Nadsat

 As mentioned in both of the two previous posts, today’s entry will be a follow up to my review of A Clockwork Orange. Specifically, today’s entry will be two original theories of mine about the Nadsat language used in it.
My first theory is that the Nadsat language is not actually a mainstream thing and that the only person who speaks it is Alex; I think this, in a way, makes him more likeable. If Alex really were so insane that he talks in some gibberish language that he invented, then really it’d be quite clear that he isn’t fully responsible for his crimes and that he just did it out of insanity. For all we know from the book, we can’t be certain that this isn’t true, Alex narrates the whole thing in this language, he’s known to be unreliable and he’s also the only source we have that says Nadsat is commonly spoken.
Now for my second theory: the world of A Clockwork Orange is set in an alternate timeline where America surrendered to Russia in the Cold War (for some reason) and then this takes place about a hundred years later. Now, the evidence for this is that the Nadsat language includes many Russian words and variations on Russian words, but nonetheless is recognisably English. This novel was written during the 1960s, a high point in the Cold War, so maybe the dystopia that the story is set in is a reflection of what could happen if Russia were to win…
And so that’s my two theories. I hope they were interesting and that they did not ruin any of the events of the novel for those who have not read it.

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