Does Beethoven's 9th symphony make you sick to your stomach? For Alex DeLarge, this is the case. In the movie A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick, doctors experiment on delinquent Alex DeLarge through the use of classical conditioning. Every time Beethoven's 9th symphony is played, Alex experiences extreme nausea and discomfort. The reason for this is classical conditioning, referred to as the Ludovico technique in the movie, performed by doctors after Alex's release from prison for an accidental murder. They force Alex to watch graphically violent movies while playing the Beethoven's 9th symphony, hoping he will start to associate the symphony with the disturbing nature he is viewing on the screen. "That, using Ludwig Van like that! He did no harm to anyone. Beethoven just wrote music," DeLarge cries, trying to explain that the elegant music can't go with the horrific crimes he is witnessing.
The music represents the conditioned stimulus, while the movies represent the unconditioned response. This mixture of elements causes him feelings of terrible sickness, and when he is presented to the public, he cannot defend himself against violence and has feelings of nausea when a woman tries to seduce him.
Classical conditioning has caused Alex to always associate Beethoven with extreme violence, and made him unable to defend himself in situations where he would be the victim.
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