A Clockwork Orange ending explained: Did Alex really change — or was it all an act?

In the final moments of A Clockwork Orange, we see Alex DeLarge smiling slyly, saying, “I was cured, all right,” as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony roars in the background. But was he truly reformed? Or was it just another performance—another manipulation by the master manipulator?

Stanley Kubrick leaves us with a haunting question: Can someone like Alex truly change, or will he always find a way to return to his violent, twisted ways? Let’s analyze what’s really going on in that mind of his.

A Clockwork Orange ending explained: Did Alex really change - or was it all an act?

To understand the ending of A Clockwork Orange, we need to go back a bit. Alex begins as the leader of a gang, engaging in ultra-violence and robbery - all with a disturbingly cheerful attitude.

When the authorities finally catch him, he's offered a way out: the Ludovico Technique, a brutal form of aversion therapy that conditions him to feel sick at the thought of violence or even Beethoven's music.

For a while, it seems to work. Alex becomes docile—not by choice, but because he’s been mentally rewired. He can't fight back, can’t enjoy s*x, and can’t listen to his beloved Beethoven.

He’s essentially stripped of free will—not that he’s a “bad” person anymore, but he’s not really a person at all. He’s a “clockwork orange”—something that appears natural on the outside but is mechanical on the inside. But here's where it gets interesting.

By the end of A Clockwork Orange, Alex is hospitalized after a suicide attempt caused by the very conditioning meant to “cure” him. The government, trying to avoid bad PR, offers to reverse the Ludovico treatment. And once they do, Alex immediately begins fantasizing about violence again, imagining himself having s*x in front of an applauding crowd. That famous final line - “I was cured, all right,” — is full of irony. So, did Alex really change? Not even close.

Trending

The Ludovico Technique didn’t reform Alex; it only temporarily stripped him of his ability to act on his impulses. Once the treatment is reversed, the old Alex comes back. But even worse, he’s now a public victim - the government’s poster boy — making him even more influential than before. He’s not truly cured; he’s reborn. And let’s not forget - throughout the film, Alex is the ultimate unreliable narrator. He tells us what he wants us to believe. His charm, wit, and theatrical way of speaking - it’s all part of the act. So when he says, “I was cured,” it’s just another performance.

Alex never truly changed in A Clockwork Orange - he simply adapted, waited, and returned stronger. In the end, it wasn’t a cure; it was just an intermission.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Quick Links

More from SoapCentral