Loyalty and Betrayal in Brighton Rock and A Clockwork Orange
In Brighton Rock

Rose is loyal to Pinkie 'I love you, Pinkie. I dont care what you do. I love you forever.'
◦

suggests that she suspects of his murder, but loves him regardless
Pinkie betrays sanctity of marriage by lying about the meaning behind his vows, only
marries her to prevent her from testifying
◦ essentially a materialistic and selfish marriage

In remaining loyal to Pinkie, Rise betrays her sense of individuality and loyalty to
religion and its tenets
◦ 'Mutter her quick 'Our Father' and 'Hail Marys'... what was the good praying now? …
she had
chosen her side.'

All Pinkie remembers about his parents are the Saturday nights, when they made love,
but he feels this as a betrayal towards him, a waste of the love he should have had on
someone else. While alone in his room, one can sense in his thoughts, the disgust and
repulsion for the act of making love and marriage. When he decides to marry Rose, he
does it to save his freedom and life. He does not want Rose because she reminds him of
his mother whose love he could not have because of the Saturday nights.

Hale had betrayed the former leader of the gang Pinkie now controls, by writing an
article in the Daily Messenger about a slot machine racket for which the gang were
responsible.

Rose sees the people in the gang as “very kind: there seemed to be a companionship in
mortal sin”

Deceit:Pinkie: 'he smoothly lied to her.' 'Again the boy lied...but lying was a weakness.
He wasnt used to lying.' 'Nor've I,' je lied quickly and smoothly' 'I've never seen her,' he
lied, walking on'
Ida:'I've seen you with him,' she lied'
Rose: (both deceit and loyalty, but is the loyalty prompted by fear?) ' I know it all,' Rose
lied. She was thinking hard-she was remembering Pinkie's warning.'

'Spicer was not set for flames, he'd been a loyal old geezer, he hadn’t done as much
harm as the next man.'

'The boy took a squint at the stupid devoted face and felt anger at the way another's
loyalty could hamper and drive. Dallow was the only man he trusted, and he hated him
as if he was his mentor.'

Inspector is aware of criminal underworl and their atrocities 'I dont mind you carving
each other up in a quiet way' 'We know more about each other than we admit.' however
he chooses to do nothing, essentially betraying his oath to uphold justice in Brighton, by
ridding it of gang crimes. He is aware of Colleoni's power; ' it will be Colleioni who'll
have the alibis. No one's going to fake you an alibi against Colleoni.'
◦ like Pinkie, we can deduce that the Inspector is 'A bogy doing Colleoni's job for him.'
In Clockwork Orange
Alex is constantly betrayed both by the authorities members of society and his ‘droogs’
Firstly his arrest is caused by his ‘droogs’ incapacitating him after he leaves the old woman’s
house [Part One, Chapter Six]. Alex’s prior cruelty to the gang in Chapter Five seems to be the
cause of this betrayal.
As Dim puts it ‘I don’t like you should do what you done, old droogy. Not right it wasn’t to get
on me like the way you done, brat’. Notice that Dim addresses Alex in a condescending tone;
as if he is addressing a child.
Dim especially becomes the Alpha Male in this situation showing a rapid reversal of leadership,
the animal-like noises (Alex’s ‘howl’ and the ‘siren-howl’) compares this violent change in
leadership to the violence and chaos of animals fighting for dominance.
The gang’s previous loyalty is revealed to be a fabrication, in fact Alex’s excessive violence
shows that his relationship with the gang is in fact dysfunctional ‘went ak ak ak with the britva’.
Alex forces the gang to follow his leadership, not really caring about his ‘droogs’ well-being, in
fact his violence mirrors the police brutality that the faces when he is arrested.
P.R Deltoid spits on Alex when sees him in police custody, he seems unperturbed by Alex’s
condition only calling him a ‘mess’. He also ceases to address Alex directly instead referring to
him in the third person ‘look at this boy’, he essentially dissociates and does not even attempt
to defend Alex’s situation and almost approves of this treatment; a sentiment that one of the
millicents seem to acknowledge ‘If you’d like to give him a bash in the chops sir’.
Society has deteriorated to such an extent that loyalty is absent in A Clockwork Orange