Excerpts from
"A Clockwork Orange"
[the screenplay
for
the film]
based on
the novel by
Anthony Burgess,
1972
[Alex misses school,
telling his parents
he doesn't feel well.
He is exhausted
from being
up all night,
committing crimes of
ultra-violence,
and terrorizing
the neighborhood.
He has
an unexpected
visitor.]
Deltoid
[Truant Officer]
(to Alex):
"What
gets into
you all?
We study
the problem.
We've been
studying it
for damn well
near a century, yes,
but
we get no further
with our studies.
You've got
a good home
here,
good
loving parents,
you've got
not too bad
of a brain.
Is it
some devil
that crawls
inside of you?"
[page 81]
+
[Now, Alex
has been betrayed
by his own gang,
beaten up,
and left
for the Police to find.]
[At the
Police Station]
Inspector:
"Violence
makes
violence.
He resisted
his lawful
arrestors."
[p. 135]
+
[The Police
questioning
continues.]
Deltoid:
"I've
just come
from
the hospital.
Your victim
has died.
Alex:
You try
to
frighten me,
admit so,
sir.
This is
some new form
of torture,
say it,
brother, sir.
Deltoid:
It will be
your own
torture.
I hope to God
it will
torture you
to madness.
Tom
(interrogator):
"If you'd care
to
give him
a bash
in the chops,
sir,
don't mind us.
We'll
hold him down.
He must be
a great disappointment
to you, sir."
[pages 138 -139]
+
[Alex attends
the Prison Chapel,
where the Priest
gives a sermon.]
Priest:
"What's it
going to be
then?
Is it going to be
in and out
of institutions
like this,
though
more in
than out
for most of you?
Or are you
going to attend
the divine word
and
realize
the punishments
that await
unrepentant sinners
in the next world
as
well as this?
A lot of idiots
you are,
selling
your birthright
for
a saucer
of cold porridge,
the thrill
of theft,
of violence,
the urge
to live easy.
Well, I ask you,
what is it worth?
When we have
undeniable proof,
yes,
incontrovertible
evidence
that Hell exists.
I know,
I know,
my friends.
I have been informed
in visions
that there is
a place
darker
than
any prison,
hotter
than
any flame
of human fire,
where souls
of
unrepentant
criminal sinners
like yourselves ...
[A convict burps
-- all laugh.]
Don't you laugh,
damn you,
don't you laugh!!
I say
like yourselves,
scream
in endless
and
unendurable agony.
Their skin
rotting and peeling,
a fireball
spinning
in their
screaming guts.
I know ...
oh yes, I know."
[Someone blows
"raspberries".]
Chief Guard:
"I saw you,
920537!
I saw you!"
Priest:
"Quiet.
All right,
you lot.
We'll end
by
singing
Hymn 258
in the
Prisoners'
Hymnal."
[The singing
begins.]
Chief Guard:
"And,
let's have
a little reverence,
you bastards."
Singing:
"I was
a wandering
sheep."
Chief Guard:
"Come on,
sing up,
damn you."
Singing:
"I did not love..."
Chief Guard:
"Louder."
Singing:
I did
not love
my shepherd's
voice.
I would not
be
controlled."
[pages 152 - 156]
+
Alex reads the Bible.]
Alex (voice over):
"It was
my rabbit
to help
the prison charlie
with
the Sunday service.
He was
a bolshy
great burly bastard,
but
he was very fond
of myself,
me being
very young,
and also now
very interested
in the big book.
I read all about
the scourging
and
the crowning
with thorns
and
I could viddy myself
helping in
and
even
taking charge
of
the tolchocking
and
the nailing in,
being dressed
in the height
of Roman fashion.
I didn't so much
like
the latter part
of the book,
which is
more like
all preachy
talking
than
fighting
and
the old in-out.
I liked
the parts
where
these
old yahoodies
tolchock
each other
and
then drink
their Hebrew vino,
and
getting
onto the bed
with
their wives'
handmaidens.
That
kept me
going."
Priest:
"Seek not
to be like
evil men,
neither desire
to be
with them,
because
their minds
studieth
robberies
and
their lips
speak deceits."
[pages 158 - 164]
+
Priest:
"Is there
something
troubling you,
my son?
Don't be shy
to speak up.
Remember,
I know of the urges
that can trouble
young men
deprived
of the society
of women."
[page 165]
+
[Alex speaks
to the Priest
about
a new
experimental treatment
he's been hearing about,
that may be able
to "cure"
violent criminals.]
Priest:
"It has
not been used
in this prison yet.
The Governor
has
grave doubts
about it,
and
I have heard that
there are
very serious dangers
involved."
Alex:
"I don't care
about the dangers,
Father.
I just
want
to be good.
I want
for
the rest of my life
to be
one act
of goodness."
Priest:
"The question is
whether or not
this technique
really makes
a man
good.
Goodness
comes from
within.
Goodness
is
chosen.
When a man
cannot choose,
he ceases
to be a man."
Alex:
"I don't understand
about
the 'whys'
and 'wherefores',
Father,
to be good."
Priest:
"Be patient,
my son.
Put your trust
in the Lord."
[pages - 166]
+
[The Prison
is now visited
by the Minister
of the Government,
the Governor,
the Chief Guard
and other Guards.]
Minister:
"How many
to a cell?"
Governor:
"Four
in this block,
sir."
Minister:
"Cram criminals
together
and
what do you get -- ?
Concentrated
criminality;
crime
in the midst
of punishment."
Governor:
"I agree, sir,
what we need
are
larger prisons --
more money."
Minister:
"Not a chance,
my dear fellow.
The Government
can't be concerned
any longer
with
outmoded
penological theories.
Soon
we may be needing
all our prison space
for
political offenders.
Common criminals
like these
are
best dealt with
on
a purely
curative basis.
Kill
the criminal
reflex,
that's all.
Full
implementation
in
a year's time.
Punishment
means
nothing
to them,
you
can see that.
They enjoy
their
so-called
punishment."
Alex:
"You're
absolutely right,
sir."
Chief Guard:
"Shut your
bleeding hole!"
Minister:
"Who
said that?"
Alex:
"I did,
sir."
Minister:
"What crime
did you commit?"
Alex:
"The accidental
killing
of a person, sir."
Chief Guard:
"He brutally
murdered
a woman,
sir,
in furtherance
of theft.
Fourteen years ...
sir!"
Minister:
"Excellent.
He's
enterprising,
aggressive,
outgoing,
young,
bold,
vicious.
He'll do."
Governor:
"Well, fine ...
we could
still look
at C-Block."
Minister:
"No, no, no,
that's enough.
He's perfect.
I want
his records
sent to me.
This vicious
young hoodlum
will be
transformed
out of all recognition."
[pages 170 - 171]
+
[Later,
Alex is summoned
to the Governor's office,
to be
entered into the program
for Prisoner Retraining.]
Chief Guard:
"Forward
to
the white line;
toes
behind it.
Full name
and
number
to the Governor."
Alex:
"Alexander de Large,
sir.
655321, sir."
Governor:
"I don't suppose
you know
who that was
this morning,
do you?
That was
no less a personage
than
the Minister
of the Interior.
The new
Minister of the Interior
and
what they call
'a very new broom'.
Well,
these new
ridiculous ideas
have come
at last,
and
'orders are orders',
though
I may
say to you,
in confidence,
I do not approve.
An
eye
for
an eye,
I say.
If someone
hits you,
you hit back,
do you not?
Why then
should not
the State,
very severely hit
by you
brutal hooligans,
not
hit back also?
But
the view
is
to say no.
The
new view
is that
we turn
the bad
into good.
All of which
seems to me
to be
grossly unjust.
Eh?"
[pages 172 - 174]
+
[Alex is released
into the hands
of the scientists
who hope
to reform him,
through
unconventionally
radical
behavior-changing
means.]
Chief Guard:
"If I may offer
a word of advice, Doc.
You'll have to
watch this one.
A right brutal
bastard
he has been
and
will be again,
in spite of all
his sucking up
to
the prison Chaplain,
and
reading the Bible."
[page 182]
+
[Undergoing
"Treatment",
Alex
is given
behavior-altering
medications,
and
forced to watch
films of ultra-violence,
his eyes held open
by special instruments
that
do not allow them
to close.]
Alex (voice over):
"So far,
the first film
was
a very good,
professional piece
of sinny,
like it was done
in Hollywood.
The sounds
were
real horrorshow.
You could
slooshy
the screams and moans
very realistic,
and
you could even get
the heavy breathing
and panting
of
the tolchocking
malchicks
at the same time.
And then,
what do
you know,
soon
our dear old friend,
the red, red vino
on tap
[blood],
the same
in all places
like it's put out
by
the same big firm,
began to flow.
It was beautiful.
It's funny
how the colors
of the real world
only seem
really real
when you viddy them
on the screen.
Now all the time
I was watching this,
I was beginning to get
very aware
of like
not feeling
all that well,
and this
I put down to
all the rich food
and vitamins,
but
I tried to forget this,
concentrating
on the next film,
which jumped
right away
on a young devotchka
who was being given
the old
in-out, in-out
first
by one malchick,
then
another,
then another.
When it came
to the sixth
or seventh malchick,
leering
and smecking
and then
going into it,
I began
to feel really sick.
But I could not
shut my glazzies.
And even if I tried
to move
my glazz-balls about,
I still
could not get out
of the line of fire
of this picture."
Alex:
"Get me up!
I want
to be sick!
Get something
for me
to be sick in!
I want
to be sick!"
Dr. Brodsky
(softly, to those around him):
"Very soon now,
the drug will cause
the subject
to experience
a death-like paralysis,
together with
deep feelings
of terror
and helplessness."
Alex (offscreen):
"I can't stand it
any more."
Dr. Brodsky:
"One of
our early test subjects
described it
as being
like death,
a sense
of stifling
or drowning,
and
it is during this period
we have found
that
the subject
will make his most
rewarding associations
between
his catastrophic
experience-environment
and
the violence
he sees."
[pages 193 - 200]
+
[Later,
Alex speaks
with Dr. Branom,
another
of the doctors
treating him.]
Alex:
"It was horrible."
Dr. Branom:
"Of course
it was horrible.
Violence
is a very
horrible thing.
That's what
you're learning
now.
Your body
is learning it."
Alex:
"I just
don't understand
about feeling sick
the way I did.
I never used to
feel sick before.
I used to feel
like
the very opposite.
I mean,
doing it
or watching it,
I used to feel
real horrorshow."
Dr. Branom:
"You felt ill
this afternoon
because
you're getting better.
You see,
when
we are healthy,
we respond
to the presence
of the hateful
with fear
and nausea.
You're becoming
healthy,
that's all.
By this time tomorrow,
you'll be healthier still."
[pages 201 - 203]
+
[During his
drug-therapy
conditioning
(watching films
of ultra-violence)
Alex notices
that
his favorite music
is playing --
the Ninth Symphony
by Beethoven --
and that it is
now being
fused in his mind
with
the sickening inhumanity
of war and murder.]
Alex:
"Stop it!!!
Stop it!!!
Please!!!
I beg you!!!
It's a sin...
It's a sin...
It's a sin!"
Dr. Brodsky:
"Sin?
What's all this
about sin?"
Alex:
"That!!!
Using
Ludwig van
like that!
He did
no harm
to anyone.
Beethoven
just
wrote music!"
[pages 211 - 212]
+
[Desperate
to be relieved
of suffering,
Alex pretends
to be fully cured.]
Alex:
"You needn't take it
any further, sir.
You've proved to me
that
all this ultra-violence
and killing
is wrong, wrong
and terribly wrong.
I've learned
my lesson, sir.
I see now
what I've never seen
before.
I'm cured,
praise God!!"
Dr. Brodsky:
"You're not cured
yet, boy."
Alex:
"But sir,
missus,
I see
that it's wrong!
It's wrong
because it's like
against society.
It's wrong
because
everybody has the right
to live and be happy
without being
tolchocked and knifed.
[But Alex's
"treatment" continues.]
[Following
his treatment,
Alex is displayed
to an audience
by the Minister,
who explains
what has been
accomplished
in this case.]
Minister:
"Prison taught him
the false smile,
the rubbed hand
of hypocrisy,
the fawning,
greased
obsequious leer.
Other vices
it taught him,
as well as
confirming him in those
he had
long practiced before.
Our party
promised to restore
law and order
and
to make the streets
safe again
for
the ordinary
peace-loving citizen.
This pledge
is now
about to become
a reality.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
today is
an historic moment.
The problem
of criminal violence
is soon to be
a thing
of the past.
[A demonstration
follows,
that indicates
that Alex
no longer
is capable
of committing
any act of violence
at all.]
[pages 222 - 223]
+
[The demonstration
is complete.]
Alex:
"Was it
alright, sir?
Did I
do well, sir?
Minister:
"Fine,
my boy,
absolutely fine.
You see,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
our subject
is impelled towards
the good
by
paradoxically
being impelled
towards evil.
The intention
to act violently
is accompanied
by strong feelings
of physical distress.
To counter these,
the subject
has to switch
to
a diametrically
opposed
attitude.
Any questions?
Priest:
"Choice!
The boy
has no real choice,
has he?
Self interest,
the fear
of physical pain
drove him
to that
grotesque act
of self abasement.
Its insincerity
was clearly
to be seen.
He ceases
to be
a wrongdoer.
He ceases also
to be a creature
capable
of moral choice."
Minister:
"Padre,
these are
subtleties!
We are
not concerned
with motives,
with
the higher ethics.
We are
concerned
only with
cutting down
crime.
And with
relieving
the ghastly
congestion
in our prisons.
He will be
your true Christian,
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.
Reclamation,
joy before
the angels
of God.
The point is
that it works!"
[pages 239 - 242]
[Alex's story
continues,
as he is released
back into the world,
incapable
of committing
violent acts
against others.
And then
his Past
catches up to him.
I recommend
watching the film
to see how
Alex's "cure"
affects him.]
+++
"A Clockwork Orange"
[the screenplay
for
the film]
based on
the novel by
Anthony Burgess,
1972
[Alex misses school,
telling his parents
he doesn't feel well.
He is exhausted
from being
up all night,
committing crimes of
ultra-violence,
and terrorizing
the neighborhood.
He has
an unexpected
visitor.]
Deltoid
[Truant Officer]
(to Alex):
"What
gets into
you all?
We study
the problem.
We've been
studying it
for damn well
near a century, yes,
but
we get no further
with our studies.
You've got
a good home
here,
good
loving parents,
you've got
not too bad
of a brain.
Is it
some devil
that crawls
inside of you?"
[page 81]
+
[Now, Alex
has been betrayed
by his own gang,
beaten up,
and left
for the Police to find.]
[At the
Police Station]
Inspector:
"Violence
makes
violence.
He resisted
his lawful
arrestors."
[p. 135]
+
[The Police
questioning
continues.]
Deltoid:
"I've
just come
from
the hospital.
Your victim
has died.
Alex:
You try
to
frighten me,
admit so,
sir.
This is
some new form
of torture,
say it,
brother, sir.
Deltoid:
It will be
your own
torture.
I hope to God
it will
torture you
to madness.
Tom
(interrogator):
"If you'd care
to
give him
a bash
in the chops,
sir,
don't mind us.
We'll
hold him down.
He must be
a great disappointment
to you, sir."
[pages 138 -139]
+
[Alex attends
the Prison Chapel,
where the Priest
gives a sermon.]
Priest:
"What's it
going to be
then?
Is it going to be
in and out
of institutions
like this,
though
more in
than out
for most of you?
Or are you
going to attend
the divine word
and
realize
the punishments
that await
unrepentant sinners
in the next world
as
well as this?
A lot of idiots
you are,
selling
your birthright
for
a saucer
of cold porridge,
the thrill
of theft,
of violence,
the urge
to live easy.
Well, I ask you,
what is it worth?
When we have
undeniable proof,
yes,
incontrovertible
evidence
that Hell exists.
I know,
I know,
my friends.
I have been informed
in visions
that there is
a place
darker
than
any prison,
hotter
than
any flame
of human fire,
where souls
of
unrepentant
criminal sinners
like yourselves ...
[A convict burps
-- all laugh.]
Don't you laugh,
damn you,
don't you laugh!!
I say
like yourselves,
scream
in endless
and
unendurable agony.
Their skin
rotting and peeling,
a fireball
spinning
in their
screaming guts.
I know ...
oh yes, I know."
[Someone blows
"raspberries".]
Chief Guard:
"I saw you,
920537!
I saw you!"
Priest:
"Quiet.
All right,
you lot.
We'll end
by
singing
Hymn 258
in the
Prisoners'
Hymnal."
[The singing
begins.]
Chief Guard:
"And,
let's have
a little reverence,
you bastards."
Singing:
"I was
a wandering
sheep."
Chief Guard:
"Come on,
sing up,
damn you."
Singing:
"I did not love..."
Chief Guard:
"Louder."
Singing:
"...the fold.
I did
not love
my shepherd's
voice.
I would not
be
controlled."
[pages 152 - 156]
+
Alex reads the Bible.]
Alex (voice over):
"It was
my rabbit
to help
the prison charlie
with
the Sunday service.
He was
a bolshy
great burly bastard,
but
he was very fond
of myself,
me being
very young,
and also now
very interested
in the big book.
I read all about
the scourging
and
the crowning
with thorns
and
I could viddy myself
helping in
and
even
taking charge
of
the tolchocking
and
the nailing in,
being dressed
in the height
of Roman fashion.
I didn't so much
like
the latter part
of the book,
which is
more like
all preachy
talking
than
fighting
and
the old in-out.
I liked
the parts
where
these
old yahoodies
tolchock
each other
and
then drink
their Hebrew vino,
and
getting
onto the bed
with
their wives'
handmaidens.
That
kept me
going."
Priest:
"Seek not
to be like
evil men,
neither desire
to be
with them,
because
their minds
studieth
robberies
and
their lips
speak deceits."
[pages 158 - 164]
+
Priest:
"Is there
something
troubling you,
my son?
Don't be shy
to speak up.
Remember,
I know of the urges
that can trouble
young men
deprived
of the society
of women."
[page 165]
+
[Alex speaks
to the Priest
about
a new
experimental treatment
he's been hearing about,
that may be able
to "cure"
violent criminals.]
Priest:
"It has
not been used
in this prison yet.
The Governor
has
grave doubts
about it,
and
I have heard that
there are
very serious dangers
involved."
Alex:
"I don't care
about the dangers,
Father.
I just
want
to be good.
I want
for
the rest of my life
to be
one act
of goodness."
Priest:
"The question is
whether or not
this technique
really makes
a man
good.
Goodness
comes from
within.
Goodness
is
chosen.
When a man
cannot choose,
he ceases
to be a man."
Alex:
"I don't understand
about
the 'whys'
and 'wherefores',
Father,
I only know
I wantto be good."
Priest:
"Be patient,
my son.
Put your trust
in the Lord."
[pages - 166]
+
[The Prison
is now visited
by the Minister
of the Government,
the Governor,
the Chief Guard
and other Guards.]
Minister:
"How many
to a cell?"
Governor:
"Four
in this block,
sir."
Minister:
"Cram criminals
together
and
what do you get -- ?
Concentrated
criminality;
crime
in the midst
of punishment."
Governor:
"I agree, sir,
what we need
are
larger prisons --
more money."
Minister:
"Not a chance,
my dear fellow.
The Government
can't be concerned
any longer
with
outmoded
penological theories.
Soon
we may be needing
all our prison space
for
political offenders.
Common criminals
like these
are
best dealt with
on
a purely
curative basis.
Kill
the criminal
reflex,
that's all.
Full
implementation
in
a year's time.
Punishment
means
nothing
to them,
you
can see that.
They enjoy
their
so-called
punishment."
Alex:
"You're
absolutely right,
sir."
Chief Guard:
"Shut your
bleeding hole!"
Minister:
"Who
said that?"
Alex:
"I did,
sir."
Minister:
"What crime
did you commit?"
Alex:
"The accidental
killing
of a person, sir."
Chief Guard:
"He brutally
murdered
a woman,
sir,
in furtherance
of theft.
Fourteen years ...
sir!"
Minister:
"Excellent.
He's
enterprising,
aggressive,
outgoing,
young,
bold,
vicious.
He'll do."
Governor:
"Well, fine ...
we could
still look
at C-Block."
Minister:
"No, no, no,
that's enough.
He's perfect.
I want
his records
sent to me.
This vicious
young hoodlum
will be
transformed
out of all recognition."
[pages 170 - 171]
+
[Later,
Alex is summoned
to the Governor's office,
to be
entered into the program
for Prisoner Retraining.]
Chief Guard:
"Forward
to
the white line;
toes
behind it.
Full name
and
number
to the Governor."
Alex:
"Alexander de Large,
sir.
655321, sir."
Governor:
"I don't suppose
you know
who that was
this morning,
do you?
That was
no less a personage
than
the Minister
of the Interior.
The new
Minister of the Interior
and
what they call
'a very new broom'.
Well,
these new
ridiculous ideas
have come
at last,
and
'orders are orders',
though
I may
say to you,
in confidence,
I do not approve.
An
eye
for
an eye,
I say.
If someone
hits you,
you hit back,
do you not?
Why then
should not
the State,
very severely hit
by you
brutal hooligans,
not
hit back also?
But
the view
is
to say no.
The
new view
is that
we turn
the bad
into good.
All of which
seems to me
to be
grossly unjust.
Eh?"
[pages 172 - 174]
+
[Alex is released
into the hands
of the scientists
who hope
to reform him,
through
unconventionally
radical
behavior-changing
means.]
Chief Guard:
"If I may offer
a word of advice, Doc.
You'll have to
watch this one.
A right brutal
bastard
he has been
and
will be again,
in spite of all
his sucking up
to
the prison Chaplain,
and
reading the Bible."
[page 182]
+
[Undergoing
"Treatment",
Alex
is given
behavior-altering
medications,
and
forced to watch
films of ultra-violence,
his eyes held open
by special instruments
that
do not allow them
to close.]
Alex (voice over):
"So far,
the first film
was
a very good,
professional piece
of sinny,
like it was done
in Hollywood.
The sounds
were
real horrorshow.
You could
slooshy
the screams and moans
very realistic,
and
you could even get
the heavy breathing
and panting
of
the tolchocking
malchicks
at the same time.
And then,
what do
you know,
soon
our dear old friend,
the red, red vino
on tap
[blood],
the same
in all places
like it's put out
by
the same big firm,
began to flow.
It was beautiful.
It's funny
how the colors
of the real world
only seem
really real
when you viddy them
on the screen.
Now all the time
I was watching this,
I was beginning to get
very aware
of like
not feeling
all that well,
and this
I put down to
all the rich food
and vitamins,
but
I tried to forget this,
concentrating
on the next film,
which jumped
right away
on a young devotchka
who was being given
the old
in-out, in-out
first
by one malchick,
then
another,
then another.
When it came
to the sixth
or seventh malchick,
leering
and smecking
and then
going into it,
I began
to feel really sick.
But I could not
shut my glazzies.
And even if I tried
to move
my glazz-balls about,
I still
could not get out
of the line of fire
of this picture."
Alex:
"Get me up!
I want
to be sick!
Get something
for me
to be sick in!
I want
to be sick!"
Dr. Brodsky
(softly, to those around him):
"Very soon now,
the drug will cause
the subject
to experience
a death-like paralysis,
together with
deep feelings
of terror
and helplessness."
Alex (offscreen):
"I can't stand it
any more."
Dr. Brodsky:
"One of
our early test subjects
described it
as being
like death,
a sense
of stifling
or drowning,
and
it is during this period
we have found
that
the subject
will make his most
rewarding associations
between
his catastrophic
experience-environment
and
the violence
he sees."
[pages 193 - 200]
+
[Later,
Alex speaks
with Dr. Branom,
another
of the doctors
treating him.]
Alex:
"It was horrible."
Dr. Branom:
"Of course
it was horrible.
Violence
is a very
horrible thing.
That's what
you're learning
now.
Your body
is learning it."
Alex:
"I just
don't understand
about feeling sick
the way I did.
I never used to
feel sick before.
I used to feel
like
the very opposite.
I mean,
doing it
or watching it,
I used to feel
real horrorshow."
Dr. Branom:
"You felt ill
this afternoon
because
you're getting better.
You see,
when
we are healthy,
we respond
to the presence
of the hateful
with fear
and nausea.
You're becoming
healthy,
that's all.
By this time tomorrow,
you'll be healthier still."
[pages 201 - 203]
+
[During his
drug-therapy
conditioning
(watching films
of ultra-violence)
Alex notices
that
his favorite music
is playing --
the Ninth Symphony
by Beethoven --
and that it is
now being
fused in his mind
with
the sickening inhumanity
of war and murder.]
Alex:
"Stop it!!!
Stop it!!!
Please!!!
I beg you!!!
It's a sin...
It's a sin...
It's a sin!"
Dr. Brodsky:
"Sin?
What's all this
about sin?"
Alex:
"That!!!
Using
Ludwig van
like that!
He did
no harm
to anyone.
Beethoven
just
wrote music!"
[pages 211 - 212]
+
[Desperate
to be relieved
of suffering,
Alex pretends
to be fully cured.]
Alex:
"You needn't take it
any further, sir.
You've proved to me
that
all this ultra-violence
and killing
is wrong, wrong
and terribly wrong.
I've learned
my lesson, sir.
I see now
what I've never seen
before.
I'm cured,
praise God!!"
Dr. Brodsky:
"You're not cured
yet, boy."
Alex:
"But sir,
missus,
I see
that it's wrong!
It's wrong
because it's like
against society.
It's wrong
because
everybody has the right
to live and be happy
without being
tolchocked and knifed.
[But Alex's
"treatment" continues.]
[pages 218 - 219]
+
[Following
his treatment,
Alex is displayed
to an audience
by the Minister,
who explains
what has been
accomplished
in this case.]
Minister:
"Prison taught him
the false smile,
the rubbed hand
of hypocrisy,
the fawning,
greased
obsequious leer.
Other vices
it taught him,
as well as
confirming him in those
he had
long practiced before.
Our party
promised to restore
law and order
and
to make the streets
safe again
for
the ordinary
peace-loving citizen.
This pledge
is now
about to become
a reality.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
today is
an historic moment.
The problem
of criminal violence
is soon to be
a thing
of the past.
[A demonstration
follows,
that indicates
that Alex
no longer
is capable
of committing
any act of violence
at all.]
[pages 222 - 223]
+
[The demonstration
is complete.]
Alex:
"Was it
alright, sir?
Did I
do well, sir?
Minister:
"Fine,
my boy,
absolutely fine.
You see,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
our subject
is impelled towards
the good
by
paradoxically
being impelled
towards evil.
The intention
to act violently
is accompanied
by strong feelings
of physical distress.
To counter these,
the subject
has to switch
to
a diametrically
opposed
attitude.
Any questions?
Priest:
"Choice!
The boy
has no real choice,
has he?
Self interest,
the fear
of physical pain
drove him
to that
grotesque act
of self abasement.
Its insincerity
was clearly
to be seen.
He ceases
to be
a wrongdoer.
He ceases also
to be a creature
capable
of moral choice."
Minister:
"Padre,
these are
subtleties!
We are
not concerned
with motives,
with
the higher ethics.
We are
concerned
only with
cutting down
crime.
And with
relieving
the ghastly
congestion
in our prisons.
He will be
your true Christian,
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.
Reclamation,
joy before
the angels
of God.
The point is
that it works!"
[pages 239 - 242]
[Alex's story
continues,
as he is released
back into the world,
incapable
of committing
violent acts
against others.
And then
his Past
catches up to him.
I recommend
watching the film
to see how
Alex's "cure"
affects him.]
+++
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