In Anthony Burgess's 1962 dystopian novella, A Clockwork Orange, teenage gangs and thugs run amok in a futuristic society, inflicting chaos and brutality within its totalitarian ruled state. . Alex, our protagonist/anti-hero, is among the most infamous in this violent youth culture. A psychotic but diabolically intelligent fifteen-year-old boy, our “humble narrator” beats up old people, rapes underage girls, pillages and leads his group of “droogs” (friends) on a chaotic path of “ultra-violence”. Faced with this society of citizens completely unaware of the actions of such a culture, the government proposes to intervene and find a solution. After being imprisoned for the most heinous crime of murder, Alex volunteers for a procedure - proposed by the government - to condition his aggressive behavior. What he endures under the government's treatment essentially strips him of any sense of choice or free will, making him a powerless, mechanical slave to this society. This sense of free will, the ability to make a choice between good and evil, is an essential part of humanity...but controlling freedom of choice is the real key to this idea. So how does this affect and influence the change in Alex's character? The idea of ​​choice is introduced at the beginning of each of the three sections of the story, with the quote: "What's it going to be then, eh" (9). Each quote, used in three different contexts, gives Alex the opportunity to choose his destiny and what he should do with that choice. The first act of the novella follows Alex's life as a conniving thief, to whom he explains his reasonings: This nail-biting about the cause of evil is what makes me a fine laughing malchick. They do not engage in the cause of good, so why the o...... middle of paper ... according to age, only to acquire the idea of ​​free will as they grow up. “Life has aspects of both determinism and free will... clockwork and orange” (Rabinovitz). Works Cited Blumenfeld, David. “Freedom and mental control”. American Philosophical Quarterly 25.3 (1988): 215-27. JSTOR. Internet. April 28, 2014. Burgess, Anthony. A clockwork orange. New York: Ballantine Books, 1963. Print. Carey, Jasmine M. and Delroy L. Paulhus. “Worldview Implications of Belief in Free Will and/or Determinism: Politics, Morality, and Punitiveness.” Journal of Personality81.2 (2013): 130-141. Academic research completed. Internet. April 14, 2014.Rabinovitz, Rubin. “Mechanism versus Organism: Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange.” Modern Fiction Studies 24.4 (Winter 1978): 538-541. Rep. in student novels. Ed. David M. Galens. Flight. 15. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Information Resource Center. Web.April 18. 2014.