Character List
Alex DeLarge -
Played
by Malcolm McDowell
A young hoodlum and
the antihero of the film. Murderously aggressive and also good-natured
and innocent, Alex is both horrible and likable. He commits numerous
acts of brutality. He speaks in a slang influenced by Russian, Slavic,
Gypsy, Shakespearean English, rhymes, and baby talk, and he addresses
the audience directly as “my brothers and only friends.” He loves
classical music, particularly Beethoven, though the music elicits images
of violence and depravity for him.
Mr. Alexander -
Played
by Patrick Magee
A famous writer and opponent
to the ruling party. Holed up in his ultramodern home, Mr. Alexander
writes books, deemed subversive by the government, about the need to
protect the rights of the individual from the government. However,
his concerns for the rights of the individual seem hypocritical
when we see he is ready to use Alex as a pawn to topple the government,
even if that means sacrificing Alex’s life. In the novel, Mr. Alexander
is the character who introduces the phrase “a clockwork orange,”
which derives from the East London Cockney saying, “as queer as
a clockwork orange.” This phrase suggests something that looks natural
and organic on the outside but that is artificial and mechanical
on the inside. Mr. Alexander claims that the government treats human
beings as if they were clockwork oranges—creatures who look human but
who can be manipulated and directed as if they were robots.
Chief Prison Guard -
Played
by Michael Bates
Sports a small, Hitlerian
mustache and walks and talks in a military style. The chief prison
guard’s manner is so extreme that he becomes a humorous caricature
of a prison guard, shouting short commands at Alex like “Shut your
filthy hole, you scum.”
Dim -
Played by
Warren Clarke
One in Alex’s gang of hoodlums.
Dim is the biggest, dumbest, and most brutish of the four Droogs,
and Alex describes him as a “mindless, grinning bulldog.” He becomes
a policeman and uses his thuggish brutality to impose law and order.
Dr. Brodsky -
Played
by Carl Duerring
The doctor in charge of Ludovico’s
Technique. Dr. Brodsky speaks in a calm voice and seems to maintain
a scientific detachment at all times, even when Alex is experiencing
the horrible illness associated with Ludovico’s Technique.
Tramp -
Played
by Paul Farrell
A man beaten up by Alex,
who beats Alex up in turn. The tramp represents the youths’ lack
of respect for their elders, as well as the breakdown of societal
order. He calls for a return to law and order, though he himself
is homeless and drunk.
Lodger -
Played
by Clive Francis
The young man who moves into
Alex’s room when Alex goes to prison. The lodger is strapping, healthy,
good-looking, and sanctimonious. He tells Alex with self-righteous indignation
that he has made his poor parents suffer enough, and that he is
not welcome back in his home. He tells him that he himself has become
like the good son Alex never was.
Prison Governor -
Played
by Michael Gover
Runs the prison system and
believes Ludovico’s Technique lets prisoners off too easily. The
prison governor believes in an eye-for-an-eye style of punishment
and thinks the state deserves to take revenge on violent youths.
Cat Lady / Mrs. Weathers -
Played by Miriam Karlin
The woman Alex
goes to prison for murdering, and the one victim who fights back.
When the cat lady sees Alex in her home, she doesn’t cower. Instead,
she attacks him with a bust of Beethoven. She is wealthy, haughty,
and unafraid, and she has filled her home with dozens if not hundreds
of cats. Alex finds her in an exercise room, which she has decorated
with modern, almost cartoonlike paintings of women in sexual and
sadistic poses.
Georgie -
Played
by James Marcus
Another member of Alex’s gang
of hoodlums. Georgie tries to usurp Alex’s power within the gang
at the beginning of the film. He too becomes a thuggish policeman.
Deltoid -
Played
by Aubrey Morris
Alex’s parole officer.
Deltoid preaches to Alex about reforming his ways but seems to be
an unsavory character himself. The first time we see him, he surprises
Alex in his apartment. Alex is dressed only in his underwear, but
Deltoid encourages him to sit down next to him on the bed while
he warns him about not getting himself in trouble. Carried away
by his own excitement, he grabs Alex’s testicles. He speaks in a
whiny, high-pitched voice and ends many of his sentences with “Yes?”
His mannerisms and behavior suggest the ineffectiveness of logic
in understanding and addressing the causes of violence, as well
as the ineffectiveness of adults who try to control rebellious youth.
Prison Chaplain -
Played
by Godfrey Quigley
The voice of tradition, he
takes Alex under his wing while Alex is in prison. The prison chaplain
preaches about good, evil, and freedom of choice, and he opposes
the use of modern scientific methods to control human behavior.
He is foolish and ineffective, preaching fire and brimstone to the
convicts while they burp, fart, and leer. He also mistakenly believes
in Alex’s act of sincere reform. However, he is one of the few people
in the film who speak out against the power of the state.
Mum -
Played by
Sheila Raynor
Alex’s mother, a well-intentioned
but weak and weepy woman. Mum’s appearance is very fashionable,
and throughout the film she wears leather jumpers of various bright
colors, with her hair dyed to match. At the same time, she is old-fashioned,
with her hair set in the kind of permanent preferred by older women.
She works in a factory, an existence that contrasts with the wild
and disorderly ways of her son. Her main response to Alex’s trouble
is to break into tears.
Dr. Branom -
Played
by Madge Ryan
Dr. Brodsky’s assistant and
the doctor in charge of instructing Alex during his treatment. Like
Dr. Brodsky, Dr. Branom tries to maintain a cool scientific detachment.
However, her zealousness for reforming the prisoner shows through during
some of her speeches about the need to cure him.
Minister of the Interior -
Played by Anthony Sharp
A high-ranking government
official and the mastermind behind the plan to reform criminals
using modern scientific methods. The minister of the interior is
a suave politician concerned not with questions of morality but with
“what will work” and what will keep his party in power. He dresses
in elegant suits and speaks in a calm voice.
Dad -
Played by
Philip Stone
Alex’s father, also well intentioned
but weak. Toward the beginning of the film Dad seems as though he
might stand up to Alex and ask him how he spends his evenings and
whether he is getting into trouble, but then he fails to confront
him. When Alex returns from prison, Dad is the one who tells him
he can’t move back home. Instead of taking responsibility for this
decision, he falls back on the excuse that he and Mum have made
a contract with their new lodger and couldn’t possibly break it.
At the end of the film, he comes to Alex full of sorrow and contrition
for the way he treated him.
