Title: The Inalienability of Free Will in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’
Name: Nicholas Pearson-Buffoni
Course: BAEN
Lecturer: Thomas Birkett
Date: 07 October 2017
In this Essay I will examine the theme of the inalienability of free will in Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’. This essay will argue that the above text stresses that free will is a necessity for all of humanity, whether that free will be used for benevolent or malevolent means. As free will is that which makes us as humans and separates humanity from simple inanimate objects or wild animals. This essay will demonstrate that even when an inherently evil character such as Alex who uses his free will to commit extremely vile
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Although warned by his post corrective advisor Mr. Deltoid that his actions will end with him being incarcerated, Alex continues to use his free will to perform these horrific acts, showing just how arrogant he truly is. Alex, in the beginning due to his actions is, to most of society find Alex completely unrelatable and is hated by the audience. However, this opinion becomes obscured when Alex is inevitably caught, incarcerated and unknowingly volunteers to have his free will stripped from him by the character of The Minister and his scientists. The audience sees him ‘Bound up in a straight-jacket and my gulliver was strapped to a headrest’ and sees that ‘They clamped like lidlocks on my eyes so I could not shut them no matter how hard I tried’. Seeing another human being treated in such a manner, worse than an animal in captivity, no matter how devious that person is, evokes a sympathy in some form for Alex from the …show more content…
Alexander puts it ‘A little machine’, for the person, whomever they are, in this case Alex, ceases to be human and has no autonomy, only capable of performing acts which others deem suitable. Alex’s response to having his free will taken from him speaks for itself, as the audience sees that Alex and most likely many others would rather be dead than have no control over their actions. Although Alex was an extremely evil character in the beginning of the film, he used his free will to be evil and that free will made him what he was. While some may argue that if someone uses their free will to be evil should not have it in the first place, but to take that free will away from someone dehumanises them and dehumanising someone is, in itself evil. The film shows that without free will humans are nothing and while that may be used for malevolent means, without it cannot be used for benevolent means either. Without free will humans are no different from things, simply being used for a
The film, Fatal Attraction is a clear depiction of the psychopathology showcased by the character, Alex. Alex becomes a stalker following her one-night-strand with a successfully married businessman, Dan. Following the affair, Alex vowed to make Dan quit his family by doing everything within her reach. First she attempted suicide as we see she cut her wrist to bar Dan from going to his family. However, when Dan finally rejects her opinion, she advances fierce threats to Dan including kidnapping Dan’s daughter, Ellen. Alex would never stop as she even waited Alex at his office to apologize and further extend her invitation to the opera, Madama Butterfly but she is again turned down raises her rage. Further, she calls Dan’s office stalking Dan’s
As his state-appointed guidance councilor, P.R. Deltoid, says to him, ìYou've got a good home here, good loving parents, you've got not too bad of a brain. Is it some devil that crawls inside you?î (39). While leaving that question unanswered, we do see that Alex's commitment to evil is so pure that he fantasizes about nailing Jesus to a cross.
In one point of the movie Alex gang member get into a fight with the group comes across a rival gang in a warehouse. “Billyboy, the leader, and his five droogs are raping a young devotchka (girl), and Alex's crew attacks them, beating them back until the millicents (police) arrive” (Wilson line 19-21). This contains the power of free will to accept Alex’s leadership. In order to remain his priority to his leadership he replied them daringly through defeating them in a fight. His fight was not to protect the girl but it was to prove his dignity and the power of his free will. In this part the girl was a used a territory which Alex wanted to rape and get the pleasure. “The themes of free-will, good vs. evil, and violence are seen throughout A
Burgess does not characterize Alex as just a murderous rapist. To come to terms with his wife's death, he had to believe that it is inhuman to be totally good or totally evil (Burgess ix). In the final chapter, Alex undergoes a moral transformation; "he grows bored with violence and recognizes that human energy is better expended on creation than destruction" (vii). Burgess could not believe that the men who raped his wife were totally evil, so Alex had to redeem himself by living a normal life.
During fight scenes it is apparent that Alex enjoys the pain he inflicts upon others. Because fighting is a frequent occurrence, he tries to make each one more pleasurable, interesting, and artistic. When Alex and his droogs come across Billyboy who is raping an innocent girl with his gang, this fight scene is depicted artistically by Alex, the narrator. Even though it is evil, horrible, and violent, there is gracefulness present through his actions. He states, "but for my own part [I] had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva which, at that
However, youth like Alex cannot be caught in the expected rubric of life and hence, they retaliate. Nevertheless, one cannot justify Alex’s actions worth applauding but Burgess seems to favour their actions as the only possible outlet for suppressed angst. In the first act, fourth chapter, Alex says,
The philosopher John Hospers’ views on free will and determination go completely against the movie A Clockwork Orange. Hospers claims that our actions are “compelled” and we do not make our own free choices, but it happens unconsciously . In A Clockwork Orange the main character, Alex, has his free will taking away from him through a series of extreme and harsh experimental tactics in the dystopia that he is apart of. The government believes that the can control the thoughts and actions of their citizens and just change them.
In a society where raping, murdering, and robbing happens very often, it is hard to determine what the best method is to lower the crime rates. Alex, one of the many teens who commit violence on a regular basis, has done many crimes. Five different methods have been used on Alex and each has its own benefits and drawbacks. “Clockwork Orange” argues that letting him be is the best method for Alex because he starts to get tired of violence, wants to start a family, and learns to show genuine care for others with nothing in return. However, too much free will is unreasonable and will not allow Alex to realize violence is bad.
The psychodynamic approach can be used to explain the moral conflict on why Alex did not bring up his concerns for Ada. Freud (1923) psychoanalytic theory would explain this as having an internal conflict with his id, ego, and superego. According to Freud the id is based on the selfish principal who seeks instant gratifications of its desires. The superego is based on the moral principal concerned with social acceptable principles and values. The ego is the executive part of the personality involved in planning and rationalisation and is the logical aspect of the mind. (Gross 2005).
Alex, the Faustian hero or more accurately, the anti-hero of A Clockwork Orange - a vicious and degenerate leader of a bunch of criminals, targets the feeble and the innocent. Though foolish, his attentiveness of his malicious disposition shows his ability to understand goodness and reject its relevance. When the social order tries to impose goodness upon Alex, he turns into the victim. (Jackson, 2012). He is this violent and irrational person, until they do the Ludovico technique on him, then he changes completely. Unfortunately is hard to say whether or not he changes for the good, as the experiment makes him physically ill towards violence, but does not change his perspective of being evil. To some extent he is neither evil nor good as is stated by the chaplain in part 2 chapter 3: "You are passing now to a region where you will be beyond the reach of the power of prayer. A terrible terrible thing to consider. And yet, in a sense, in choosing to be deprived of the ability to make an ethical choice, you have in a sense really chosen the good. So I shall like to think.” (Burgess, 2012:105), the priest laments that Alex has gotten to a place where he cannot make a moral decision amid good and evil. He is in essence non-human, and God can't feasibly affect
Through processes of rehabilitation, hypnosis and propaganda the government creates a society conditioned for manipulation. In particular, both novels exist to manipulate information of their own people as an advantage to keep their citizens under their complete control. Prior to Alex’s attempt for suicide in A Clockwork Orange, the government composes an article addressing the prevailing success the Ludovico Technique has achieved. The government subsequently restores Alex back to his old self in order to protect itself from blame on his attempted suicide. Knowingly still a threat to the government, Alex is ultimately released back into a society once again as a consequence of the government's inaccuracy and guilt. In an attempt for innovation,
. . there's no law nor order no more" pg 14. He takes on a role of authority in a society of anarchy. Although he is impervious to the choice of good, Alex does not remain ignorant to this choice throughout the entire novel. In the beginning, he believes that violence is the only way to prove his control. This then leads to his loss of control through the loss of his ability of choice. Only in the very end Alex finally become a well-rounded character. He realizes that he does not have to choose evil and abuse his position to prove his right of choice. "But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers? pg 148. Alex now knows that his future is open for his choices to lead him. For good or for evil, it is his right to decide, and this is what truly proves his freedom of choice.
If free will and choice are taken away to create a uniform society, is it morally right? This question is often posed in dystopian novels which usually point out the dehumanization that this control creates. But many people have different opinions on the extent of government control. “People decide according to their personal preferences. Some, whenever they see any good to be done, or evil to be remedied, would willingly instigate the government to undertake the business; while others prefer to bear almost any amount of social evil, rather than add one to the departments of human interests amenable to governmental control (Mill 13).” This theme is present in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess because of the government attempting to take
In the novel A Clockwork Orange, the freedom to choose is shown to be a vital, recurring theme that gradually evolves as the novel progresses. Throughout the first six chapters of the novel, Alex asserts his free will by choosing a course of wickedness. He is subsequently arrested in chapter 7 of part one of the novel, when he is caught red-handed in the middle of committing a crime and is taken to prison. In prison, Alex learns about the Ludovico's Technique, a method that robs the subject of his/her will to choose but grants the subject's release and freedom. Alex's one and only friend in prison, the chaplain, cautions Alex of the treatment, emphasizing the fact that he will "Never again ... have the desire to commit acts of violence or to
In part one of the novel, we witness the ability of free will that Alex possesses and his ability to choose between good and evil through contrast presented by darkness of night and lightness of day. At the beginning of the novel, Alex and his droogs (friends), Pete, Georgie, and Dim are at the Kovova Milkbar, roaming the streets and committing violent acts during night. Alex and his droogs encounter an old man who is drunk and is singing a sentimental song. Alex instantly chooses the path of evil with the free will that he encompasses, and along with his droogs they beat the old man while laughing at his misery. The old man complains about the “stinking world” and says, “It’s a stinking world because it lets the young get on to the old like you done, and there’s no law nor order no more.” (Part 2, Chapter 2, Page 12) At night, Alex uses violence and chooses to beat, rape, and murder innocent people because it shows that he has freedom of choice and has authority and power in society. Alex’s interpretation of darkness and night is, “The night belonged to me and my droogs and all the rest of the nadsats (teenagers), and the starry bourgeois lurked indoors…” (Part 1, Chapter 4, Page 33). In contrast,