Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

Response to Literature

Flowers for Algernon, a classic written by Daniel Keyes, explores the changes a medical surgery can bring to a man’s life. Keyes unfolds the story of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who is given the ability to become intelligent after pioneering a medical surgery. Charlie, with his new-found intelligence, has to come to terms with his previous life as well as tackling with the effects of being a lab rat. The moral issues behind science altering humans is a prominent theme of the novel because it displays the author’s concern of science unnecessarily tampering with a human life.

The negative effects of human manipulation through science is first seen when Charlie begins having issues in his few relationships and begins having traumatizing flashbacks. As a child, Charlie had been required to act like

a regular kid disregarding the special needs he required to learn correctly, causing him to become the target of many traumatizing jokes. The traumatic moments resurface as Charlie begins to grasp what the memories mean, “I feel a lot better today, but I’m still angry that all the time people were laughing and making fun at me” (Keyes 48) Charlie says this after experiencing his first few memories and discussing them with his doctor.

The phrase “ I feel a lot better today” signifies that Charlie has come to terms with the memories and understands that they are a part of his past. However, by continuing the phrase by expressing anger towards them means that just because he has relived the flashbacks doesn’t mean he will accept the humiliation that he is finally realizing. Charlie before the surgery had been blissfully unaware of the memories since his mental capabilities didn’t allow him to recall moments, but now with the surgery Charlie is going to have to face the horrors of his childhood all over again. Charlie’s disability also caused befriending people to become a difficult task. Regardless, Charlie is able to form connections with people. When Charlie’s intelligence became prominent at work, he began to describe a new environment in the bakery. “People at the bakery are changing. Not only ignoring me. I

can feel the hostility.” (66) The workers in the bakery were some of the few people Charlie had been able to befriend given that they had interacted for a large part of Charlie’s life. The change in attitude Charlie is facing is completely different from the one he had grown accustomed to and instead of being congratulated on his advancements at the job was now being resented for surpassing them in their jobs after having been the runt of the litter for most of their employment. The workers reaction and the haunting memories begin changing Charlie’s life allowing for further conflicts and theme development.
The story further develops the theme as Charlie begins to unveil repressed memories and severing his already splintering relationships. One of the more emotional flashbacks Charlie has is when he is being sent away from his home. “There in the bed, Charlie did not understand what they were saying, but now it hurts.” (171) At this point Charlie is smarter than the average human when he relives the flashback, meaning he is wise enough to understand that the images of his mother that he had grown up believing were tainted in his head, and that in reality the nurturing mother he had conjured up had been replaced by a bitter women who was ashamed of her son. Charlie’s intelligence makes it possible for the emotions to surface clearly, making hearing his mother refer to him as someone of a different species all the more painful. As shown above it was Charlie’s disorder that eventually lead to the exile from his family. Now, ironically, it is Charlie’s intelligence that leads to the firing of his job and loss of friends. “This intelligence that has driven a wedge between me and all the people I knew and loved, driven me out of the bakery.” (108). Charlie realizes that in his journey to educate himself and learn about the world he has distanced himself to a point where he can no longer interact with people without making people feel inferior, or suspicious of his new mental abilities. The once safe haven of Charlie has turned against him and the small friendships Charlie had formed were all damaged. The manipulation of man with science once again proved its disadvantages, as it isolates Charlie from the shelter he had grown accustomed to before the surgery.
In the end of the novel, Keyes concludes the difficulties that the surgery arose in Charlie’s life with a heartbreaking resolution. Before surgery, Charlie had not be aware enough to accept the dangers of the surgery or the possible consequences. Therefore, when Charlie begins to lose his intelligence Keyes signifies it with words from Plato, “ ‘..the men of the cave would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes…’ ”(285) Throughout the story, Charlie’s gain of knowledge had been represented by the motif of Charlie bearing similarity to that of a blind man finally having the ability to see. However, now that Charlie is regressing back to his mental disorder Keyes uses the terms “down he came without his eyes” to symbolize that Charlie’s journey is now going to be downhill as he loses everything he had built while he had the mental capacity. Consequently, as Charlie loses his abilities he soon goes back to this pre-surgery routine. Charlie’s first return visit to the bakery is terrible because he is belittled by a new worker for his past intelligence. Charlie is soon aided by his previous friends who once again take Charlie under their wing. “We all want you to remember that you got frends here and dont you ever forget it. I said thanks Gimpy. That makes me feel good.”(309) Charlie having grown accustomed to the isolation of his intelligence is finally able to say he feels good because the friendships he had been deprived of are finally a possibility. The friendships he had thought were severed have now been fixed as he begins once again his separation from other.
Flowers for Algernon is considered a classic by creating a series of conflicts in Charlie’s journey that would carry the story creating the controversy between the moral issues of science when it begins altering humans. Charlie’s flashbacks and troubled relationships are consequences of his desire to become better through the surgery. The clarity Charlie was granted lasted for mere months before they were stripped away from him leaving him blind from the knowledge available throughout the world, reminding us that some things are better left unknown.