Attack on the Drunk

Outside the pub, the gang encounters a filthy, drunken old man singing and cursing the world. They beat him, but he continues to sing and express his despair at a world that allows the young to prey on the old. Alex is momentarily interested in the man's philosophy, but the gang soon kicks him until he bleeds. The drunk's lament about the loss of law and order and the futility of life in a world with men on the moon but no earthly justice foreshadows the novel's themes of societal decay and the failure of traditional morality. The attack is another casual act of violence, reflecting the gang's boredom and their need for constant stimulation.