“Flowers for Algernon, first published in 1959, is considered a landmark work on both science fiction and disability literature,” (Werlock 2009). The American Library Association reports that this novel was banned as an obscene for its love scenes. When the main character, Charlie Gordon, increases his IQ from 68 to a level that makes him a genius (after received experimental brain surgery), his maturity leads him to fall in love with his teacher, and a sexual encounter ensues. This caused Flowers for Algernon to be banned and challenged in many places (Plant City, Florida- 1976, Emporium, Pennsylvania- 1977, Oberlin High School (Ohio) - 1983, among others). Most people consider the sexual scenes fairly mild, but there are those who consider any mention of sexual behavior inappropriate for teens or pre-teens, hence the attempts at censorship. Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book has occasionally been banned from school libraries including some in Pennsylvania and Texas. Flowers for Algernon has won numerous awards, even for the film, and it is regularly taught in schools around the world; therefore, it should remain on shelves.
Flowers for Algernon received a Nebula Award for Best Novel from the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1966. In addition, Cliff Robertson won an Oscar for acting in the movie Charly. Even the original version of the short story was published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction received the Hugo Award for the Best Novelette of 1960. (http://www.danielkeyesauthor.com 22 May 2011). Many parents allow their children to watch television, and most shows have sexual content. If parents allow kids to watch this on a screen, they should also be allowed to read a book contain...
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...pread and resulted in a better-than-average television movie, which was under the title The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon (Werlock 2009). Due to its accomplishments, the novel Flowers for Algernon should not be banned.
“If there is bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable,” states William J. Brenna of the Supreme Court. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, is criticized for sexual, religious, and unmoral themes and are the reasons for opposition. However, these examples do not give reason for banning any literature, especially when it has an important, underlying lesson of how wisdom does not make the person but can actually hurt them. Therefore, Flowers for Algernon should not be banned and should remain on shelves.
“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.
Everyone knows that every story has two sides, but the tricky part is figuring out which side to believe. In the short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keys, Charlie Gordon, a 37-year-old man with a mental handicap, has an operation performed on him to artificially increase his intelligence. Before and after the operation, there were drastic changes in the lives of Charlie and all those around him. While the operation caused many twists and turns for Charlie and his peers, the pros far outweighed the cons.
Considering all of this, Of Mice and Men should not be a banned book because it provides readers with information that they can use in school or for later in life. Another thing is that John Steinbeck makes readers enjoy the book with details that bring you inside the story. Also because banning a book that contains euthanasia is not necessary because having something suffer would be much worse. Lastly Steinbeck’s book helps people understand the disabilities that people have. Don’t let this great book rot away with the other banned books!
The film, Charly, directed and produced by Ralph Nelson, was released in September of 1968. It is an American science fiction drama film based on the book “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes. The film tells the audience the story of Charly, a 30-year-old and intellectually disable man who is struggling to survive the “normal” society. He has been taught by Alice Kinnian how to read and write for 2 years and he has a strong desire to learn, however his attempts to learn prove to be difficult. He qualified to be part of an experiment to increase his intelligence. This experiment has only been tried on laboratory mice, however helps Charly to rise his very low IQ to be a genius. This film can be related to three themes: the struggle
The things Hopkins have been through throughout her life have made her see all risks of the bad things her daughter went through, and she wants to try and help people through these novels. The first time she heard about getting censored she wrote a poem called Manifesto and sent it out to her publisher. Although many parents and schools disagree with her writing style and theme, she still continues to write inspiring books and doesn’t let the news about her censorship ruin her confidence in writing.
While watching the movie Charly, I realized that it has a few differences and similarities compared to the book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys. First of all, a difference that stood out to me is that in the movie Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss are asked to show the work they’ve done to a group of many scientists. In the movie this is where Charlie learns that Algernon is dead that his intelligence is only temporary, however in the story this even never takes place and Charlie discovers his fate at the clinic. One similarity I noticed is that in the both the movie and story Charlie’s friends make fun of him whenever they get the chance. For example, in the book version and film version they make jokes about him and pull pranks on him at work
Daniel Keyes “Flowers for Algernon” exploits the change in relationships through the protagonist, Charlie Gordon. In the beginning of the novel Charlie is numb. His emotional and intellectual abilities have not developed. He believes his coworkers: Joe, Frank, and Gimpy are his true friends. Charlie Gordon does not feel intimacy physically or emotionally toward anyone and does not know much about his family. Relationships in Flowers for Algernon continue to manifest during the entire story line.
Intelligence is a powerful force. In the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the main character, Charlie Gordon, goes through different levels of intelligence. Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon to show that perception of people and events change as one's intelligence changes.
Flowers for Algernon is a book written by Daniel Keyes, it is about a retarded man hoping to get smarter by having a surgery. The surgery goes well but takes time for him to get smarter. As he progressively gets smarter things about him start changing and starts being self conscious. His main goal is to have a lot of friends and to be popular. He thinks that becoming smart will make him excepted just like everyone else. For Charlie this doesn't go as well as planned, as being happy has nothing to do with being smart.
I believe that “Flowers for Algernon” has a theme that presents itself in several different instances throughout the story: don’t judge a book by its cover. Whether it encompasses the surgery or Charlie’s personal life, the theme still can be used. There were other, less cliched themes that could be found in the story, but this one can be applied to a larger portion of the plot.
Sherman Alexie's book is about an Indian boy named Arnold who is very smart and loves to make cartoons. He was raised on the reservation, but now wants to leave for a better education. Many bad things happen on the rez. where he lives, but he sticks out through the rest of the year. In 2014 this book was challenged over 300 times making the top 10 most challenged books. This book should not be banned because It shows people how bad drinking can be, how bad abuse can be, and people already know about sex and swearing when they read it.
Many popular novels are often converted into television movies. The brilliant fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes, was developed into a dramatic television film. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded man who is given the opportunity to become intelligent through the advancements of medical science. This emotionally touching novel was adapted to television so it could appeal to a wider, more general audience. Although the novel and film are similar in terms of plot and theme, they are different in terms of characters.
Flowers for Algernon has in fact many similarities and differences from the Hollywood film called ¨Charly¨ which is the job Charlie works in, how was Charlie in the start of the tale, and how the ending for both the film and story. From the start however, Charlie was in fact really mentally retarded in either one of those stories. You could easily tell in both of the tales based on how much intelligence Charlie officially started off with barely any. One very big difference however was how Charlie was in fact working in both stories. It was one of the many big differences in the film because of the fact that Charlie worked in a plastic factory, it wasn't even a bakery at all. Another big difference is the ending. During the book version of Flowers for Algernon, he fled from New York because of what happened to his friends when compared to the movie which showed Charlie playing with three children in a seesaw instead with Mrs.Kinnian watching Charlie.
“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.
These school boards and parents can claim that banning this classic will protect their children from these subjects and these thoughts, and that by doing so, they can create the world to be a perfect place with love and harmony. The religious can claim all the righteousness they want, that God made the civilized man and that without religion, we wouldn’t be where we are today. However, the true nature of these subjects isn’t in that they exist, but the fact that we simply just don’t want to think or admit that they exist within ourselves. We need to use this book as a textbook to life, or a sort of guiding hand that tells us we need to realize that without our civilizations and without our rules, the world would be a much ruthless place than it is today.