, she bases her morals almost purposely against region, and here is using a religious quote to back up her views, showing the religious world seeping through, a truth she chooses to ignore.
ReplyDeleteEleanor Lambert
In A Clockwork Orange and Brighton Rock, Greene and Burgess explore the theme of truth. In Brighton Rock the thesis of truth is surveyed through the character Ida. Ida’s companion Hale was “mysteriously” murdered, with the police corrupt and gangs controlling Brighton society, the truth behind the matter was cloaked and the event claimed irrelevant. Ida’s strong willed persona made it her value to seek the truth behind Hale’s murder, justice is what she believes will avenge Hale’s death. This is supported through the quotation “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, Ida repeats this classic moral quotation to justify the righteousness of her actions. Despite the noble logic encasing Ida’s need to justify Hale’s murder, her self-centered personality is thought to also heighten her need to investigate the truth. The revelation of the truth will only make her more certain of her nobility, perhaps encouraging the prestige side of Ida to expose itself. The search of the truth may appear respectable at first, but investigating the darker sides of the characters sheds the shady reasoning’s for wanting the truth, it will not always be used for moral decisions. In A Clockwork Orange the same ideas of using the truth for the wrong reasons is echoed from Brighton Rock. The program put in place to find the truth behind the mindset of young criminals is searched throughout the novel. It is to their belief that they are doing what is morally correct when researching this program, by doing so they will be able to manipulate the mindset of criminals, turning them into the noble everyday citizens of society. Although the self-belief of righteousness, they are blindly taking away the moral human rights of the criminals. Their desire to have a idealistic, working society blinds them from realising that like Brighton Rock, they are manipulating the truth in order to heighten darker sides of themselves.
ReplyDeleteNatasha Syed
In both 'Brighton Rock' and 'A Clockwork Orange', there is a key theme being the search for truth, furthermore the hunt for justice. Within each character in 'Brighton Rock' there is an aspect of a search for truth, whether that would be moral or religious truth. The most fundamental representation of a 'search for truth' is represented through Ida's relentless hunt for justice and her eagerness to avenge Hale's death. A quote to supplement this idea would be "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", connoting strong themes of religion, opposing Ida’s solitary view on morality. This Is a clear representation of an internal conflict within Ida and her battle against religion, relating to a searching after truth as she doesn’t truly know of her own belief. At first glance, Ida’s reputable and heroic act to search for justice seems honourable, however, when taking a closer look at her reasoning’s for her quest it seems notably immoral. The idea of a search after truth is then ricocheted throughout ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Within ‘A Clockwork Orange’ society is blinded by their lust for an committed working society, keeping the truth out of sight in order to amplify their shadier sides. This can be shown through society on their hunt for justice against Alex, in the process of this, it becomes noticeable that in fact the state is corrupt. This is exemplified through the act of them taking away Alex's free will.
ReplyDeleteAlfie Narborough