A Personal Struggle In Charlie's Flowers For Algernon

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My all time favorite book is Flowers for Algernon because the main character, Charlie, goes through a great personal struggle. Charlie is referred to Dr. Nelson for an experimental surgery that will help him learn despite his low IQ and functioning. This surgery allows Charlie to learn a great deal of things from basic punctuation to advanced physics. He learns more than a lifetimes worth of knowledge within months, including secrets from his childhood and betrayed friendships. Charlie’s IQ skyrockets, he is so intelligent that he notices a problem with Dr. Nelson’s original hypothesis that will cause him to lose all the knowledge he has gained as well as what he knew before. While reading this story I was very impacted by all of Charlie’s …show more content…

Nelson’s hypothesis, he writes in his journal, “I am afraid. Not of life, or death, or nothingness, but of wasting it as if I had never been.” At this point Charlie is determined to make something of himself for the remainder of his life. During the past couple years; this has been a common fear in my life because I have been seriously considering what I want to do when I grow up. The problem with making major decisions is not the decision itself, but the unknown that comes along with it. It was especially hard for me to make the decision to participate in the post secondary education program at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC). The idea of starting college at 15 was terrifying and no matter how much I thought about it, researched it, and talked about it I couldn’t shake the fear. I was afraid of what I didn’t know. People wanted to tell me the good, but I had to search for the bad. I knew this was the best decision for me, but I couldn’t commit, the fear of the commitment was almost enough for me to back out. That’s when I realized I have the potential to do anything I want, anything I set my mind to I can accomplish. Committing to the post secondary education program was the best decision I could have made. Similar to Charlie, I have the desire to make something of myself, which completely counteracted my fear of failure or

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