Discuss the Ways In Which Burgess Depicts the “Fall From Grace” of Alex.

The whole chapter is filled with irony, too. The reason Alex is there in the first place is because he gave in to his "droogs" and let them persuade him to go into Oldtown. Throughout part one he has been authoritarian and dictated what must be done - and as soon as he becomes more "democratic" in deciding what to do, he is beaten and caught. It is doubly ironic that, after he gave them what they wanted, his friends then turn on him. It suggests that it may have been their intention all along.

Chapter seven begins with a description of the "rozz-shop". This place is also unfamiliar to him - this is indicated by his full account of the sights ("bright-lit", "whitewashed"), smells ("sick and lavatories", "beery rots and disinfectant") and sounds ("cursing and singing", "owwwwwwwww"). Alex's hatred of the police station is suggested by such lines as, "very big fat bastard", and his description of dried sweat and earwax. He is so close to the "millicents", his enemies, and his discomfort is evident. His disgust for them is heightened by the fact that they seem out of place in the clean, white state architecture of the building.

Once again, the joke is on Alex. The "rozzers" enjoy treating him like a toy, throwing him to each other and beating him up. It tells the reader that his disgust for them is matched by their disgust for him. The result of their fun is that he is sick. This is all the more degrading because it is something that Alex himself despises. There is an ironic role reversal - he has become the repulsive drunken man that he hated so much earlier in part one.

The arrival of PR Deltoid is comforting to Alex. He has always believed that he can manipulate Deltoid and lie to him, as he did when he took the day off school. Deltoid's "Evening all" is calming, and so it is extremely shocking to Alex when Deltoid spits in his face. In a split second, all of his comforting nature is gone. Alex is hated by all, and has become the victim. This is indicated by his repetition of "please" and "thank you, sir", the language of a victim.

The final shock of part one comes when the reader learns that the old lady has died in hospital. Alex's last lines of the chapter, "I'd done the lot now. And me still only fifteen", are very poignant. Up until this point, the reader never necessarily sympathised with Alex. After this, one is put once and for all in Alex's position, and one cannot help but feel sorry for him.

In the first chapter of part two, Alex is no longer known as Alex. His handle is simple 6655321. His identity and his personality have gone. He is the clockwork orange to which the title refers - a living organism being controlled, in this case by the state.

There is also another ironic role reversal in chapter one of part two. "What's it going to be then, eh?" is used to start part two off, as it was used to start the book. Only now it is the prison chaplain that is saying it. He has filled the space that Alex used to occupy - he is now the dictator, and Alex is the one who has to listen. Once again, his own language has been turned against him. This is also the case with "in and out" - it no longer means sex, but punishment.

The whole of Alex's fall from grace is a role reversal. His language, his actions and his identity are turned inside out and used against him. His friends become his enemies, and his enemies, in particular the prison chaplain, become his "friends", being the ones that will eventually get him out of prison. It could almost be said that his downfall is a blessing in disguise - it has changed his life, and at the end of the second chapter of part two, one almost feels that he may become cured...