A Literary Comparison Of A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible

The existence of evil in the world is a universal question that is often contemplated. Anthony Burgess and Arthur Miller in their novels A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible address this question of evil. One of these stories is set in the future, and the other in the past confirming the belief that the human struggle between good and evil is timeless and applies to every person in society. Throughout history numerous examples of leaders have attempted to control the nature of people within their society through systems of punishment and reward. This system had failed continuously to control the entire population because people still retain their ability to choose. It is said that once a person loses his free will, he ceases to be a person. This is the struggle confronting the protagonists in both A Clockwork Orange and The Crucible. The fifteen-year old rebel Alex and the respected farmer John Proctor refuse to conform to the rules of their oppressive societies, and as a result ...