A Clockwork Orange : Cure By Changing

Just switch on the T.V and watch any news. All you can see is about the crime and wrong things happening. Very few are the news of some development or good projects taking place. Did you ever thought what is the root of all bad things?

A person and his ideas, yes they are the root cause of all the things happening.

Then one question arises in my mind that whether a person be changed to make him fit for society?

Yes, this question comes in my mind many times but I never gave a thought to it until I saw Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange a few months back. It was one of the best works of Kubrick.

The film is a satire on lifestyle and crime in not so far dystopian future.
A Clockwork Orange was based on a novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess.

The story revolves around a young guy Alex Delarge, who is the main character. He is portrayed as a sociopath who robs, rapes, and ultimately murders for his own amusement. Alex is the leader of the gang ‘Droogs’ which consists of his three friends Pete, Georgie, and Dim.

All goes fine until one day during an usual robbery, his friend frames him for the murder which happens at the spur of the moment and runs away leaving Alex injured and to be caught. Alex gets caught and is sent to prison. We can see the change in him as he changes his nature and behaves well in jail.

All this goes on till the government comes up with a new technique for reforming criminals ‘The Ludovico Technique’, for which Alex volunteers. As a part of this technique he is given some drugs, strapped to a chair and made to watch violent movies with the doctors on his side, propping his eyes.

After two weeks of this Ludovico Technique, the Minister puts up a demonstration to show that Alex has been cured. He is shown to be attacked and insulted by a man, but Alex does not respond back because he cannot get angry now. Alex almost falls ill after seeing a topless woman who had been brought in front of him.

These acts convince everyone that the Ludovico Technique is successful and Alex is set free to go. After that the film continues with how Alex lives after coming back from prison, his encounter with old friend-turned-foes and an old man who has a grudge against him for raping his wife, who was very traumatized after the incident that she died and also the government actions to save themselves from the accusations from people who are against this technique for they believe in ‘there's no morality without choice’

Now coming back to the point, do we really need these kinds of measures to improve our society or is it just ok to be in films. Well, looking at the crime rate and the psychology of these criminals it shows the need for such treatment.

That brings me to the end with the question still clinging in my mind, so if a person cannot really be changed then is it right to just change the person??