Even though Daniel Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon in 1966, its messages about humanity still are true today. One of these themes is people treat people with mental disabilities poorly. The main character Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled adult with a low IQ. Charlie is constantly being picked on by others, but he doesn’t realize it because he’s too slow to figure it out. Later on in the story, however, Charlie is chosen to get an operation to have his IQ is raised. I think people today are still picking on others who are less smarter than them. The first piece of evidence to support this theme is found when Charlie has one of his flashbacks from the past. “‘Charlie! Charlie!...fat head barley!’ Children circle around him laughing and teasing him like little dogs snapping at his feet. Charlie smiles at them. He would like to put down his bundle and play games with them, but when he thinks about it the skin on his back twitches and he feels the way the older boys throw things at him” (Keyes 44-45). Charlie is chosen to have an operation to make him smarter. Since Charlie is gett...
“Ignorance is bliss,” is an old saying used throughout time and can be applied to the tragic yet inspiring (5) story know as Flowers for Algernon. Author Daniel Keyes creates a mentally challenged character, Charlie Gordon, who has went through his life completely unaware of his disability is given an opportunity to change everything. As the story progress Charlie is faced with a constant battle between intellect and emotion or happiness, which leads to some dire situations and choices he may not be ready to make.
Firstly, Charlie grows emotionally and physically as a human being: growing and becoming more complete with every experience. Starting off, Charlie grows physically as he develops into a more of a complete man. Joe and Frank invite Charlie to a party, during the party he is forced to dance with a girl named Ellen. After waking up the next morning, Charlie says, “I dreamed about the girl Ellen dancing and rubbing up against me and when I woke up the sheets were wet and messy” (Keyes 43). Charlie has his first wet dream, he is slowly going through puberty after the operation and becoming a more complete man. Adding on, Charlie is always happy and thinks all is good in the world, before the operation everything seems fine to him. He is like a child: naive. After the operation, Charlie has therapy sessions with the doctor, where they do tests to measure growth. During one of these therapy sessions, Charlie says, “I had reached a new level and anger and suspicion were my reactions to the world around me” (Keyes 57-58). Charlie grows emotionally, he adds another aspect to his cha...
An excellent example of this view of the mentally handicapped can be found in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, with the character Lennie. The other characters in this novel such as George and Curley treat Lennie as if he were a child all throughout the novel. George never lets him do any of the talking when t...
People often judge others by certain characteristics. Intelligence is one of the most important ones. It is like the difference in talking to a three year old kid versus talking to an adult. People also behave differently. In the story “Flowers for Algernon”, the statement “Ignorance is bliss” is proven true.
Before the operation, he exhibited some clear strengths such as determination, a positive attitude, friendly with people and some weaknesses such as education and inability to understand the adult world. After the operation, he begun to change in numerous ways. Charlie started out as being not really intelligent. Being around with “smart” people made him want to change and became “intelligent” just like his “friends.” I think its all crazy. If you can get smart when your sleeping why do people go to school. That thing I don't think will work. I use to watch the late show and the late late show on TV all the time and it never made me smart (Keyes 118). This part of the book led Charlie’s flashbacks takes place of how he was raised or nurtured through his childhood, Of how he wanted to try to become smart. However Dr. Strauss believes that his sleep would help Charlie be able to learn. However in his nature, his disability cannot help him at all, doesn’t matter how much he tries to watch TV and tries to go to sleep, I wouldn’t allow him to learn anything at all. The nurture of this is having the doctor recommend Charlie to do this. His disability also not just affects him but his family as well. His disability kind of makes his sister miserable as well, jealous over how the parents focus on Charlie due to his disability, despite the successes the sister achieves in school. Thus Charlie’s nature towards others has a negative effect which is towards his sister. Charlie was raised by his parents but through a condition that would then follow him probably for the rest of his life as well as being mainly raised through this experiment, which possibly wouldn’t help him at all in the near
He is then judged even harsher which is why you shouldn’t try to be someone that you’re not. You should stay true to yourself. In the story, it says “Their going to use me! I am so exited I can hardly write” (Keyes page 351). This implies that Charlie is anxious to undergo the surgery that will make him smart. Another part says “If you volenteer for this experament you mite get smart”. (Keyes page 351) This shows that the operation will make him more intelligent so he can fit in with everyone else. This proves that Charlie is trying to be someone he is not in order to fit
Disabilities can come in many forms and can cause many attributes of a person to shift or change over the course of time. Webster’s Dictionary defines disability as “a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities,” as well as, “a disadvantage of handicap, especially one imposed or recognized by the law.” In the short story by Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People,” we can see described one such person. Joy-Hulga shows both mental and physical conditions of her disability, but also the bravery to overcome her disability. Flannery O’Connor does a fine job showing the readers the difficulties of living with and overcoming a disability.
Firstly, Charlie's operation turns him into an extremely intelligent person. Charlie becomes much smarter as the novel unfolds. A little after his operation Charlie's IQ slowly starts to increase. He finally beats Algernon after losing to him in a race repeatedly. After the victory Charlie says, " I beet Algernon. I dint even know I beet him until Burt Selden told me…But after I beet him 8 more times. I must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon."(Keyes 30). Algernon is a smart mouse, who has undergone the same operation as Charlie. Charlie victory shows his increase of knowledgeable. This also shows that his brain is developing. Charlie then gains more knowledge. After writing a few more progress reports one can see a huge change in Charlie's writing, especially in his grammar. While having a conversation with Joe, Charlie says, "Everybody on the floor came around and they were laff laughing…you been here long enuff enough."(Keyes 34). By correcting his own mistakes, Charlie shows that he is progressing towards a more educate...
“He ain’t no cuckoo” “He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy”(Steinback 39). Showing that people who knows Lennie thinks he is a cuckoo right off the bat by how he talk, act, thoughts, etc. Which make people suddenly think that he is crazy and dumb from what he is like off the get go acting like a child. “They’ll take ya to the booby hatch. They’ll tie you up with a collar, like a dog”.(Steinback 72) Showing that people don’t really understand mental disability and not know how to act upon one except take them out right away quickly. Also showing that people do not really care looking into people with a disability and putting them right away imprisoned or killing them not giving people chances to live or have a life. Mental problem could have been big back in history and people not caring or showing any thought into people with problems and end up being discriminated to the
Do you have some spare time? Good. Because it will only take a couple of minutes for you to learn a couple of differences about two amazing women who came to the U.S. with either a disability or just not knowing the language. Basically, Amy Tan’s mother and Nancy Mairs are very amazing. They both have a thing in common where they have struggles, whether it’s their language or a disability and they both overcome those challenges; there are a couple of differences between Tan’s mother, who just can’t speak the English language, and Nancy Mairs, because she is literally physically disabled. However, being
“I was shocked to learn that the only ancient languages he could read were Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and that he knows almost nothing of mathematics beyond the elementary levels of the calculus of variations. When he admitted this to me, I found myself almost annoyed. It was as if he'd hidden this part of himself in order to deceive me, pretending as do many people I've discovered to be what he is not. No one I've ever known is what he appears to be on the surface.”page 214. He looks down on Dr.Nemur as if he is a child, even though he has extreme intelligence far past the average level. He may be superior to Dr. Nemur but Dr.Nemur has one set of knowledge Charlie does not. Being able to have social skills and pick up on social ques. Charlie can not talk to others due to his extensive knowledge. Finally one day at the lunch after a mentally retarded boy dropped dished he realize that by him laughing is not the right thing to do and is not okay by his self standards. “I’d hidden the picture of the old Charlie Gordon from myself because now that I was intelligent it was something that had to be pushed out of my
In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.
“Flowers for Algernon,” by Daniel Keyes, is an epistolary story that focuses on the use of artificial intelligence. Themes presented in this work include love, individuality and community, and power. The protagonist, Charlie Gordon, is a mentally retarded man who attends night school at a college for retarded adults. Charlie is the subject of the scie...
Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because they always made jokes about Charlie, but he was not smart enough to realize it. As he gets smarter he loses his friends because they think he is just trying to act smart.
Today society has shaped us to realize that people can’t help what they’re born with. I think that society has no other choice but to make us more accepting. But it hasn't always been that way and not everyones going to accept you. In the novel Of Mice and Men George's companion Lennie was mentally challenged after being kicked in the head by a horse. George learned to cope with him and be okay with it. A lot of characters in the novel looked at it differently as if it were his fault. Curley was extremely harsh to him. In today's society everyone knows you don't fight a person who isn't all mentally there. It’s just wrong and everyone knows it.