Every chapter of A Clockwork Orange has managed to horrify me as much, if not more, than the previous. By the last chapter, I think everyone knew something horrible was going to happen, the only question was what could possibly make it any worse? That's when I began to read the last chapter which paralleled the first chapter in many ways. The only way A Clockwork Orange could continue to get more horrifying is if Burgess suggested in the final chapter that the cycle of awful violence was only going to begin again.
After seeing the terrifying effects of Alex's treatment, I began to pity him. To see him return to his old ways completely changes my mind. The treatment Alex received was inhumane and it is difficult to say that I am in support of it, but I am. As far as I am concerned, Alex deserves to suffer at the hands of all of those who he previously harmed. Once he gained back his ability to commit crimes, I expected him to show a new understanding and restraint of some type. After seing the suffering that he caused the writer and so many others. Because he has no remorse, I can feel no remorse for him as he is tortured by others.
It was interesting to see Alex discuss the process of growing up and he seems to admit that he deserves to suffer for his mistakes, as it is only natural. While I don't feel that this recognition makes him a better person, I do think it shows that he has matured, first accepting that what he has done is a mistake and then that the suffering is deserved.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Ludovico Technique & Alex's future
Although Alex is a murderer and a sociopath and he deserves to rot in jail, his struggle against the government is not one of good vs. evil. Something that occurred to me over the past couple readings as Alex has endured the Ludovico technique, is that the government's opposition to a senseless murderer like Alex does not make it a force for good. The Ludovico technique (which trains people to become sick at the sight of violence by chemically inducing nausea while watching violent films) has a Pavlovian effect on Alex and forces him to react to certain stimuli in fixed ways like how a computer reacts to commands the same way every time you click or type them in. In the jail, the priest objects to the Ludovico technique by saying that it is wrong because it takes away Alex's right to choice, and therefore Alex's redemption will not be real. This is an important contention not only because they are prohibiting Alex from learning from his mistakes, but they are taking his humanity away which is extremely unethical. Not only do the officials administering the drugs to Alex watch and laugh sadistically as Alex screams and vomits uncontrollably and begs for mercy, but the mere idea of the government wielding the power of mind control is an extremely scary thought and why this is a dystopian society. This power is something that nobody should ever have and the fact that the government has it provides the means for them to rule tyrannically. Perhaps this is the only way to reform Alex, but it's not worth the cost. This kind of mental conditioning is a form of slavery.
Looking forward, I am intrigued by what Alex's life will be back on the outside. Clearly Alex will not resort to his old ways, but how will his life be different? What will his parents say when they see him for the first time after his release What if he is put into a situation where he has to protect himself and is unable to?
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Alex's "Reformation"
After the incident in prison where Alex unwittingly killed another person, he is sent from the Staja to another reformatory center, one that uses a much different technique to "fix" prisoners. Alex's daily routine involves being injected with what I assume are sedatives, and then being strapped to a chair and being forced to watch "the ultra-violent" as he calls it, for hours on end. Aside from this "torture session," Alex lives a relatively comfortable life. His daily meals consist of "ice cream and a nice hot chasha of chai," and his room is well furnished, with a large bed, as opposed to the cramped jail cell in which he previously was residing (99). His new surroundings seem less and less like a prison, and more like a hotel.
However, Alex soon begins to make some dire discoveries. The injections that they give him make him feel weak and hazy, the door to his room is locked at all times, and the windows have bars. This place seems to be more than it seems.
So how does this prison work, if it offers startlingly plush amenities but still relies on drugs and submission? Through a series of films, Alex has been trained to associate violence with nausea. As a result, when he goes to hit a stage actor, he simply cannot. Not for a lack of desire to harm, but because he is overwhelmed with a sense of sickness when he reaches to strike him.
This new type of reform takes away one of the basic fundamentals of freedom: choice. Alex is not driven by a desire to do good or a desire to avoid evil, rather, he simply cannot do anything that was programmed into his mind as being evil. For me, this was startling. Alex has become nothing more than a government automaton, who responds this a certain way to Stimulus X, and that way to Stimulus Y. A seemingly benevolent government interested in the well-being of society has now resorted to brainwashing to subdue its populace.
I'm interested to see how Alex responds to violence in the outside world.
However, Alex soon begins to make some dire discoveries. The injections that they give him make him feel weak and hazy, the door to his room is locked at all times, and the windows have bars. This place seems to be more than it seems.
So how does this prison work, if it offers startlingly plush amenities but still relies on drugs and submission? Through a series of films, Alex has been trained to associate violence with nausea. As a result, when he goes to hit a stage actor, he simply cannot. Not for a lack of desire to harm, but because he is overwhelmed with a sense of sickness when he reaches to strike him.
This new type of reform takes away one of the basic fundamentals of freedom: choice. Alex is not driven by a desire to do good or a desire to avoid evil, rather, he simply cannot do anything that was programmed into his mind as being evil. For me, this was startling. Alex has become nothing more than a government automaton, who responds this a certain way to Stimulus X, and that way to Stimulus Y. A seemingly benevolent government interested in the well-being of society has now resorted to brainwashing to subdue its populace.
I'm interested to see how Alex responds to violence in the outside world.
Psychological Manipulation: Old Habits Die Hard
In the latest sections of reading, we find out a bit more about Ludovico's Technique that Russell had posted before about. Essentially, Alex is strapped into a chair and then graphic, violent films are played on a large screen in front of him. He is forced to watch the entire time since there are clips that hold his eyelids open.
After reading more about Ludovico's Technique, I think find myself somewhat sympathetic for Alex. From a psychological standpoint, Ludovico's Technique most closely resembles classical conditioning: by showing Alex extremely violent and gut-wrenching films, they hope that he will come to associate even small acts of violence with nausea and therefore end his violent streak. However, it isn't a perfect fit in that usually the uncomfortable feeling comes from an outside source (ex: getting pricked by a needle, electric shock, etc.), while in Alex's case it comes from himself. This begs the question: if Alex is so troubled by seeing violence, how come he hasn't been bothered by it before? After all, he has committed some very violent acts in the previous few chapters. Granted, the violence in the films is stronger than the violence he has committed, but it seems so strange that he would suddenly be so affected by it -- unless he actually isn't.
I'm speculating that the injections that Alex receives daily are what's actually affecting him. Of what we've seen so far of them, they definitely affect him physically, the first time rendering him so weak that he has to get around in a wheelchair. That sick feeling that he gets while witnessing the violence onscreen is most likely due to the drug's influence (though this hasn't been completely confirmed in the story yet). If that is the case, then I don't really think I agree with Ludovico's technique in that it isn't genuine; Alex isn't actually feeling remorse or sickness from violence, the drug is just creating a mental barrier between him and his ability to be violent. In a reverse-psychological way, Dr. Brodsky is really twisting Alex's mind by tricking him to think that he himself is against violence when it is just the effects of the drug. However, most of my criticism of Ludovico's Technique is that Alex's desire and impulse to commit violent crimes hasn't actually been cured. After a treatment session when an officer dares Alex to punch him in the face, Alex still attempts to hit him, only he can't because he immediately feels a wave of nausea which stops him mid-punch. The doctors haven't cured him at all, only taken away his ability to fight.
Overall, the latest chapters in A Clockwork Orange have raised a good question: is it better to reform criminals or simply pacify their ability to commit future crimes?
After reading more about Ludovico's Technique, I think find myself somewhat sympathetic for Alex. From a psychological standpoint, Ludovico's Technique most closely resembles classical conditioning: by showing Alex extremely violent and gut-wrenching films, they hope that he will come to associate even small acts of violence with nausea and therefore end his violent streak. However, it isn't a perfect fit in that usually the uncomfortable feeling comes from an outside source (ex: getting pricked by a needle, electric shock, etc.), while in Alex's case it comes from himself. This begs the question: if Alex is so troubled by seeing violence, how come he hasn't been bothered by it before? After all, he has committed some very violent acts in the previous few chapters. Granted, the violence in the films is stronger than the violence he has committed, but it seems so strange that he would suddenly be so affected by it -- unless he actually isn't.
I'm speculating that the injections that Alex receives daily are what's actually affecting him. Of what we've seen so far of them, they definitely affect him physically, the first time rendering him so weak that he has to get around in a wheelchair. That sick feeling that he gets while witnessing the violence onscreen is most likely due to the drug's influence (though this hasn't been completely confirmed in the story yet). If that is the case, then I don't really think I agree with Ludovico's technique in that it isn't genuine; Alex isn't actually feeling remorse or sickness from violence, the drug is just creating a mental barrier between him and his ability to be violent. In a reverse-psychological way, Dr. Brodsky is really twisting Alex's mind by tricking him to think that he himself is against violence when it is just the effects of the drug. However, most of my criticism of Ludovico's Technique is that Alex's desire and impulse to commit violent crimes hasn't actually been cured. After a treatment session when an officer dares Alex to punch him in the face, Alex still attempts to hit him, only he can't because he immediately feels a wave of nausea which stops him mid-punch. The doctors haven't cured him at all, only taken away his ability to fight.
Overall, the latest chapters in A Clockwork Orange have raised a good question: is it better to reform criminals or simply pacify their ability to commit future crimes?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)