A Clockwork Orange To leave out the final chapter of A Clockwork Orange is to change the entire meaning of the novel; as Burgess says in the introduction, his story is transformed into a fable. Without the last chapter the reader is left with a dark and pessimistic theme, that absolute good and evil exist in this world and it is possible for a man to be pure evil. Alex is conditioned and unconditioned, and in the end all indications point to a malicious life of crime. He is a clockwork orange, programmed to be subservient to a master, whether it be the Devil, the government, or a group of men. Alex is a windup toy. However, this was not the message Burgess