Expanding a little on your point, I feel like a lot of people miss one of the themes of the book being “does forcing someone to be a good person by stripping them of their free will actually make them a good person?” I don’t think Alex ever really regretted what he did, it’s just for a short time he couldn’t do it anymore. Even after they reverse his treatment, he goes and forms another gang. iirc The only reason he even thinks about stopping is because the violence isn’t “fun” anymore. So yeah, not really a good guy.