Alex
The protagonist and narrator, Alex is a violent and antisocial teenager. He derives satisfaction from brutalizing others. He leads his gang on nightly outings of robbery, rape, and other forms of ultra-violence. He seems to enjoy only one decent thing and that is classical music. Eventually brainwashed by the government into being sickened by violence, Alex is then brutalized by those he once attacked.
Here we see Burgess’s themes of free will and morality at work. Alex does avoid violence but not of his own will, and the government “cures” Alex of his violent tendencies by a procedure of extreme violence. Nothing is resolved in the absence of free choice and fee will. Violence is violence no matter who commits it.
F. Alexander
An anti-government dissident and the author of a book on free will, F. Alexander is the counter to Alex. The similarity in their names operates as a clue. At first F. Alexander is one of the principal victims of Alex and his droogs. He is beaten and his wife is raped in front of him. Eventually, the tables turn as Alex shows up at F. Alexander’s door after being attacked.
F.Alexander, a writer and anti-government activist, is the author of A Clockwork Orange,a book about the importance of free will. In the first part of the novel, Alex and his droogs burst into F. Alexander’s home and tear up his manuscript, then beat him and rape his wife. In the third part of the novel, Alex returns to his home by accident and is exploited by F. Alexander and his fellow dissidents as a tool to further their “cause.”
At the end of the story, F. Alexander is thrown in prison by the government, presumably forever. Even as F. Alexander tries to exploit Alex to further his political ends, he becomes another perpetrator of violence through his attempt at revenge against Alex. The doubling of Alexander/Alex demonstrates the doubling of state violence and individual violence.
Billboy
The leader of a rival gang who Alex and his droogs do battle with early in the novel. He returns in the novel as a police officer who takes revenge on Alex. The gangster/police officer furthers the theme of state and individual violence.
Dr. Brodsky
The chief psychologist who proposes and administers the Ludovico Technique designed to “cure” Alex of his violent and antisocial tendencies. He is described by Alex as being fat with curly hair and a “spuddy nose,” as if to demonstrate the repugnant nature of those in power. He lacks empathy and any capacity to care about Alex’s pain. Even the unfortunate side effect of Alex’s revulsion to classical music is of no consequence to Dr. Brodsky.
The doctor exemplifies the callous and sociopathic tendencies of state power. As Alex is antisocial and violent, so is the system of “reform” which punishes and treats this violence. Burgess is adept at showing that the problem is violence, not the authority or individual who carries out the violence.
The Prison Chaplain
A sympathetic character, the chaplain actually tries to warn Alex about the Ludovico Technique. The Prison Chaplain seems to operate as a moral voice in the novel. He sees the potential for good in Alex by observing his love of classical music. Unfortunately he underestimates Alex’s antisocial tendencies. It is the Prison Chaplain who speaks the line, which encapsulates another of the main themes in the novel.
Freedom to choose good or evil is the only way to determine the good. He says: “Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” We lose our humanity when we can no longer choose. We become like a clockwork orange, not a real orange, but a machine which has the appearance of an orange.
Dim
The member of Alex’s gang of droogs who is the most stupid and most like a simple-minded ape. He is valuable to Alex because he gives no thought at all to committing the worst violent crimes. However, because he is simple he is embarrassing and insulting to Alex. It is no small irony that Burgess has Dim make the transition from thug to police officer.
Minister of the Interior
A stern and severe character, the Minister of the Interior is the major advocate of the Ludovico Technique. His method is to mete out punishment equal to the crime without any concern for the ethics of what is being done to the inmate. He is unscrupulous in getting what he wants, even becoming an advocate of undoing the brainwashing of Alex when this serves his ends.