| Alex | |
|---|---|
| A Clockwork Orange character | |
 Malcolm McDowell as Alex in the trailer ofA Clockwork Orange (1971) | |
| First appearance |
|
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | Anthony Burgess |
| Adapted by | Stanley Kubrick |
| Portrayed by | Malcolm McDowell |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Alexander DeLarge (film only) |
| Aliases | The Large (novel) Alex Burgess (birth name; film) |
| Nationality | British |
Alex is a fictional character and theprotagonist inAnthony Burgess' novelA Clockwork Orange andStanley Kubrick'sfilm adaptation of the same name, in which he is played byMalcolm McDowell. In the book, Alex'ssurname is not stated. In the film, however, Kubrick chose it to beDeLarge, a reference to Alex calling himself The Large in the novel. Later on in the film, two newspaper articles print his name as "Alex Burgess", a reference to Anthony Burgess.[1] In addition to the book and film, Alex was portrayed byVanessa Claire Smith in theARK Theatre Company'smultimedia adaptation ofA Clockwork Orange, directed byBrad Mays.[2][3]
Alex is the narrator in the novelA Clockwork Orange. The character is portrayed as a thrill-seekingsociopath who robs, rapes, and assaults innocent people for his own amusement. Intellectually, he knows that such behaviour is morally wrong, saying that "you can't have a society with everybody behaving in my manner of the night". He nevertheless 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; he simply "goes to the other shop".
Alex dresses in the "height of fashion", which consists of awaistcoat jacket with big shoulders and no lapels, a frilly off-white cravat as neck-wear, tight black pants with a spider symbol on the crotch and a codpiece underneath, and big boots. He speaksNadsat, a teenageslang created by author Anthony Burgess. The language is based on largely English andRussian words, but also borrows from other sources such asCockneyrhyming slang,Romani speech, and schoolboycolloquialisms. His beverage of choice is milk spiked with various drugs, which he and his fellow gang members ("droogs") drink to fortify themselves for "ultraviolence". Alex is very fond ofclassical music, particularlyLudwig van Beethoven, whom he habitually refers to as "Ludwig Van". While listening to this music, hefantasises about endless rampages of rape,torture and slaughter. Alex's favourite melee weapon is a "cut-throat britva", orstraight razor.
Alex lives with his parents in a block of flats in adystopian England in which his brand of "ultraviolence" is common. At the age of 15, he is already a veteran of state reform institutions; in the film, he is somewhat older. He spends his daysskipping school and listening to music, and his nights terrorizing the neighborhood with his "droogs" Georgie, Pete, and Dim. While the youngest of his gang, he is the most intelligent, and designates himself as the leader. Georgie resents his high-handedness, and begins plotting against him along with the rest of the gang. One night, the gang breaks into a woman's house, and Alex assaults and kills her by ramming her face with a sculpture of a penis and testicles (in the book it is a bust of Beethoven). As Alex flees from the house after hearing police sirens, Dim hits him with a milk bottle (his chain in the book) and the gang leaves him to be arrested. Alex is found guilty of murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Over the next two years, Alex is a model prisoner, endearing himself to the prison chaplain by studying the Bible. He is especially fond of the passages in theOld Testament portraying torture and murder. Eventually, prison officials recommend him for the Ludovico Technique, an experimentalforced re-education treatment designed to eliminate criminal impulses. During the treatment, prison doctors inject him with nausea-inducing drugs and make him watch films portraying murder, torture and rape. The treatmentconditions him to associate violent thoughts and feelings with sickness. Alex is particularly affected by watching footage ofNazi war crimes set toBeethoven's Ninth Symphony, one of his favourite pieces of music; as a result, he can no longer hear it without feeling sick.
His sentence iscommuted to time served, and he is released. Once he returns to society, however, he finds that the treatment worked too well: any thought of violence brings him to his knees with pain, and he cannot defend himself. His parents have rented out his room, he is brutalised by his former victims, and beaten by Georgie (Billy Boy in the novel) and Dim, who are now police officers.
He collapses in front of an old house, owned by a writer the government considers "subversive". The writer is one of the gang's victims, but he does not recognise Alex, who had been wearing a mask as he and his friends beat the man andgang-raped his wife, who later died of pneumonia the writer believes was exacerbated by her ordeal. When Alex tells him of his plight, the writer promises to help him. However, the writer realises who Alex is upon hearing him singing "Singin' in the Rain", the very song he had sung while raping his wife (in the book, he recognizes Alex's voice and speech patterns). He drugs Alex and forces him to listen to the Ninth Symphony, which causes Alex so much pain that he attempts suicide by jumping out of the window.
He survives, but is badly injured, and wakes up in a state hospital. His parents take him back and the government, smarting from the bad publicity, gives him a well-paying job where he can channel his naturally-violent tendencies against the enemies of the state. The effects of the Ludovico Technique have worn off, and Alex is his old, ultraviolent self again: "I was cured, all right".[4]
While thefilm ends here, the novel features an additional chapter in which Alex, now a few years older, has outgrown his sociopathy. While his new "droogs" commit crime sprees, Alex sits them out, as he has lost interest in violence. When he runs into Pete at a coffee shop and learns he got married, Alex begins to think about starting a family, but worries that his children will inherit his violent tendencies.
TheAmerican Film Institute rated Alex the12th-greatest film villain of all time.Empire magazine selected Alex as the 42nd-greatest movie character of all time,[5] andWizard magazine rated Alex the 36th-greatest villain of all time.[6] Malcolm McDowell's performance has been widely acclaimed by critics.[7][8][9] McDowell was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and some consider his failure to receive aBest Actor nomination at theAcademy Awards a major snub.[10] In 2008, his performance was ranked #100 onPremier magazine's "100 Greatest Performances of All Time."[11]
In 2004,Vanessa Claire Smith wonLA Weekly's Leading Female Performance award for her gender-bending performance in the stage production ofA Clockwork Orange.[12][13]