A Clockwork Orange: Free Will
A Clockwork Orange: Free Will
December 16, 2010
A Clockwork Orange: Free Will
“I don’t care about the dangers father, I just want to be good; I want the rest of my life to be one act of goodness” (Kubrick, 1971). The father responds, “The question is whether or not his technique really makes a man good, goodness comes from within, goodness is chosen, when a man can not choose, he seizes to be a man” (Kubrick, 1971). This is a conversation between the delinquent Alex and the prison chaplain in the 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange. They are discussing the Ludovico technique, which is an experimental aversion therapy for rehabilitating criminals, but all this technique seems to do is take away a man’s free will. “The film is used to explore the political and social realities of punishment, in particular the examination of the moral question of "voluntariness" and the implications for "treatment" as a mechanism of social control” (Lichtenberg, Lune, & McManimon, 2004). A Clockwork Orange takes place in futuristic and dark London, where Alex and his friends, which are referred to as his “droogs” are sipping milk mixed with various drugs at the Korova Milk Bar before they partake in a night of violence. They attack an elderly intoxicated bum and get in a fight with their rivals who are trying to gang rape a women in an abandoned casino. Police sirens are heard so they steal a car and take off in the night, driving around like crazy people until the arrive at Mr. Alexander’s home where they assault him while Alex rapes his wife and sings Singin’ in the Rain. Alex and his droogs then return back to the milk bar and listen to another patron sing a movement from the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, who Alex greatly admires. The next morning Alex wakes to his mother beating on his bedroom door telling him he is going to be late for school. He acts as if he is unwell and needs to rest but instead picks up two girls at a record shop and brings them back to his house were
December 16, 2010
A Clockwork Orange: Free Will
“I don’t care about the dangers father, I just want to be good; I want the rest of my life to be one act of goodness” (Kubrick, 1971). The father responds, “The question is whether or not his technique really makes a man good, goodness comes from within, goodness is chosen, when a man can not choose, he seizes to be a man” (Kubrick, 1971). This is a conversation between the delinquent Alex and the prison chaplain in the 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange. They are discussing the Ludovico technique, which is an experimental aversion therapy for rehabilitating criminals, but all this technique seems to do is take away a man’s free will. “The film is used to explore the political and social realities of punishment, in particular the examination of the moral question of "voluntariness" and the implications for "treatment" as a mechanism of social control” (Lichtenberg, Lune, & McManimon, 2004). A Clockwork Orange takes place in futuristic and dark London, where Alex and his friends, which are referred to as his “droogs” are sipping milk mixed with various drugs at the Korova Milk Bar before they partake in a night of violence. They attack an elderly intoxicated bum and get in a fight with their rivals who are trying to gang rape a women in an abandoned casino. Police sirens are heard so they steal a car and take off in the night, driving around like crazy people until the arrive at Mr. Alexander’s home where they assault him while Alex rapes his wife and sings Singin’ in the Rain. Alex and his droogs then return back to the milk bar and listen to another patron sing a movement from the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, who Alex greatly admires. The next morning Alex wakes to his mother beating on his bedroom door telling him he is going to be late for school. He acts as if he is unwell and needs to rest but instead picks up two girls at a record shop and brings them back to his house were
References: Kubrick, S. (Producer & Director). (1971). A Clockwork Orange [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures. Lichtenberg, I., Lune, H., & McManimon Jr., P. (2004). "Darker than any prison, hotter than an human flame": Punishment, choice, and culpability in a Clockwork Orange. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 15(2), 429-449. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Rabinovitz, R. (1979). Ethical values in Anthony Burgess’s Clockwork Orange. Studies in the Novel, 11(1), 43. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.