Alex at the Korova Milkbar

Alex is the narrator and antihero of Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange and the movie adaptation, in which he is played by Malcolm McDowell. Image File history File links Alex_Korova1. ... Image File history File links Alex_Korova1. ... It has been suggested that Third person limited omniscient be merged into this article or section. ... In literature and film, an anti-hero is a central or supporting character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers or viewers. ... Anthony Burgess (February 25, 1917 – November 22, 1993) was an English novelist and critic. ... This article describes the novel by Anthony Burgess. ... Clockwork Orange, see Clockwork Orange (disambiguation). ... Malcolm McDowell, circa 1974 Malcolm McDowell (born June 13, 1943) is an English actor. ...

Alex DeLarge, as played by McDowell, was named the 12th greatest movie villain of all time in the American Film Institute's "100 Years… 100 Heroes & Villains". The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. ... AFIs 100 Years. ...

Alex is portrayed as a sociopath who robs, rapes, and ultimately murders without a twinge of conscience, even though he knows intellectually that this sort of behavior is wrong. He says that "you can't have a society with everybody behaving in my manner of the night." He professes to be puzzled by the motivations of those who wish to reform him and others like him, saying that he would never interfere with their desire to be good; it's just that he "goes to the other shop." Antisocial personality disorder (APD or ASPD) is a psychiatric diagnosis that interprets antisocial and impulsive behaviours as symptoms of a personality disorder. ... Conscience is generally thought of as a moral faculty, sense, or feeling that impels individuals to believe that particular activities are morally right or wrong. ... Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society. ...

He speaks Nadsat most of the time, an invented slang based on English and Russian words, as well as borrowings from bits of Romany speech, the Bible and schoolboy colloquialisms. He likes milk spiked with various stimulants ("milk plus") or hallucinogens ("synthemesc"). The book goes into much greater detail about the nature of the drug use, describing how the customers at the Korova Milk Bar go away "into the Land." Alex is very fond of classical music, particularly Beethoven, or, as he calls him, "lovely lovely Ludwig van". While listening to this music, he fantasizes about endless rampages of torture and slaughter, to the point of orgasm. Nadsat is a constructed set of Russian-based slang invented by the linguist, novelist, and composer Anthony Burgess. ... Slang is the non-standard or non-dialectal use of words in a language of a particular social group, and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Romany (or Romani) is the language of the Roma and Sinti, peoples often referred to in English as Gypsies. The Indo-Aryan Romany language should not be confused with either Romanian (spoken by Romanians), or Romansh (spoken in parts of southeastern Switzerland), both of which are Romance languages. ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ... Hallucinogenic drug - drugs that can alter sensory perceptions. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Ludwig van Beethoven by Carl Jäger (date unknown). ... See fantasy for an account of the literary genre involving the development of common or popular fantasies. ... Torture is any act by which severe discomfort, whether physical pain or psychological pressure, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, a deterrent, revenge, a punishment, or as a method for the extraction of information or confessions (i. ... An orgasm (from Greek: οργασμός orgasmós, from orgán - to swell, be lustful), also known as a sexual climax, is a pleasurable physical, psychological or emotional response to prolonged sexual stimulation. ...

At the beginning of the novel, Alex is fifteen years old and already a veteran of several stays in institutions for juvenile delinquents. (In the film, to minimize controversy, Alex is portrayed as somewhat older.) Alex lives with his parents in a bleak, poorly maintained and heavily vandalized block of flats in an unnamed city in a near-future Socialist England. Juvenile delinquency refers to antisocial or criminal acts performed by juveniles. ... An apartment building, block of flats or tenement is a multi-unit dwelling made up of several (generally four or more) apartments (US) or flats (UK). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid...

He is the leader of a gang of "droogs" (friends) — Pete, Georgie, and Dim. Although the youngest of the foursome, he is also the most intelligent and fearless, and the one who comes up with most of the ideas. Georgie, who resents his high-handed ways, sets him up to be arrested at the site of one of the gang's crimes, and he is sent to prison for murder. The book mentions that Alex eventually finds out Georgie was killed during a failed robbery. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Alex is sentenced to "14 years in Staja 84F," "Staja" being the abbreviation for "State Jail." Alex does not follow the convict code of ethics — he betrays a fellow prisoner's escape plans to the prison chaplain, knowing that he will report it to the warden. He curries the chaplain's favor by reading the Bible (using it to fantasize about being one of the crueler Roman emperors, or one of the soldiers who tortured Jesus). He is selected for the "Ludovico Treatment" by the Interior Minister of a rather ominous new government. In the book, the selection is precipitated when Alex and his cellmates stomp an obnoxious fellow prisoner to death and Alex incurs all the blame. Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... A chaplain is typically a member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church; lay chaplains are also found in some settings such as universities. ... ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... Roman Emperor is the term historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE — 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... The Ludovico technique is a fictitious drug-assisted aversion therapy from the novel and film A Clockwork Orange. ...

The treatment, a form of aversion therapy, involves injecting him with a drug that upsets his stomach and then showing him films of rape and violence, so that he will associate such acts with pain and become sick at the thought of hurting anyone. While being forced to watch footage from a Nazi concentration camp, Alex notices the soundtrack — his favorite music, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. From here on out, he associates Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with violence and can't hear it (or any other classical music) without getting sick. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... Soundtrack refers to the recorded sound accompanying a visual medium such as a motion picture, television show, or video game. ... The Symphony No. ...

After the Ludovico Treatment, Alex's sentence is commuted to time served, and he is released. However, the treatment worked too well — he can't defend himself even when necessary. He is rejected by his parents, who have rented out his room and turned over his belonging to the police pursuant to a new law compensating victims. Walking along what appears to be the Thames Embankment, he is nearly beaten to death by a homeless man he had victimized before going to prison. When two policemen break it up, they turn out to be none other than Dim and Billy Boy, the former leader of a rival gang, (in the movie, his former droog, Georgie) who brutalize him further and leave him to die. Every time Alex tries to defend himself, he is brought to his knees with pain and nausea. Victoria Embankment, London The Victoria Embankment, previously the Thames Embankment is a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London in the cities of Westminster and London. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Nausea (disambiguation). ...

Disoriented with pain, Alex stumbles to the nearest house, pleading for help. The owner, a wheelchair-bound writer whom the government calls "subversive," recognizes Alex from the newspapers and wants to help him. Alex recognizes the writer as well — as a man he and his friends had once beaten nearly to death (hence his paralysis) and forced to watch as they raped his wife, who later died of an illness possibly brought on by the assault. The writer doesn't make the connection at first, but realizes who he is dealing with when he overhears Alex in the bath singing the theme song from the Gene Kelly musical Singin' in the Rain — the very same song the he had sung while kicking him mercilessly. Wheelchair seating in a theater A lightweight manual wheelchair A wheelchair is a medical device that takes the form of a chair on wheels, used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness or disability. ... This article is about the computer software framework. ... Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ... The theme music of a radio or television program is a piece that is written specifically for that show and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ... Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996), better known as Gene Kelly, was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... The Golden Age of the Broadway musical is generally considered to have begun with Oklahoma! (1943) and to have ended with Hair (1968). ... Singin in the Rain is a 1952 musical film starring Gene Kelly and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen. ...

Seeking revenge, the writer drugs Alex, locks him in a room, forcing him to listen to the Ninth Symphony, the effects of which Alex had mentioned in conversation. Wracked with pain, Alex tries to commit suicide by jumping out the window — only to awake in a hospital, where the effects of the Treatment are being reversed. His parents arrive to welcome him back home and the Minister of the Interior, smarting from the bad publicity Alex's case has brought, offers him a government job. He is his old ultraviolent self again: "I was cured all right." (This is the end of the film, and of the American edition of the novel as well). Revenge or vengeance consists of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... The Interior Minister is a member of a Cabinet in a Government. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The final chapter of the British edition of A Clockwork Orange shows Alex, at the age of 18, in his government job at the National Record Library, growing out of his sociopathy and daydreaming about starting a family.