Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange was a deeply disturbing depiction of human nature that shed light onto dark thoughts in the character’s soul. Alex seems to have no regard for human decency or human life. He and his gang of friends kill at will. They have no purpose for their violent outbursts other than to shock and degrade their victims. They have fun making others suffer. This is the logic that is upheld by Friedrich Nietzsche in his approval of Prosper Merimee’s statement “Know that nothing is more common than to do harm for the pleasure of doing it.
Though he does believe that most men try to deny this by never outwardly expressing any violent tendencies. I think that Nietzsche also sums up my feelings towards Alex in the “Innocence of So-called Evil Actions” section. He says “All actions are motivated by the drive of the individual’s intention to gain pleasure and avoid unpleasure; thus they are motivated, but they are not evil. ” I think this is a very accurate description of Alex’s motivations.
He seemed to be having fun making his victims suffer. He had absolutely no remorse for his reputable crimes. Yet I still don’t believe he was evil. I think that his parental influence and environment were a heavy influence on his behavioral dysfunction. His parents were completely out of touch with him. I think Kubrick was playing on the importance of a parent’s presence in a child’s life and how it can shape in for the better or, as in this case, the worse. Alex is a product of the State.
I think the writer was trying to satiristically convey his belief that society and the government are having a negative effect on the morality of people. His “reconditioning therapy” induced by the state is a classic example of the power the state tries to enforce. Attempting to rehabilitate a degenerate soul with a brainwashing technique is ludicrous. The author was symbolizing the devastating effect this extent of governmental control could have. The doctors in the movie believe they have cured Alex but they actually may have only increased his desire to do wrong.
Freewill is Alex’s only motivation. He can do whatever he wants. True there may be consequences to his actions but he does not care. His moral disregard can not be changed by anyone, even the government doctors, as depicted in Clockwork Orange. Freewill may be the one possession that can not be taken from a man. I enjoyed the film a great deal. At first things seemed a little strange and the dialogue was not always completely intelligible but once I understood some of what was going on I found it interesting.
I think I might try reading the book so I can imagine the scenes and characters in my own mind rather than watching Kubrick’s interpretation. As I mentioned previously, I believe Alex was a product of the state because of his environment and subsequent treatment to “cure” him of his misbehaving. He was not at all a likable character. I think the film’s main message was an opposition to state influence and the negative effect it could have on a person such as Alex was portrayed.
