In my mind, the most interesting aspect of A Clockwork Orange thus far has been Alex's psyche and how the author Anthony Burgess has Alex narrate the story to give the reader a feel for what is going on and uses the name of the novel to show and not tell how he thinks. Burgess (thus far) has not explicitly analyzed Alex's mental state but has Alex narrate the story, thereby giving the reader glimpses into the reasoning behind his behavior. Although Alex is clearly very disturbed, he is no normal sociopath. Despite his thirst for "ultra-violence", Alex clearly retained some skewed perception of right and wrong, evidenced by when he did not let Dim defecate on the carpet of the writer's home (23). This leaves the reader to ask why Alex would think this behavior is wrong when he had just had a hand in beating the writer nearly to death.
"A Clockwork Orange" is a metaphor for Alex's mind because Alex's mind clearly works in a certain way that while does not make sense, is consistent. In other words while nobody can figure out why his mind works the way it does, it can be understood how it does. From examining his behavior, the reader can figure out what makes Alex tick. For instance, you can figure out that he derives pleasure from "ultra violence" because he refers to it with pleasure as if hurting people satisfies an addiction-like need, you can figure out that listening to classical music soothes him because of his reactions to listening to it, and you can also figure out that he is very self conscious because he is acutely aware of fashion. While it is impossible to derive what makes Alex tick, you can depend on Alex's consistency and rely on him to tick. Just like clockwork. I interpreted the 'Orange' part to mean that his mind is made up of sections that are independent of one another. This is because some parts of his mind are normal and make sense and are considered normal to many other people (for instance, nobody would think that finding classical music relaxing is weird) while some parts are very disturbed and uncommon (like his affinity for violence). The contrasting characteristics that he shows indicate a fragmented psyche that is mixed and matched with many random traits. This is in contrast to the vast majority of people in the world who's minds are more like one entity and fit into the constructs imposed by society.
Your discussion of the title is a powerful one, but also one that I think Alex himself would reject. He likes being unpredictable and non-clockwork. In fact, he wants to reject that role in society. However, your post also makes me pity Alex for his lack of self-awareness. He shows such extreme confidence that his insecurity becomes glaringly obvious.
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