Societies structure their ideas based off of groups' or individuals' vision of what is considered the good life. In a repressive and totalitarian government, people lose the ability to exercise free will. The thought of free will derives from the capability to voluntarily make decisions whether they be good or bad, right or wrong, in the eyes of oneself and others. Stanley Kubrick in a Clockwork Orange attempts to properly analyze an artifact that demonstrates the downfalls of ignoring moral structures by conveying to the audience that when someone is obstructed from free will, their ability to be human is also taken away.
The good life in A Clockwork Orange is implied by the main character Alex. He perceives the good life as having the ability to do whatever he wishes by participating in evil acts as a means of fulfilling his contentment. However, the good life portrayed in the film's constructed society is perceived differently through lenses that contradict each other. The totalitarian government believes that the good life can be accomplished by brainwashing those that do not comply with the societal norms established by the community. The norms include that people of the community comport themselves in a manner that allows them be free of malice. .
The community in A Clockwork Orange strives to be free of evil, so they created a systematic treatment that takes away the ability for people to do wrong things; the Ludovico Technique. This treatment causes a patient to become sick when attempting to do wrong or find themselves in the presence of criminal acts. In doing so, the government includes and excludes Alex in the sense that before he is treated he is excluded from the community because of his acts on his perception of the good life; he is included in the community once he fulfills his social obligation to live up to the good life that has been established by the government.
