Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews

eISSN: 2395-6518, Vol 8, No 1, 2020, pp 610-617

https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8173

A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE NOVEL A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Ziona Elizabeth Mathai1*, M. Nagalakshmi2
1
Research Scholar, Vels Institute of Science Technology and Advanced Science (VISTAS), Pallavaram, Chennai, India,
2
Research Supervisor, Associate Professor, Vels Institute of Science Technology and Advanced Science (VISTAS),
Pallavaram, Chennai, India.
Email: 1*zionaelizabeth@outlook.com, 2lakshmi26376@yahoo.com
th th th
Article History: Received on 10 November 2019, Revised on 25 January 2020, Published on 10 February 2020
Abstract
Purpose of the study: This paper is a study on the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. It is an analysis of
Alex’s psychological condition and a study on the Ludovico experiment in relation to other popular experiments in
psychology. The paper brings to light the dark and evil side of adolescence.
Methodology: This study uses a psychological approach in analyzing the character of the protagonist Alex. Various
psychological theories are applied in this paper to interpret this novel.
Main Findings: Examining Alex’s depiction in the novel, he is presumed as a sociopath with a narcissistic personality
disorder. The Ludovico experiment which stole the limelight in this novel is a behavioral modification technique, powered
by negative reinforcement. Despite being a fictional experiment and a product of Burgess’s imagination, the Ludovico
experiment is stemmed out of Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning. This experiment also complements Watson and
Rayner’s ‘Little Albert’ experiment. The termination of Alex’s free will by the Ludovico experiment is reversed by the
flooding method of desensitization.
Applications of this study: The novel, A Clockwork Orange is brimming with psychological theories, hence a fascinating
book to the psychologists. The protagonist Alex, continues to remain as a case-study amongst the scholars of psychology.
Novelty/Originality of this study: The final chapter in the novel has various interpretations. The reversal of Alex’s
condition is caused by the flooding method of desensitization. While the cause of reversal holds varied comprehension, the
flooding method seems like the fitting one.
Keywords: Psychological Study, A Clockwork Orange, Adolescence, Psychological Disorder, Sociopath, Narcissistic
Personality Disorder, Ultra-violence.
INTRODUCTION
Psychology is a branch of science that studies an individual’s mind and behavior. It dives into one’s conscious and
unconscious state of mind and analyse the individual’s thoughts and feelings. This paper analyses the mind and behavior of
Alex, the protagonist of the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. A psychological study on Alex’s mind,
behavior, and practice of violence detect two psychological disorders. Alex is a sociopath with narcissistic personality
disorder (Joe, 1963). Alex’s indulgence in ultra-violence, destruction of property, rape, bloodshed, murder, seeking thrills
that are terrifying in nature and substance abuse sums up to prove the two mental conditions Alex suffers from. This paper
adopts psychological theories to interpret the Ludovico experiment which is a behavioral modification technique using
negative reinforcement. The experiment itself is a fictional version of the classical conditioning by Ivan Pavlov. Watson
and Rayner’s Little Albert experiment complements the Ludovico experiment. The mystery behind the reversal of the
conditioning imposed on Alex can be solved by the flooding method of desensitization. The psychological perception of
this novel helps the reader to understand Alex on a deeper scale, past the general stereotypic interpretations. Viewing
through the lens of psychology, (Ciment, Michel 1981) one can unravel his emotions behind his acts of violence. Despite
the disturbing violence depicted in the novel, the novel gains a fascinating side when psychologically interpreted.
Alex is a fifteen-year-old English boy experiencing adolescence. Adolescence is a tender phase where a child gains puberty
and undergoes a physical and psychological transition, which gradually advances a child into a period of legal adulthood.
Alex in this novel overrides the general notion of adolescent behavior and takes a deep dive into the dark and dreaded side
of adolescence. His daily routine involved him playing the role of a schoolboy by day and a terror-striking beast by night.
This paper detects Alex’s psychological disposition, based on his depiction in the novel. Alex is presumed as a sociopath,
alongside being a narcissist (Chitty, Susan 1983). The twinning of the two psychological conditions drives Alex to commit
acts of ultra violence like robbery, rape, and murder. Alex’s portrayal in this dystopian novel holds up a mirror to the
current society where the adolescents drift into their evil side, practicing criminal-ism.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The novel A Clockwork Orange is brimming with psychological theories. Although the Ludovico experiment stole the
spotlight in the novel, it acquired mixed reactions from its readers. A significant number of critics collectively yoked in
disagreement with the experiment. Mathis Chevalier argues by saying ‘we have to let our own selves be no matter how our
selves are.’ He goes on to say that we should embrace our uniqueness. Every human holds within a fair share of
imperfection. Hence, to be forcefully conditioned to adapt perfection is being stripped of our rights, he adds (Brooks,

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Jeremy 1962). A solid statement of his is that no one can be truly good at something when that is driven by force. His
passion for evil was a mightier drive. Alex was forced to adopt a violence-free path, despite the gushing urge to commit
crimes. In Blake Morrison’s account on A Clockwork Orange, he points out Stanley Kubrick’s response to the final
chapter, where Alex in accordance with his own free will chooses to live a clean life. Kubrick was least impressed with the
blandly optimistic climax. Alex’s glorious return to violence seemed more realistic to him (Brooks, Jeremy 1962).
Although Alex attains maturity, his son may have to encounter this vicious circle of terrifying adolescence. Jack Thompson
emphasizes on the misuse of power by the government (Anthony Burgess 1964). The experiment, projected as an act of
justice was a mere pretense. Alex’s prison life lucked into an irresistible offer for an early release which would be granted
on undergoing the Ludovico experiment. The early release was a bait that the government used to find a subject to
volunteer in their secret project. The government’s involvement in this dark experiment exploited Alex by nullifying his
freewill. It cared less for Alex’s victimized state, post-experiment. But Alex’s attempt to end the torment by throwing
himself out from the attic brought the government down to its knees. Even to this day, this novel remains a controversial
subject and a playground for the critics and the students of psychology (Calder et, al.,1968).
METHODOLOGY
This paper compares the Ludovico experiment with another similar psychological experiment. The Ludovico experiment
has a striking resemblance to Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning. During the dawn of the 20th century, Ivan Pavlov, a
Russian scientist birthed the theory of classical conditioning while studying the dog’s digestive system. During the study,
he spotted a peculiar behavioral pattern that sprung into a new line of experiments. The purpose of the experiment was to
observe the salivation in the dogs while being fed (Pavlov 1927). The experiment involved a small test tube being
implanted in the dog’s cheek, in order to measure the salivation. Dog’s salivation to food is an instinctual action. The dogs
were expected to salivate on seeing the food which was a powder made out of meat. But the dog’s response surpassed their
expectation. Mere hearing of the footsteps of the lab technicians caused the dogs to instantly salivate. Since these
technicians were in the habit of feeding them, the dogs corresponded to the entry of the technicians with the food that
followed them. Here food represents the unconditioned stimulus and salivation represents the unconditioned response.
There was no learning required in order to trigger this response. It was purely an instinctual response (Pavlov 1927).
Pavlov’s experiment (Pavlov 1927) required the help of a metronome which served as a neutral stimulus. The dogs were
given their feed after clicking the metronome. The food delivery and the metronome were timed precisely. In the early
stages of the experiment, the dogs salivated only at the arrival of the food and not at the preceding metronome. But further
down the experiment, the dogs instantly salivated at the ticking of the metronome although the food was tangibly absent. It
is impossible for a ticking metronome to trigger salivation. It was the pairing of the metronome to the food delivery that
conditioned the dogs to salivate. Here the metronome represents the conditioned stimulus and the salivation represents the
conditioned response. The metronome which was once a neutral stimulus has now become a conditioned stimulus (Burgess
1972). The Ludovico experiment brings about a similar result as Pavlov’s experiment. Alex’s urge to commit violence is
paired with the bout of pain and nausea which was induced by the chemical shots. Hence, his system refused the mere
thought of violence.
The aversion therapy is powered by classical conditioning and is similar to that of The Ludovico experiment (Aggeler,
G.1979). This therapy is practiced on patients who are struggling with addictions and obsessive-compulsive disorder
patient is given access to their stimulus like alcohol, drugs or anything that corresponds to their kind of addiction but
simultaneously they are made to experience discomfort. This plays on their mind and their system will automatically create
an aversion to their addiction. Depending on the degree of addiction, (Sholikah, F. W. 2014) stimulus like electric shocks
or chemical shots are given to the patients. The pain and discomfort experienced will force their system to give up their
addiction. The Ludovico experiment too mirrors the aversion therapy. Alex was given access to his addiction to violence
via the screening of ultra-violence. Along-side his indulgence in the viewing of the violence, there were doses of
discomfort induced. This tricked his system into having an aversion towards violence.
Watson and Rayner’s (1920) ‘Little Albert’ experiment has a striking resemblance to the Ludovico experiment. To fear a
loud noise is an unconditioned response but the motive of the experiment was to find out whether fear could be directed to
a particular object. Albert, an eleven-month toddler was showered with different kinds of toys to play. Like any normal
toddler, Albert enjoyed the company of the toys. But every time he was handed a white rat toy, a metal bar was struck
which induced fear into little Albert. (Suman Rajest S et al.,2017, Suda, I. K. 2017, Sanjaya, D. B. 2017) After a few
attempts, when the white ray toy was handed to him, he felt uneasy and let out a cry. But this time the metal bar was not
struck. Human beings are more likely to develop acquired fears naturally. It is possible to train a man to direct his fear onto
something in particular when it is coupled with feelings like pain, distress, embarrassment and so on. Similarly (Suman
Rajest S et al.,2017), the Ludovico experiment directed Alex’s fear of committing acts of violence. By linking violence to
pain and nausea, Alex’s system was trained never to indulge in violence.
DISCUSSION / ANALYSIS
An analysis of Alex’s personality would stem into two psychological conditions. Alex is a sociopath with traits of narcissist
personality disorder. The twinning of the two disorders birthed an evil-lurking beast within Alex. Abominable acts such as

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violence, rape, and murder were committed with no remorse or guilt. (Mulyani et al., 2017; Anthony et al., 2017; Espinoza
et al., 2017) A sociopath is vulnerable to substance abuse. In the evenings, Alex swings into The Korova Milk-bar where
he is served milk, laced with drugs. The bar was unauthorized to serve drugs hence, the pretension of a milk bar. When
Alex and his friends get high on drugs, they would venture into the night committing acts of violence, under the influence
of the drugs. For a fifteen-year-old, Alex is a spoilt teen shackled to drug addiction.
A sociopath denies moral values. Khanna, K., & Bali, P. (2017) and Singh, S. (2017). Alex scoffs and mocks at the
weaklings to entertain himself. Narcotized at The Korova Milk-bar, Alex and his friends wander out to corrupt their
evening. Instantly they catch sight of a schoolmaster walking out of a public library, carrying the borrowed books. (Soni et
al., 2019) The boys kick start their evening by bullying him and ripping apart the borrowed books. It soon elevates to
stripping his clothing and robbing him of his belongings. Macías et al.,(2018) The same evening they crash into a corner
store and rob expensive cigars. They beat up the owner and humiliate his wife, leaving them hospitalized.
The boys paused their thrills for a drink at the Duke of New York. Later they took a stroll down the Amis Avenue, passing
by a drunk old man venting his thoughts via songs of lamentations, of how the world was no more a place for an old man
like himself. Alex was provoked and demanded him to stop. Sooner, Alex pounded on him leaving the old man in a pool of
blood. Alex derives pleasure by shedding blood. Sanjaya, D. B. (2017) and Wesnawa, I. G. A. (2017). His practice of
violence is very intense. The pleasure derived by the shedding of innocent blood is disturbing. His comparison of blood to
snow and white Lilly is absurd. He derives aesthetic joy and pleasure by shedding blood. The old man being humiliated
and shamed by the boys is recorded in the below lines.
“…and that made the old deck start moaning a lot then, then out comes the blood, my brothers, really beautiful. So
all we did then was to pull his outer plates off, stripping him down to his vest and long underpants (very starry;
Dim smacked his head off near), and then Pete kicks him lovely in his pot.” (1.1.22)
Sociopaths manipulate people with their superficial charms. At the Duke of New York, Alex sponsored drinks for a group
of older women. It was a routine that the boys often slipped out to commit crimes between drinks. Whenever the cops show
up at the bar for an interrogation, (Suman Rajest S et al.,2018; Zambrano et al., 2018) the group of women would sing
praises and give the boys an alibi, knowing that the boys did commit the crimes. Their alibis dissolved all suspicion held
against the boys. Although the act of buying drinks to the women seems generous, it was but a sleazy buy off. Thus, Alex’s
superficial charm served as bliss in his villainous life.
Another quality of a sociopath is deceiving people. Alex was a deceiver. He schemed out a sequence which the boys
flawlessly enacted at the sites of the prospective break-in. (Macías et al., 2018; Maba et al., 2018;) Alex would first
scrutinize the lined-up houses and pick out the vulnerable ones. He would then throw himself at their doors pleading for
help, pretending to have met with an accident and requesting to call for doctors to attend on his injured friends. When the
owners respond to him, the boys charge at them and ransack their houses. Sadly some of them turn out to be victims of
rape. Thus, the boys tricked people and invaded their house at the dead of the night.
Sociopaths exploit innocent people. At the record shop, Alex meets two ten-year-old girls Marty and Sonietta. Blessed with
verbal facile, he runs his words smooth and captivates them under his sweet-control. (Delgado et al.,2018; Meza et al.,
2018; Mora et al., 2018) He showers them with food and gradually gains their trust. When opportunity turns up, he lures
them to his apartment promising an exhibit of his record collections. He gets them tipsy and defiles their purity and
innocence. Alex’s beastly nature ruined their childhood, having their tender age torn apart. Alex’s beastly nature of
victimizing the innocent is visible in the below statement.
“I felt the old tigers leap in me and then I leaped on these two young pittas. This time they thought nothing fun and
stopped screeching with high mirth, and had to submit to the strange and weird desires of Alexander the Large
which, what with the Ninth and the hypo jab, O my brothers. But they were both very drunken and could hardly
feel very much.” (1.4.34-35)
A sociopath is a thrill-seeker. They disgust monotonous life. Alex’s thrills were beyond mere adventure. They were brewed
with hatred and violence. Once Alex and his friends snitched a motorcar and drove on the sidewalk. They drove as though
they played dodge with the pedestrians. Then, they zoomed through the woods as if the car ate-up the road like a spaghetti.
In the woods, they paused to bully and terrorize a couple. Suweken et al., 2017 and Herianto, E. (2017) Alex’s definition of
a thrill is petrifying. It victimizes the people around him.
A sociopath refuses to abide by the norms laid up by society. Alex could never blend in with the ideas that existed in his
time; not even the popular fashion of his time. Alex’s fashion statement was a pair of shiny leather tights and a jacket with
a built-in shoulder. He accessorized his outfit with a designer cravat and a pair of long boots. His dignified twist to his
outfit was the straight razor which he carried along at all times. (Pincay, H. J. J. V et al., 2018; Delgado et al., 2018) As an
English boy, Alex never spoke standard English unlike the people of his time. He chose to use Nadsat as his medium of
communication. Nadsat is a blend of Russian and English. Only Alex and his friends spoke this language in this novel. A
ting of arrogance is spotted in Alex’s stand-out approaches.

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A sociopath is detached from his emotions and feelings. Every act of violence by Alex was committed with no remorse or
feelings of guilt. It is impossible for a rational being to hold on to his sanity on committing multiple gruesome acts. Alex
sheds innocent blood, abuses the weaklings, wrecks the lives of people; yet, continues to press forward, with no sign of
break-downs in his life. Each act of violence fed Alex’s pleasures of the id. Being able to detach from his emotions and
feelings has empowered Alex to stretch on with his experiments with the dark and evil side of adolescence. Alex’s
obsession with the shedding of blood is horrifying. The below lines are a gimp of his absurd obsession.
“And, my brothers, it was real satisfaction to me to waltz--left two three, right two three--and carve left cheeky
and right cheeky, so that like two curtains of blood seemed to pour out at the same time, one on either side of his
fat filthy oily snout in the winter starlight. Down this blood poured in like red curtains.” (1.2.8)
A sociopath finds it difficult to sustain relationships. Alex’s relationship with his parents was strained. The love that bonds
the family together shuns out of Alex’s life. There was a never-ending void that filled the apartment that Alex and his
parents lived in. Although at the beginning of the novel Alex seems to lead a major league of four, mid-way through the
novel, the squad separates. The fall-out was due to Alex’s arrogance towards his fellow mate. Thus, sustaining
relationships was a major drawback in Alex.
A sociopath has no regard for the feelings of others. All through the novel, Alex authenticates the above statement. A drop
of humanity could have served as an instrument to inflict guilt in Alex. Unfortunately, there never was any. He proudly
presented his only possession, his stone-cold heart. A heart too hard to soak in another man’s feelings.
Alongside being a sociopath, Alex had traits of narcissistic personality disorder. A narcissist displays exaggerated feelings
of self-importance. To Alex, the earth revolved around him. He was the supreme power and the alpha male. On one
occasion, Alex’s friends- Dim, Pete, and Georgie brought to the table their thoughts of formulating a new way. They no
longer wanted to be under the leadership of Alex and wanted to frame a democratic set-up. This compelled a threat upon
Alex’s alpha-male position. When Alex and the boys made their way to a bar, Alex swiftly pulls out his straight razor and
fights them with no prior warning. The boys were defeated and hence they yielded to Alex’s majesty.
A narcissistic personality disorder calls for the excessive need for admiration (Astawa, D. N. W. 2019). Alex can be
categorized under grandiosity. Grandiosity is a mental condition where an individual holds an illogical view of superiority.
They consider their fellow beings inferior. Alex treated Dim poorly, as an insignificant object. He let Dim hang out with
them only to bully him. Alex was an admirer of himself. He was always clothed in the highest of fashion. His outward
appearance was a matter of a great deal. His evening strolls were a terror to people as he randomly chose his victims. Alex
demanded all glory for himself. There was no sharing in his majesty.
A narcissist lacks empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand another man’s feelings. Alex’s crippled state of love and
compassion immune him from experiencing guilt. Lack of empathy leads to psychological starvation. It could drive a
person to behave in a destructive manner, which was the case with Alex. It’s root could be traced back to his childhood.
Starvation of love at a tender age could have led to this outcome.
A narcissist feels the need to be powerful. Their definition of power is the destruction of property, victimizing their fellow
beings and trespassing all moral principles. The novel records various incidents where Alex has demonstrated all of the
above display of powers. He reaffirms over and over that every act of violence was committed deliberately and was
committed with passion.“…But what I do I do because I like to do.” (1.4.21)
Thus, an analysis of Alex’s psychological condition would comprehend him to be a sociopath with traits of narcissistic
personality disorder. The above analysis was based on the incidents recorded in the first part of the novel. The latter part of
the novel tumbles Alex’s life upside-down. The Ludovico experiment alters his life’s course.
A failed attempt (Hidalgo et al.,2019) during a robbery forced Alex into prison. The government’s involvement with a dark
and secret project called The Ludovico experiment was the light at the end of the tunnel for Alex’s doomed prison life. He
volunteered to undergo the experiment with his eyes on the prize, which was an offer for an early release. The word
Ludovico is a derivation from the name Ludwig Van Beethoven who was Alex’s musical idol. The experiment aimed at
modifying the behavior of deadly criminals. Alex flaunted his criminal profile with episodes of robbery, rape, and drug
abuse; hence, a fitting specimen for the experiment.
The experiment involved Alex being injected with chemical shots and taken in for the viewing of the ultraviolence on a
screen. Although Alex initially relished his treat, he soon began to experience nausea and unpleasant feelings induced by
the shots. The chemical shots and the screening of the violence were timed perfectly in order to obtain the desired result.
The experiment resulted in Alex detesting the mere thought of violence. The Ludovico experiment is a fictional version of
Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning.
After Alex underwent this dreadful experiment, he was presented to an audience of elite people. The demonstrations
included a tough man attacking him and an attractive woman luring him. When Alex tried to retaliate to the tough man’s
attack, he suddenly experienced a bout of pain and nausea and dropped down to the ground. Similarly (Dr. P. Suresh et
al.,2019) when he tried to respond to the seduction, there was a relapse of pain and nausea. But the astonishing fact was

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that the outcome achieved was not under the influence of the chemical shot. His body associated violence with pain and
nausea and his system refused to commit acts of violence. Pavlov’s dogs automatically salivated at the ringing of the bell
although the food was not tangibly present. Similarly, even though Alex was relieved of the chemical shots, his body was
conditioned to act like he was still on the shot. Alex’s system was modified and the experiment was declared a success by
the government. But unfortunate for Alex, the catastrophe that followed gave him a taste of his own medicine.
The Ludovic experiment was not a real success because it stripped Alex off his free will. Merta, I. N. (2019) The title ‘A
Clockwork Orange’ comes into being post-experiment. A clockwork orange can be interpreted as a being, full of colour
and juice which functions like a clockwork toy. The being has no will of its own. It functions by being wound-up by an
external force. Here Alex is a clockwork toy because his freewill is stripped away. People held diversified views regarding
his condition. The Chaplin laments Alex’s helpless state of being.
"You are passing now to a region where you will be beyond the reach of the power of prayer. A terrible thing to consider.
And yet, in a sense, in choosing to be deprive of the ability to make an ethical choice, you have in a sense really chosen the
good. So I shall like to think. So, God help us all…" (2.3.13)
Some saw the outcome as a breakthrough in medical science. They regarded Alex as a transformed man who could finally
live up to his standards as a Christian.
"He will be your true Christian," Dr. Brodsky was screeching out, "ready to turn the other cheek, ready to
be crucified rather than crucify, sick to the very heart at the thought even of killing a fly." And that was
right, brothers, because when he said that I thought of killing a fly and felt just that tiny bit sick, but I
pushed the sickness and pain back by thinking of the fly being fed with bits of sugar and looked after like
a bleeding pet and all that cal. "Reclamation," he screeched. "Joy before the Angels of God." (2.7.24-25)
His worst nightmares crept in after he was relieved from the experiment (Handayani, N. D et al.,2019; Haldorai, A. Ramu
et al.,2019). Karma made a free run at him. When victims from his past paid him his due, Alex couldn’t defend himself.
Yet the worst of all the terrors he faced was when his fate drove him to the writer, F. Alexander’s house; where Alex and
his friends raped the writer’s wife which brought her a tragic end.
The writer initially extends his helping-hand until he learned that Alex was the rapist that caused his wife’s death. The
writer avenges his wife’s death by confining Alex to a room with ear-splitting music played in the background. Despite the
fact that Alex was a lover of classical music, he could no longer cherish music as the screened clips during the experiment
(Yogasari, I. A. M et al.,2019) had music playing in the background. The behavior modification process not only caused
his system to repel violence but also the music. Unable to withstand the torture, Alex jumped off the window which was his
only way of escape. Luckily Alex survived the fall.
Alex on waking up finds his condition reversed. He no longer experienced pain or nausea. The cause for the reversal of the
conditioning was the flooding method of desensitization Minggu, D et al.,(2019). The fascinating part of the experiment
was, being able to undo the conditioning imposed on Alex. The flooding method involves a person being exposed to the
phobia all at once. This immense trauma experienced by the person would help the person overcome the fear. There are
two types of desensitization. The systematic desensitization involves the patients being exposed to their fears steadily.
Anxiety-inducing stimuli are permitted in a moderate measure where the patient encounters the fear in a secured
environment. The intensity increases with each session and the patient will encounter the highest degree in the final lap.
Whereas, the flooding method of desensitization involves the patient experiencing fear all at once. The final process of
systematic desensitization is the first step in the flooding method. In the novel, Alex experienced the flooding method of
desensitization by being exposed to blaring music all at once. This reversed his condition and he regained his lost abilities.
Alex is delighted by the reversal of his condition. The fact he could make his own choices and could listen to classical
music cheered him. Although Alex is back to his own-self, he chose to not abuse his freewill. The below lines were the first
he uttered when he realized he was cured.
"And what do I get out of this? Do I get cured of the way I am? Do I find myself able to sloshy the old
Choral Symphony without being sick once more? Can I live like a normal jeezny again?" (3.5.13)
CONCLUSION
Thus, by analyzing Alex’s behavior and his acts of violence in the novel, he is a Sociopath with Narcissistic personality
disorder. Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning, Watson and Rayner’s Little Albert’s experiment, and The Aversion therapy,
interpret the Ludovico experiment. The flooding method of desensitization solves the mystery about the reversal of Alex’s
condition. A splendid fusion of Science and Fiction is witnessed in this novel. The novel focuses on the message "A man
who cannot choose ceases to be a man." (3.4.19) Every individual is accountable for the freewill he/she exercises. Abuse of
free will is an abuse to the life entrusted upon us. The novel, A Clockwork Orange is thus brimming with psychological
theories. Alex’s personality disorders and the Ludovico experiment elevates this novel to a whole new level. This coming
of age novel is a scaled-down version of the prevailing world. This study is based on Alex’s depiction in the novel. Alex is

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a fictional being brought to life by Burgess’s imagination and his narrative skill. To psychologically analyze a character
from a text does have its limitations. The final chapter in this novel holds varied interpretations.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY AND FINDINGS
This study implies psychological theories. The Ludovico experiment in the novel altered Alex’s behavior, whereby costing
him to lose control over his free will. His system was modified to react to violence with pain and nausea. The screening of
the violence paired with the chemical shots that induced pain and nausea, inflicted fear towards the practice of violence or
even a mere thought of it. Similar to this fictional experiment is classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov conditioned the dogs to
salivate to the ticking metronome. With the food being physically absent, the dogs still salivated as their system was altered
to respond to the ticking metronome. Watson and Rayner proved that emotion like fear could be directed to one particular
object alone in their ‘Little Albert’ experiment. Albert’s fear of loud noise was directed towards the white rat. The striking
of the metal bar every time little Albert handled the white rat caused the desired result. The reversal of Alex’s conditioning
at the end of the novel can be explained by the flooding method of desensitization. The loud music played in the attic
reversed the conditioning imposed on Alex via the Ludovico technique.
LIMITATION AND SUGGESTIONS
Alex is a fictional character, an accurate analysis of his mind and behavior cannot be fully achieved. The readers are
confined to the author’s description of Alex. It’s via Burgess’s vocabulary and his choice of words, how Alex is understood
by the readers. Since there is no record of his childhood, it is impossible to give an accurate account of his mind and
behavior. The events that occur in one’s childhood can impact an individual for better or for worse. Despite all these
limitations, Alex remains an interesting case study for the students of psychology even to this day.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. M. Nagalakshmi for her skilled guidance, my love for my family members for
being my support system and a big thank you to everyone involved in the publishing of this paper.
REFERENCES
1. Aggeler, G.(1979). Anthony Burgess: The artist as a novelist, University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press.
Print.
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