A Clockwork Orange Free Will Analysis

In the novel A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, the main character and narrator Alex undergoes a series of trials as he strives to figure out life. He starts out as a young delinquent who does whatever he pleases whenever he does. There is no one controlling him or enforcing rules upon him. He has complete and udder freedom over his own life, and it affects others in a negative way. His crimes catch up to him one day, and he is charged with murder and thrown in prison. While in prison, Alex must obey rules and regulations set by the prison guards, especially when he undergoes Ludovico’s Technique, a cognitive therapy technique to sensitize Alex to crime and violence. By this therapy technique, Alex is completely deprived of his free will. After he is released from prison, his lack of freedom drives Alex so far as to try to commit suicide. After his near fatal fall Alex’s want, and free will to do violent acts returns and he reverts back to his original ways. By the end of the story he has committed heinous crimes but eventually becomes a good person. Throughout the novel, free will and free choice are the main controversies. Free will can be described as “the doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine force” (“Free will”). Alex goes through periods of having total free will and having no free
He begins to want a family and in order to have children he needs a wife. He stops committing crimes and tries to become good, this time because he wants to. Alex’s free choice is restored and he finally choices correctly, in the eyes of the world. The question of free choice being evident still remains and I think by the end of the book Alex has it. He makes all of his own decisions, influenced really only by his own desires and his environment. Alex is responsible for whatever happens to