Alex Vs. Beowulf: The Antithesis of a Lifetime

In all works of literature, the role of the protagonist is the most important role for the reader because the protagonist is the one who is to define the perspective in which the story is told to the reader. More importantly the protagonist's actions and qualities are what set aside the protagonist from all of the other characters in a poem or novel. In A Clockwork Orange the protagonist, Alex is portrayed as a violent fifteen-year-old boy who deals with the inability to express his violent nature due to a treatment that forces him to feel pain every time he thinks about a violent thought. On the other hand, Beowulf, from the epic poem Beowulf, is a revered warrior who fights to protect the people of Denmark from the feared and vicious monster, Grendel. Although both of these protagonists deal with violence throughout the pieces, their unique characteristics set them apart from one another. Alex's desire to create havoc and evilness as the antihero in A Clockwork Orange, and Beowulf's desire to protect the people and his good hearted spirit as the hero in Beowulf, illustrate to the reader that Alex and Beowulf are the antithesis of each other.

In A Clockwork Orange, Alex serves as a character who creates havoc throughout the city in which he resides. After leaving the Korova Milkbar, a bar where Alex and his fellow friends, or "droogs," drink "drug-laced" milk, Alex commits crimes, such as attacking an old man while he is leaving the library (Burgess 1; Galens 3). Alex, along with his droogs, takes the old man's books and begins to burn and destroy them: "...so Georgie let go of holding his goobers [lips] apart and just let him have one in the toothless rot [mouth] with his ringy fist, and that made the old veck [guy] start moaning a lot to then, then out comes the blood, my brothers..." (Burgess 7). This quote shows the reader how violent Alex and his gang of droogs are. They find pleasure in attacking an elderly man to the point where he his completely beaten and bloody. Alex and his droogs continue committing these crimes throughout the novel and in another instance, they knock on someone's door saying that their friend is hurt and that they need to use the phone. Since the people refuse to comply, Alex, and his droogs break into the house wearing masks and viciously beat a man and gang rape his wife:

Plunging, I could slooshy [hear] cries of agony and this writer bleeding veck [guy] that Geogie and Pete held on to nearly got loose howling bezoomny [crazy] with the filthiest of slovos [words] that I already knew and others he was making up. Then after me it was right old Dim should have his turn, which he did in a beasty snorty howly sort of way with his Peebee Selley maskie taking no notice, while I held on to her (Burgess 23).

In this quote, Alex shows his lust and violence as he and his gang, attack the couple in the most violent way imaginable. This passage shows how violent the gang is with the couple and how they feel no remorse as they attack two mature adults. In addition, Alex is shown to be a savage human being as he rapes a woman and then passes her over and holds her down for a friend to rape as well. This is significant because it shows the true nature of Alex and how he enjoys committing crimes. For Alex and his gang, there is no limit as to how far they are willing to go with their attacks on innocent people. They are able to instill fear in society by committing these crimes on the innocent. There is no reason as to why they attack neither the old man nor the couple, other than the need to create havoc in the city.

By creating havoc everywhere, constantly attacking the powerless and raping women, Alex creates a notorious image of himself, especially in the eyes of those who know him. However, creating a notorious image is not very beneficial for him, because even his close friends lose respect for him:

P.R. Deltoid then did something I never thought any man like him who was supposed to turn us baddiwads [bad] into real horrorshow [good] malchicks [boys] would do, especially with all those rozzes [policemen] around. He came a bit nearer and he spat. He spat. He spat a full in my litso [face] and then wiped his wet spitty rot [mouth] with the back of his rooker [hand]" (Burgess 71)

In this quote, Alex is being visited in prison by his guidance counselor, P.R. Deltoid. Alex's violent and criminal actions push P.R. Deltoid to an extent that is unfathomable to Alex: spitting on Alex's face. P.R. Deltoid gets so fed up with Alex's antics that he has no respect for Alex anymore. The fact that Deltoid spits on his face is significant in this scene because it is a complete surprise for Alex. The act of spitting degrades Alex because there is no respect given to him by his close friends nor is he given any respect for creating a notorious image of himself by his fellow criminals. Alex's violent and uncontrolled nature leads even his close friends to despise him.

On the other hand, in Beowulf, Beowulf works to rid the lands of all chaos and destruction that the monster Grendel has unleashed. While coming out only at night, Grendel continuously entered the kingdom of Heorot to attack and kill the people. Beowulf goes as far as to offering his services to King Hrothgar of Denmark so he can destroy the evil monster Grendel. During his confrontation with the vicious monster, Beowulf successfully defeats the monster and rips off its arm as a trophy, leaving Grendel fatally wounded as he returns to his underwater layer: "A breach in the giant / flesh-frame showed then, shoulder-muscles / sprang apart, there was a snapping of tendons, / bone-locks burst. To Beowulf the glory / of this fight was granted; Grendel's lot / to flee the slopes fen-ward with flagging heart..." (Alexander 77). In this scene from the poem, Beowulf successfully rips off the arm of Grendel and listens to every bone-crushing sound of Grendel's breaking arm. In addition, Beowulf knows that since he ripped off Grendel's arm, he was already ensured victory. Beowulf acts similarly when Grendel's mother arrives to avenge her son's death. After Grendel's mother takes and kills one of King Hrothgar's nobles, Beowulf follows her into her swamp lair and defeats her by cutting off her head with a mysterious giant's sword (Alexander 100). Beowulf constantly goes into battle for one main reason, which is to rid the lands of all monsters that spread havoc and destruction unto his people.

Considering that Beowulf spent a good portion of his life trying to save the people from all sorts of monster and demons, the society begins to revere Beowulf even more than before. Prior to Beowulf's arrival at Heorot, Beowulf is only known for his amazing strengths and peerless warrior skills: "The