Alex is released from the treatment facility after giving a series of interviews and demonstrations of his reformation, which he finds “embarrassing.” He buys a newspaper and sees a picture of himself, labeled “the first graduate from the new State Institution for Reclamation of Criminal Types” (153). He finds the article an arrogant and self-congratulatory take on the government’s role in his reform.

He makes his way back to his parents’ flat, taking note of how the grounds and buildings have been cleaned up. When he enters the apartment, his parents are shocked; they were not notified of Alex’s release, nor have they read the papers with his interviews. Quickly, though, it is Alex’s turn to be shocked: His parents have rented out his room to a tenant, an older man named Joe who treats Alex’s parents as if they were his own. Alex demands his room back, but his parents prevaricate and say they cannot just summarily evict Joe. Alex realizes that his parents do not really want him back home: “I viddy all. You got used to a bit of peace and you got used to a bit of extra pretty polly. That’s the way it goes.