Method Behind His Madness? No Actually.

But does Alex have a purpose? The short answer is yes, but it isn’t one the viewer likes or understands. Let me explain. Right from the beginning we understand Alex to be a character that enjoys “the old ultraviolence.” Not because he enjoys necessarily getting in fights and winning, but because he is incredibly manipulative. Take this passage from the beginning for instance:

“... and there we found what we were pretty well looking for, a malenky jest to start off the evening with…

…’I see you have books under your arm, brother. It is indeed a rare pleasure these days to come across somebody that still reads, brother.’…

…’Yes,’I said. "It would interest me greatly, brother, if you would kindly allow me to see what books those are that you have under your arm. I like nothing better in this world than a good clean book, brother." …

...The one I had was called 'Elementary Crystallography', so I opened it up and said: ‘Excellent, really first-class,’ keeping turning the pages. Then I said in a very shocked type goloss: ‘But what is this here? What is this filthy slovo? I blush to look at this word. You disappoint me, brother, you do really,’” (13).

So the reader receives quite a few different points of insight here. Firstly we understand that Alex is looking forward to these sorts of engagements between his gang and others because he cites its regularly with “to start the night off.” The reader understands that Alex and his gang have nefarious intentions for the engagement with this stranger so when the dialogue begins we know it’s only a matter of time before something horrible occurs. This also provides insight into Alex’s character as someone that enjoys messing with people and not just aggressively attacking them, which is important for our understanding as a whole. Also there’s that point that they discover the man is carrying books related to sexual-concepts and this provides some reoccurring context to Alex’s character.

So again what sort of purpose does Alex serve in this scene? Well let’s apply our understanding from House of Cards in the fact that we understand that Alex is pursuing his purpose of assaulting people, and the reader is aware of this before the other characters are, so why don’t I like Alex’s character as much as I like Frank Underwood? Well, more context is necessary.

In another scene we see Alex talking with his friends after an incident where he punches Dim because he interpreted some opera music. Here Alex’s “droogs” try to reason with him about how they would like the group to be a bit more democratic. That scene is here:

“‘No offence, Alex,’ said Pete, ‘but we wanted to have things more democratic like. Not like you like saying what to do and what not all the time. But no offence.’’

‘So,’I said, very comfortable out but real razdraz within.’”

So my dream had told truth, then. Georgie the general saying what we should do and what not do, Dim with the whip as mindless grinning bulldog. But I played with care, with great care, the greatest, saying, smiling: "Good. Real horrorshow, (50).

So from this scene we understand that not only has Alex been the leader of this group for quite a long time, but that he becomes annoyed when they try and take some of his power away. But this isn’t the entire focus of the scene because he also takes out his razor blade and sort of threatens them, but for now let’s just focus on the dialogue exchange leading up to this.

It’s clear that Alex is incredibly protective of his power over the group, and he also is suspicious of his friends. He is scheming in his head as to how he suspicions have been confirmed, so the reader knows something that the characters don’t yet know, so why is Alex a good static character? Well what I find that breaks Alex’s character is that he has a purpose, which is to enjoy himself, but the things he does in order to pursue that aren’t understood by the reader. The reader doesn't understand why he enjoys breaking into homes and destroying things or beating up random people on the street, and so it’s not exactly enjoyable to watch him doing these things. Additionally the obstacles he faces, which is most notably in the form of gaining his friends approval in the group, aren’t broken down by his character. Instead these obstacles are developed and they end up causing him to be arrested, which is not why Alex necessarily fails as a character, but he certainly isn’t a character that has substance to his purpose.