Set against the grim backdrop of a dystopian future, 'A Clockwork Orange' delves into the dark psyche of Alex, a teen plagued by a taste for ultra-violence. In this chilling narrative, Burgess explores the theme of free will as Alex's freedom to choose is stripped away by a tyrannical state in its attempt to mechanically correct his behaviour—raising the question of whether forced morality is any kind of morality at all.