Calculated Captivation “Goodness comes from within, 6655321. Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” In Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, a sadistic adolescent of the not-so-distant future is ‘rehabilitated’ of his violent nature by a special conditioning treatment. This fifteen year-old hoodlum Alex McDowell is ‘cured’ of his savage activities but when released back into a still violent society, he is a misfit. Anthony Burgess’ skillful art of manipulation is able to change the reader’s opinion from hating Alex for his malicious ways, to feeling captivated by him, as he