A Clockwork Orange

Kubrick’s most artistic piece without a doubt, a movie that upon rewatching I found so many hidden details that I hadn’t noticed before. The movie has so much hidden in that when i discovered different parts of it my entire interpretation of the movie was changed. Also, Kubrick is known for subtly placing red throughout his movies to foreshadow something bad happening, and before even the opening credits, the screen is blank red, showing the horrors that will come throughout the film. Alex: I think Alex’s character represents all the things wrong with humanity, but highlights how much of a problem lust is in the modern world. He shows how society always acts like violence is the worst thing in our world, and overlooks over-sexualization. Most of the characters, for that matter, show this over-sexualization of the world. Every character in the film, though, represents something bad about the world, except for the Chaplain surprisingly. Also, in his own crazy way Alex is the christ-like figure in this story. The most important trait of a christ-like figure is self-sacrifice, which Alex shows directly when he signs up for the “correction”. He does endure pain just as it is said Jesus did, his correction being a brutal torture. He also actually shows two rebirths throughout the course of the film, one in prison and one in the final scene. In the prison he seems completely reformed, genuinely caring being a good person and wanting to be able to correct himself. Then in the final scene in the hospital bed, “I was cured”, is very clearly another rebirth, this time reverting back to his old ways, but in turn regaining his humanity. In the hospital bed he also is seen with bandages on his arms and legs, which could partly be related to Jesus’ wounds upon crucifixion, but that relation might be a stretch. Mr. Alexander: Most directly he represents revenge and how even if someone is deserving of it, it can lead to worse things. I also think he is meant to represent greed and wrath, I think that he was at least partly inspired by these, but not completely because not all of the other sins are mentioned. We can see his wrath highlighted in the scene when Alex is eating spaghetti, and then when he is trapped in the attic. The shot of Mr. Alexander surrounded by the speakers portrayed this beautifully because you can even see him enjoying it. His greed is also displayed because before he realizes who Alex is, him and Julian can both see the pain in his eyes, and yet, he immediately tries to use him as a political pawn. Even with everything Alex has been through and Mr. Alexander’s attempt to make him seem good, it still causes you to feel some level of sympathy for Alex, Mr. Alexander is manipulating him in such a direct and yet somehow subtle way. Mom and Dad: To me they represent parents who don’t have the heart to parent their kid. They almost seem intimidated to talk with Alex, but not because of something he did, they just are incapable of being assertive. This shows an unreadiness for the world on their part, and in turn, their son turned out to be as horrible as possibly imaginable. I think they show how even an adult or parent for that matter can in themselves be immature. The introduction of the lodger further proves this, because instead of dealing with the imprisonment of their son in a healthy way, they replaced him. They just needed someone too fill the void instead of handling their son’s situation maturely. Prison Guard/Dim/Georgie/Pete: These four just represent the mistake of blind following, but in their own ways. The prison guard shows a blind faithfulness in clearly the prison system, and then in turn the government. While his character isn’t necessarily developed, we see later that the government is dealing with corruption, therefore proving that his trust is misplaced. As for Dim Georgie and Pete, they show a blind trust in Alex. They trust him, try to fight back, and then even with it being three against one, they bow down to him at the restaurant afterwards. They also show the aftermath of being a follower, giving Alex karma after his correction. Julian/Deltoid: These two characters are mostly a part of the story to add to the overall-sexualization of the world in more subtle ways. To start, Julian seems sexualized in just the way he dresses. Also, while he is there to be a bodyguard, he also seems to be someone that Mr. Alexander used to fill the void of his wife. In the beginning of the film we are looking at Mr. Alexander and we hear the doorbell ring, and we slowly move over until we see his wife. Flash forward to the end, and the same exact shot and timing is shown, but this time we see Julian where his wife was. Also, Julian is seen working out in this scene, but when only Mr. Alexander is on screen we hear very heavy breathing coming from Julian, which while we find out is just him working out could sound sensual in nature. Deltoid on the other hand, is just a complete pervert and gives more reason for Alex’s sexual nature. In one shot when he visits Alex in his room, Alex is off screen and all we see is Deltoid’s reactions to whatever Alex is doing. Even if he was doing absolutely nothing, but he was nearly nude and Deltoid was making faces showing he clearly enjoyed the sight. Prison Chaplain: He is really the only character that represents an actual sense of goodness in the world. Partly I think this could be influenced by the fact that the Chaplain is a religious figure, and Anthony Burgess(The book’s author) was known to be Catholic, so this could partly just be him portraying a character in a better light due to religion. I do think that he shows how goodness can still have an effect on the world, even if it be small, but also shows how quickly evil and wrongdoing overshadow kindness. Through his judgement and teachings he was able to help Alex become better in prison and make him feel cared for. Also, he argued that Alex’s “correction” was not morally correct after the presentation, which did end up being a popular opinion. Despite this, he was never really focused on, and this opinion was quickly overlooked by the Minister’s want for power. This shows how in a world of wrongness, one good person or even one act of kindness is overlooked and  is of less importance than an act of evil. The Minister: His character is fairly simple, he doesn’t seem to show any growth, and just represents a lust for power. He does show some humility and admits to being wrong to Alex, but only does so to gain Alex’s approval, and in turn the approval of the people. The Ending: I think the ending is trying to say something about the underlying savagery of human nature. He says “I was cured”, but we see that he is imagining lustful sex, so clearly he has just reverted back to his old ways. But this makes you think that well, both his “correction” and his original nature were both horrible, in neither circumstance was he cured, yet he claims he was, so one of the two must be his technical “cure”. But when he was “corrected”, he wasn’t human. As the Chaplain argued, he didn’t have any free will, and was therefore not a human being. If this is true, then this means that his original nature was him being cured, showing that to be human is to be as horrible as Alex. This basically says that there is not cure for humanity, humans are and will always remain violent, lustful beasts.