Anthony Burgess essays

Anthony Burgess essays John Burgess Wilson, better known to the reading public as Anthony Burgess, is regularly lauded by critics and peers for his imagination, his humor, his varied knowledge and his sheer productivity. Abundantly reflected in Burgesss fiction is his Roman Catholic background, which is part of an ancient regional and family heritage. Mr. Burgess says, I was brought up a Catholic, became an agnostic, flirted with Islam and now hold a position which may be termed Manichee...I believe the wrong God is temporarily ruling the world and the true God has gone under. It is through his Manichean position that Burgess uses his novels as a social commentary, based on his desire for free will and free thought. While the novels written by Anthony Burgess contained (at times) deplorable violence, they also conveyed his points accurately and intelligently. For example, in A Clockwork Orange, a form of teenage dialect (nadstat) was used to downplay the actual violent crimes being committed while still shocking the educated reader (Malafry 1). Burgesss novels are entertaining, shocking and amusing, but, more importantly, they revel ever deepening shades of meaning as they are reread, meanings that challenge the imagination as they force readers to consider the human plight (De Vitis 89). One such plight, which is a central theme in many of Burgesss works is his resentment towards the state. Urged through several protagonists is the defense of self, no matter how twisted it may be. Condemned is the state, no matter how benevolent it pretends to be (Coale 14). An additional important factor that explains why Burgess feels the way he does about the state and society in general is his firm belief in Manichee. Shockingly, his vision of the world as one of constant reversals and repetitions within the ongoing conflict between good and evil reveals an essentially conservative Catholic eschatology...