In "A Clockwork Orange", how did those two evil, grossly criminal "droogs" get to become police officers?
Something that has always confused me about the story is this.
The "post-corrective advisor" refers to "certain friends of Alex", so he clearly knows that they are a gang and up to no good.
When the other members of their "droog gang" betray Alex by waiting outside of the cat lady's house and smash him in the face with a milk bottle (which seems like it could easily have gone very wrong or not work at all), Alex is alone arrested and sentenced to prison. In spite of them knowing about the others, they are not just free to roam the streets while Alex is in prison, but (two of them) actually get a job as cops.
This is rather bizarre to me. Would they really have hired two such obviously up-to-no-good younglings to work as policemen? Especially "Dim" seems particularly unfit.
It's like they all specifically targeted Alex. Can somebody explain this, other than "that's what the book said" or "the story for the movie needed it to happen"?
It's not like I'm living in some fantasy world where bad cops don't exist, but it just seems so odd and unrealistic. Just like Alex literally says: "I don't believe it!"
Best Answer
Cops don't just get "hired". They first have to take a written test. If they pass that, they get invited to take a physical test. If they pass that, they meet with several Sergeants who ask them questions to determine if they'd make good recruits. If they pass that, they have to take a phycological test. If they pass that, they are invited to the Police Academy. At least in the US that is the process.
It's possible they had the prowess to get through the first two tests, and were good enough liars to get through the 2nd two? Or maybe they really turned their lives around after that incident at the Cat Lady's house.
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A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - RIVAL GANG FIGHT - ALEX AND HIS DROOGS BUST SOME HEADS - STANLEY KUBRICK
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