Throughout my reading of the first 70 pages of A Clockwork Orange I came across numerous words that were strange and forign to me. These words clutter the pages and at first made it seem as though the author was randomly inserting made up words to delibertly confuse the reader. As a read on though I start to decode Anthony Burgess unusual jargon and realizes that it set the tone for the entire book.
Words like "devotchkas", "gulliver", and "kleevy" confused me and destorted my reading so I could barely realize what was happening in the story. I turned the dictionary, but there was no use for none of the words could be found in an ordinary dictionary. Through context cluse I finally figured out they meant ordinary things such as women, head, and blood. I thought to myself why use such confusing words, but I know now that these words make the entire book. .
By using such slang Burgess illistrates the kind of world Alex lives in. He installs imagry, setting, and tone through his destinct and unique dicton. I really did enjoy descovering the meaning of his words and would like to use more describtive and appropriate vocabulary in my own writing.
Anthony Burgess's language also distinguishing how the the narrator feels about certain situations and people. He refers to his acts of violence as "ultra-violence" and "horrorshow" showing the degree of disturbance these "vecks" invoke. Also he refers to his friends who conspire with him in "ultra-violence" his droogs or brothers. This showed me exactly what kind of relationship these boys had. I found that by calling them droogs he showed that they were what I would call a gangster or someone who was distrugtive and no good. But by calling them brothers he showed that the basic elements of friendsip were still there and that they trusted and supported each other. .
Another thing I would like to mimik in my own writing would be Burgess's stonge, vivid describtions.
