Chapter 21? in A Clockwork Orange

The American edition of the novel, A Clockwork Orange features a final chapter that was omitted from the original English edition against the author's preference. Anthony Burgess, the novel's author, provided for the new edition an introduction to explain not only the significance of the twenty-first chapter but also the purpose of the entire book which was the fundamental importance of moral choice. Burgess states that the twenty-first chapter was intended to show the maturation, …

…the most hardened criminal can change. To Anthony Burgess the twenty-first chapter in the book is the most important. The events in the chapter symbolize human maturity, and give Alex the chance for redemption. The chapter number, twenty-one, is the age of symbolic adulthood, this is when people get to vote and assume other adult responsibilities, and the reader can identify with this. Works Cited Burgess, Anthony. 1962. A Clockwork Orange. Courier Companies, Inc., New York, 192.