POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
I recently watched this movie so I decided I wanted to read this book again. After reading about half way through, one of the issues that came up in my head is what it means to be a good leader. Alex claims to be the leader, but he makes decisions in the book that make me think otherwise.
In the book George, Pete, and Dim decide that there should be no leader. This angers Alex, so he basically beats the crap out of his gang members and stabs Dim. He believes this makes him a leader. If he was a real leader, I think he would take charge, but not like that. I think he should have taken charge but he definitely went to far. So now I think that yes, he is being a leader, although not in the best way.
What you would think of when you hear a leader in the real world is like a general or something. Generals take charge, give orders, and go through with them. I believe that's a good leader. A leader gets things done right.
In the book when Alex gets arrested he starts to blame his droogs (gang members) and says that they made him do it. That definitely does not make a good leader. I think a good leader would take responsibility for what has happened, whether they actually did it or not. A good leader wouldn't have ratted out his/her followers. So now, even though Alex is taking charge, giving orders, and getting things done, he still doesn't take responsibility.
So for now, in this moment of the book, I decided what a good leader is, and how Alex is definitely not one. A good leader takes charge, gives orders, gets things done, and takes responsibility. The responsibility part was the only thing Alex was missing. Maybe he wasn't cut out for the job. And now, the consequences have fallen on his head. I'm just wondering about his droogs though. Maybe it wasn't him who was the bad leader. Maybe it was the the droogs who were bad droogs.
Since Alex leads a gang of violent rapists, I don't think he would be justified regardless of if he is a good or bad leader. In some ways it's a dysfunctional gang, because they really don't have any real rules besides Alex being the leader, and Alex is driven only by his wickedness. The book and the movie are both very different, because Alex becomes redeemed at the end of the book and reforms his thinking to some degree, and in the movie he doesn't change at all. I think both are interesting endings.
ReplyDeleteTeddy, how can you respond to Jacob to encourage more thought for both of you?
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are trying to say Jacob but I disagree that being a good or bad leader doesn't justify. Obviously the movie and book are different but it still demonstrates his dedication to the gang and how he takes care of them. My bigger idea was what it takes to be a good leader. Obviously Alex and his gang are completely insane and I agree that they are a dysfunctional gang. But I still think a theme of what it takes to be leader is in this book/movie.
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