I was not too surprised by the ending of A Clockwork Orange. If the book ended with Alex remaining completely unchanged it would have been kind of pointless. However, I think that the drastic turnaround he made was a little unrealistic. I do believe that it is possible to reform criminals, but I don't think Alex could all the sudden decide he wanted to grow up and be a better person after committing so many brutal acts throughout his teen years. I think reforming a criminal takes time and they have to actually realize that they have done something wrong. Throughout the entire book Alex had no desire to become a better person and saw nothing wrong with what he was doing; he actually enjoyed it. Even after being in prison he still intended to commit violent acts as soon as he was released. In order for a criminal to be truly reformed they have to want to change, it cannot be forced upon them as it was for Alex. In the end, the aversion therapy had no impact on Alex changing his ways, it was the realization of what he wanted out of life and his future.