A <a href="/keyword/clockwork-orange/" >clockwork orange</a> When I sat down to watch A <a href="/keyword/clockwork-orange/" >clockwork orange</a> for the purpose of writing this paper, I intended to discuss the defense mechanisms and abnormal psychology of the character Alex and prayed that I'd be able to keep it under a page. Once the movie ended, I realized that it took watching the movie with a psychological perspective to identify the one of the main themes of this movie, Psychology. One of the key themes in A <a href="/keyword/clockwork-orange/" >clockwork orange</a> is the conditioning of Alex, a sociopath who was incarcerated for murder. Alex is selected for a program in which he is given a nausea-inducing drug and shown images of rape and violence whilst his eyes are help open with clamps. This treatment resulted in Alex's incapability to engage in violence. Conditioning at it's finest, right? Wrong, because Alex is unable to engage in violence, he inherently can't defend himself. Additionally, he is unable listen to Beethoven's 9th, as it was the music being played during his conditioning, without extreme discomfort. Once Lax is &quot;cured&quot; and released form prison, his old gang finds him and beats him close to death. Ironically, the first house Alex stumbles into as he is looking for help is the house owned by the couple he raped and beat earlier in the movie. The couple, realizing who Alex is, and his aversions, locks him in a room and plays Beethoven's 9 th day and night in an attempt for revenge. Alex, being unable to listen to the symphony with out extreme discomfort, jumps out the window in a suicide attempt, but dies. This whole movie is essentially rejecting behaviorism and Skinners argument that society would benefit from behavior modification. By conditioning Alex to the extent that he is unable to defend himself or listen to specific music, the factor of free choice is removed. One could argue that free choice is still present, as Alex is choosing one option just because of the antecedent, but this is irrational, as no one would reasonably choose a route that elicits pain. When I did some background research for my theory about the movie I came across Anthony Burgess' (the author of the book the movie was adapted from) response to Skinner's book Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Burgess called skinners book &quot;one of the most dangerous books ever written&quot;. I think that quote best sums up this movie from a psychological perspective.