Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange was a deeply disturbing depiction of human nature that shed light onto dark thoughts in the character’s soul. Alex seems to have no regard for human decency or human life. He and his gang of friends kill at will. They have no purpose for their violent outbursts other than to shock and degrade their victims. They have fun making others suffer.
This is the logic that is upheld by Friedrich Nietzsche in his approval of Prosper Merimee’s statement “Know that nothing is more common than to do harm for the pleasure of doing it.” Though he does believe that most men try to deny this by never outwardly expressing any violent tendencies. I think that Nietzsche also sums up my feelings towards Alex in the “Innocence of
So-called Evil Actions” section. He says “All actions are motivated by the drive of the individual’s intention to gain pleasure and avoid unpleasure; thus they are motivated, but they are not evil.” I think this is a very accurate description of Alex’s motivations. He seemed to be having fun making his victims suffer. He had absolutely no remorse for his reputable crimes. Yet I still don’t believe he was evil. I think that his parental influence and environment were a heavy influence on his behavioral dysfunction. His parents were completely out of touch with him. I think Kubrick was playing on the importance of a parent’s presence in a child’s life and how it can shape in for the better or, as in this case, the worse.
As I mentioned previously, I believe Alex was a product of
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