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A Clockwork Orange Essay: B. F. Skinner's Conditioning

1007 Words5 Pages

­­ Many psychologists Many believe that A Clockwork Orange is a commentary on the popular Psychology theory of Behaviourism, specifically B.F. Skinner’s Conditioning. The book’s take on free will and B.F. Skinner’s experiments reflect Burgess’s own belief. Growing up in a Christian family, Burgess was raised on the ideals of free will and morality. Our inherent nature is something beyond our control and thus should not be repressed, even for ones like Alex—ones who are the farthest away from being good natured. Just as humans can be inherently good, we are capable of being inherently evil as well; “badness is of the self… and that self is made by God” (Burgess, 31). Evidently, Alex is inherently bad-natured. “[He] [does] what he …show more content…

Depriving citizens of choice only makes them want to disobey even more. In A Clockwork Orange, a current issue the State is trying to resolve is the high amount of youth gang violence. The State thinks that the solution is to go back to the roots of evil and eradicate it completely. As mentioned before, Alex is picked to participate in a government projects that aims to condition people to only be capable of socially acceptable acts. As a result, “[t]his biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns [Alex] into a fine laughing [boy]” (31). The government is so preoccupied about finding a way to make everyone good that it amuses Alex. This gives him another reason to be bad, to see the government in even more panic. In relation to this, Freud founded a theory that explains this behaviour. Freud states our psyche is composed of three sections: the id, the superego, and the ego. The id is the component that demands to be satisfied, no matter what immoral act must be done, in order for us to experience pleasure. For Alex, seeing the government struggling and in panic over the acts he and like-minded youth commit only provides him another reason to continue his behaviour. By forcing everyone to be good, Alex’s id feels more inclined to rebel or do acts of ultraviolence in order to continue to be

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