Why A Clockwork Orange?

Something about A Clockwork Orange that has been spurring my curiosity for the past couple days is the meaning of the title. While I was reading the book, I wasn’t able to make any connections with the storyline and the title, other than the fact that a man in the novel was writing a book called “A Clockwork Orange”. An excerpt from the book read, “The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my swordpen”. Anthony Burgess must have added this segment for a reason, that which would explain the meaning of the title. Obviously these few lines have their similarities with the novel as a whole. “The attempt to impose upon man” refers to the doctors altering Alex’s actions through his conscience with the gruesome movies and medication. This imposing of laws and conditions would only be appropriate for a mechanical creation or something not human. So the excerpt is related to the plot of the novel, but what does it have to do with the title? I believe “clockwork” refers to change so that must deal with series of changes Alex went through over the course of the novel. “Clockwork” refers to change since people can either progress or regress as time goes on. “Orange” is the part of the title that is extremely vague. I think Burgess meant for it to mean something unnatural, but how “orange” can be connected with force and imposition is unclear. The most logical connection I came up with dealt with fire. Since fire is orange and flames are often associated with hell, maybe “A Clockwork Orange” translates to a change that is not permissible by God. The cover of the book adds evidence to this hell theory. Half of a face is depicted with the mouth screaming and flames coming out where the upper half of the face would be. The context and a major theme of the novel, free will, which I have touched upon in previous blogs, adds even more evidence that my theory is correct (or at least somewhat accurate). Free will dealt with the question of what God’s intentions were for us and whether the tampering with the free will of others is in His plan. If “A Clockwork Orange” had a synonym, I could say that it would be “An Ungodly Metamorphosis” based upon my assumptions.