Respect And Dignity In Flowers For Algernon And Sunday In The Park

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In many situations, people aren't treated with respect and dignity. In Sunday in the Park by Bel Kaufman, the wife, Morton, and their son Larry are disrespected by the big man and his son Joe. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the main character Charlie is treated poorly by everybody around him because he is not of the same intellect as they are, and he doesn't know it when they are toying with him or making fun of him. Both authors use mood and inner thinking to indicate that just because someone is different than you doesn't mean they should be treated differently. In Sunday in the Park by Bel Kaufman, inner thinking is used to represent the theme of always treating each other with respect and dignity, “The man on the bench moved his mouth as if to spit again, but instead he spoke. He did not look at her, but at the boy only. “You go right on ahead Joe. Throw all …show more content…

However, they use diverse techniques as well. Description is used to show the theme by Bel Kaufman, “The other boy suddenly stood up and with a quick, deliberate swing of his chubby arm threw a spadeful of sand at Larry.” (34) This piece of text gives insight for later parts of the story; Joe and his father do not want Morton, his wife, and Larry to be at the park. This text links to the common theme because of that. On the other hand, Daniel Keyes lets the reader know more than the character to portray the common theme, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when he's potted. I don't know what that means but everybody likes me and we have fun.” (8) The reader knows more than the character in this situation because they know that Joe and Frank are not really Charlie's friends, but just like to be around him to laugh at

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