Does a guinea pig know it's a guinea pig?

“Stop treating me like a thing that’s like got to be just used. I’m not an idiot you can impose on, you stupid bratchnies.” - Alex

I think that this quote is typical of Alex’s mentality throughout the novel. Alex is very proud of his own individuality. He delights in being different from the lewdies, or the common people of his society. He is contemptuous of them for being so meek and humble, willing to spend their lives rabbiting away at some ordinary job. Alex prefers to form his own group beyond the reach of the government’s authority, and rebel against its societal expectations. Alex is quite a selfish individual. He only wants what is best for him; he satisfies only his own desires. However, Alex’s immaturity blinds him to the desires of the people around him, concerning him. He does not realize that by being so childishly selfish and shortsighted, he is playing right into their hands. Because of his pride in his own leadership, he cannot believe that Dim would betray him to the police. His belief in his own rights is also in for a shock when the policemen beat him up violently and force him to confess all his crimes. When he hears about the new treatment from the chaplain, he is so desperate to get himself out of the prison that he does not stop to think about what this new treatment could involve. He is being typically selfish by not considering the consequences of anything. Although he thinks that he is serving his own self-interests, he is actually allowing the psychologists to use him as their guinea pig. After being set free, he accepts help from the political dissident group because he realizes that he has nowhere else to turn, and they will give him a comfortable life. Again, he cannot see that they are actually using his condition as a very visible tool in their protests against the government. In this passage, he finally realizes that they just see him as a ‘thing’ that they are trying to use to further their own ideals. At last, he is beginning to become mature. Alex starts to understand that all his efforts to remain an individual and serve only himself are backfiring since people can use his own impulses against him. I think that this passage marks the turning point when Alex grows up, losing his juvenile selfishness and learning to see the bigger picture. It gives me the feeling that Alex will soon see the truth about his own behaviour as well, and finally change from within.