Analysis of the second part of A Clockwork Orange

After Alex is arrested and placed in prison he applies for an experimental procedure to get out of prison early, this procedure is used to punish not only Alex but the spectator as well.  Alex is restrained and forced to watch videos, at first the videos are of violence and of a naked woman. The spectator is enabled to enjoy the violence and the naked women and this can be seen through Alex grinning during the scene, it shows that Alex is enjoying the videos and due to previous allegiance to Alex the spectator is encouraged to enjoy the videos as well. After a short amount of time however Alex shows discomfort and displeasure as he says “I’m gonna be sick”, not only does Alex verbally show his discomfort but his facial expression also shows his discomfort. The close up of Alex is mean to encourage the spectator to be more involved with Alex’s experience; the high angle is also used to show that Alex is weak in the situation. The violence and the nudity are no longer shown to the spectator and instead they are forced to watch Alex in pain, this is done to punish the spectator for giving their allegiance to Alex. The next set of videos are of the Nazis committing violent acts, this is done to make the spectators disassociate themselves with the violence, as the Nazis are a representation of the worst of humanity. During the time in which this film was released the Nazis would have been considered fairly recent, this strong symbol of hatred that was still a recent event would have affected the spectators during that period a lot more prominently. The videos that are shown are also accompanied by Alex’s favourite music, this is done to use what Alex likes as a weapon against him and to further punish him.

After the experimentation Alex is paraded on a stage, this is done to make him appear as abnormal and to also humiliate him. Through this humiliation Alex is punished as a result, a man also attacks Alex on the stage but due to his treatment he is no longer able to defend himself. By having Alex unable to defend himself he is presented as weak and vulnerable, encouraging the spectator to empathise with Alex as a result. Nudity is used against Alex in this scene as a woman walks towards him; Alex talks about the things he would do to the woman before he starts gagging and feeling sick. This not only punishes Alex this also punishes the spectator by having nudity be used as a weapon against him and the spectator. The spectator is put into an uncomfortable situation as Alex is objectified, he is passive and the spectator would not be used to this. It also increases the spectator’s empathy for Alex and therefore their allegiance as well.