omny” portrays the distasteful appropriation of rape within Alex’s mindset, in which we get the sense that “old in-out” implies its conventionalization and therefore its harmlessness. The oxymoronic image and sheer fact that these are “[dreamt]” about emphasizes how out-of-touch the Droogs really are with morality, and it is further tragic to know that they themselves are victims of the conventionalization of disorder in their society of youths. It should also be noted that ultra-violence emerges in the novel in not only the actions of the characters but also Alex’s imagination. For instance, whilst listening to music Alex imagines himself smashing, with his boots, the faces of people of all ages “screaming for mercy”, and in this way he is thriving off of a sadistic fantasy. Likewise, The Butcher Boy contains many elements of dystopian fiction that are absorbed by Francie through his familial environment, the main difference being that the dystopia is only being felt and experienced by Francie himself and nobody else around him. He captivates himself in this sense of dystopia for example through television, e.g. gaining knowledge on topics such as aliens, communists and the atomic age – until his father breaks it into pieces, a clear example of Francie’s dystopia being thrown onto him through the means of his family’s treatment towards him. Dystopia reflects the horrors of war or socio-economic crisis, and in this sense, The Butcher Boy is an example of literary dystopia that feeds on the reality of Ireland in the 1960s and its actual experiences, such as priestly child abuse or small communities like Clones abusing certain outlying members like the Brady family. In this way, McCabe constructs an outlandish world, one of metaphysical anguish for a child, like Francie, provoked by all the external restrictions imposed upon his being. With the intergalactic wars, lunar settlements, and extra-terrestrial contacts of science fiction that feature in Francie’s inner world, McCabe situates the child in a clear dystopic setting where he is the victim of his parents’ violence, a notable lack of parental skills, and alienation from his community. Francie’s goal is to achieve autonomy outside his small world, and to transcend his suffocating routine in the small town of Clones; this is of course why he runs away to Dublin, where he feels much more at ease. “All the beautiful things in this world are lies. They count for nothing in the end” indic>