Content Warning: The novel contains scenes of graphic violence throughout, including sexual assault and rape. There are also depictions of illicit drug use, some potentially offensive religious material, and expressions of suicidal ideation and a suicide attempt.

Alex, the narrator, sits in the Korova Milkbar—a bar that serves milk spiked with alcohol or drugs—with his “droogs,” or gang-style companions, Pete, Georgie, and Dim. The group is deciding what to do that evening; whatever they decide, the night will certainly be filled with violence and theft. After consuming some drinks laced with “knives,” substances that sharpen one’s senses and pique one’s violent interests, Alex and his droogs leave the milkbar and venture out into the night. They see an older man emerge from the library, and Alex is surprised: “You never really saw many of the older bourgeois type out after nightfall those days, what with the shortage of police and we fine young malchickiwicks about” (7). The group proceeds to harass and beat the man, stealing his money, destroying his book, and stripping him of most of his clothes. They then go to the Duke of York pub and buy a group of older women drinks—a show of generosity designed to bribe them into giving the gang an alibi as they move on to another target.