Mentzer starts off by giving the reader some context as to what influenced Burgess to write a Clockwork Orange. He recounts how Hitler used a huge propaganda campaign and while his tactics were denounced by our government, the Allies were doing the same thing by using our own propaganda to encourage more participation in the war. After the war, some reports came out about Communist brainwashing which led to popular books including 1984 and clockwork orange which helped make mind control a national obsession. Burgess wrote to book to warn the public about the danger of mind control and the danger that we will not realize the negative effects until it is too late. Next Mentzer expresses his belief that modern mind control can be found when looking at behavioural psychologists. A well-known Harvard professor …show more content…
When it comes to ethics, some methods are seen as brutal and dehumanizing. Many people believe that deprivation should be replaced with reward systems, while others say the end justifies the means. The second topic of controversy is the question as to whether behaviour modification actually solves the problem. Ludovic’s technique brought Alex under control, but he never stopped wishing he could go back to his old ways. One view is that with mental illnesses there will always be underlying problems, while a more recent view is that problems are caused by improper learning experiences which can be corrected by other learning experience. Burgess did not know this when he wrote the book, but if he did maybe instead Alex would have been reformed. The third topic of controversy is when behaviour modification methods are applied without knowledge or cooperation. Alex consented but would he still have if he knew what he was going to happen to