Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, is a book that is an emotional roller coaster. This book includes science that one day might not be fictional but may come true and will be able to be used on people who have intellectual disabilities in today's world.
The book starts with a man, who is mentally retarded, writing in a journal about them using him in a surgery used to change him for the better. This mans name is Charlie Gordon. He is the kind of man who works hard to achieve only little accomplishments and never gives up. He desperately wants to become smart so he can communicate and live just like everyone else does. Charlie wants this operation so he can be smart and prove to everyone he isn't like he used to be.
"Gimpy hollers at me all the time when I do something rong, but he reely likes me because hes my frend. Boy if I get smart won't he be surprised." (p 5)
Charlie writes this down into his progress report and proves that he wants to please everyone by being smart.
The scientists first try this experiment on a mouse to see if it might work. The mouse did improve on how fast he learned and was made smarter every time the scientists taught the mouse something new. Since the experiment was a success they decided to begin to test Charlie to see if he was the right type of person . They begin with tests such as inkblot, raw shok test, and they had him race the mouse named Algernon, by seeing who was able to complete the same maze first. The scientists finally decide Charlie is the perfect subject for the experiment due to his motivation and his eagerness to be smart. As Charlie's IQ begins to grow so does his ability to understand how cruel the world around him really is. While Charlie's knowledge grows, his attitude changes along with those around him. Charlie loses his job, friends, happiness, and even his willing to care or learn. On the contrary of things, Charlie also experiences and learns a lot from this experiment. He experiences love, freedom, being able to read and write, and the ability to be able to remember what has happened to him all of these years.
In this novel, Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, a man named Charlie Gordon has an operation done to increase his intelligence. He started as a mentally retarded man and slowly became a genius. He seemed to soak up information like a sponge and he was able to figure out the most complex scientific formulas. The only problem with the operation is that it does not last for ever and in his remaining time he tries to figure out why it is not permanent. He will eventually lose everything he learned and become worse off than when he started, so Charlie was better off before he had the operation.
Charlie lived in a paradise-like world, he though he had many "friends". The only thing he felt he was missing was brains. When he was offered the chance to become 'smart' he jumped at the chance to be like everyone else. Unprepared for the changes intelligence would bring, Charlie lost his innocence. When he realizes his 'friends' don't actually like him they just liked to make fun of him.
Charlie is chosen for an operation(after taking many tests) that could increase his intelligence level. Algernon(a white mouse) had the same operation done on him. The first test Algernon has to run through a maze while Charlie does one on paper. After Charlie has his operation he becomes insanely smart and can beat Algernon without even trying. Months after the operation things start to go downhill for Charlie and Algernon. They both experience a decrease in their intelligence level and show aggressive actions. Weeks later Algernon dies because of a brain shrinkage. Charlie is now worried about his fate so he publishes the experiment(The Algernon-Gordon effect) which shows how the operation fails. After the publication, Charlie moves to New Nork and is never seen again. Daniel Keyes uses point of view to reveal Charlie's transformation using his mental ability and emotional
Charlie worked at a factory and saved the factory ten thousand dollars of work and made the products more efficient. He changed the way the machines are set up in the factory that saves them thousands of dollars and required less work. Charlie understood the concept of the factories and was able to make improvements. The operation was supposed to increase Charlie’s IQ and that is what he was hoping would happen. Charlie’s spelling and grammar improves throughout his progress reports and his IQ dramatically improved from a sixty-eight to two hundred. Charlie wanted to become smart and improve his English after the surgery and that is exactly what happened. Charlie is so fascinated with how the procedure on the brain worked that he wanted to improve the way they did the intelligence surgery. Charlie then discovered new knowledge of the function and the increase of human intelligence. Charlie's wisdom was so high, he was able to uncover important discoveries of the complex human mind. The procedure affected Charlie and increased his skills and brilliance.
The societal problems became a reality for Charlie as he overtook the brain of a genius. Every day, Charlie woke up thinking he was best friends with Joe and Frank; nonetheless, after the operation, Charlie’s brilliance knew Frank and Joe were not his legitimate cohorts. All the mocking was assumed to be friendly until Charlie was able to comprehend the actuality. Charlie’s acquaintances turned around
Charlie’s story began with the surgery, the biggest decision he made in his life. Although he was a guinea pig in the procedure, he wasn’t worried at all about the surgery, but rather on becoming smart as fast as he could. Supposedly these doctors were doing Charlie the greatest favor he would ever receive, and he was so eager to learn as much as he could. Soon however, Charlie would encounter challenges he never faced with the intelligence of a 6 year old. Before his surgery, Charlie had great friends in Miss Kinnian and the bakery workers. After the surgery the relationships between Charlie and everyone he knew would take a drastic turn.
Firstly, Charlie loses his friends. He literally gets to a point where he is too smart for his own good. The people from his work at Donnegan’s Plastic Box Company agreed to sign a petition to get Charlie to quit. Some of the workers, such as Fanny, were questioning how he suddenly became so smart. She and others felt uncomfortable to have him around. Evidence from the text proves that the people felt unsettled. “...there’s something mighty strange about you, Charlie… Who knows what you done to yourself to get so smart all of a sudden. Like everyone around here’s been saying, Charlie, it’s not right.” (Keyes, 72)
As a result of the operations, Charlie gains the experience of what it is like to be intelligent. Therefore, he sees the world as it is. “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. This hurts most of all” (76.) He can now truly understand how the outside world functions and how he is truly treated.
From being laughed at to being treated like he was a baby. All of this happened to him just because he was mentally challenged. The worst part is that Charlie didn’t know that he was laughed at and nobody told or tried to help him. This went on until Charlie got the operation and got smart. However things became worse after the operation. A while after the operation Charlie understood that he was laughed at the hard way. After this he became lonely and depressed. People didn’t like changes. When he got smart people thought that he was playing got and made a petition for him to get fired. Later on when Charlie went to a bar, the dishwasher dropped the plates down and broke them and everyone started laughing at the dishwasher. When Charlie saw what was happening he yelled and said that it isn’t his fault that he is mentally disabled and that it isn’t funny to laugh at someone who is mentally handicapped. After this event Charlie got a paranoia of people laughing at him and treating him like a child. This shows us how cruel mankind can be to his own
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.
In the story flowers for Algernon there is a man named Charlie that isn’t smart. He goes to a school to help adults learn. Charlie is chosen to be in an operation that will make him smarter. In the story there is a mouse that is named Algernon. Algernon had the same operation as Charlie, so before he had the operation he raced Algernon with mazes. After the operation Charlie was getting smarter, but Algernon was getting madder and not as smart. Charlie realized that he too was going to forget how to be smart also. When he did, he had no friends and only got weird looks because he had once been smart. Charlies operation had isolated him in three ways, with his coworkers,his report,and forgetting to be smart. With Charlie's coworkers ‘’they
"Now I'm more alone than ever before," Charlie says on April 30th. He had nobody to relate to because at this point of the story, Charlie?s intelligence has already exceeded that of his teacher and the doctors. Before Charlie became smart, even the simplest things in life were good enough for him. As a genius, none of those things mattered to him. His mind was more complex, he needed more and he wanted more. As a result, he felt alone and buried himself in his work.
Charlie’s intelligence started to fall. Slowly he lost it all, from foreign languages to math equations to reading and writing.
“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.
The Author of book name called “Wonder” was the top seller at #1 New York time bestseller to for those that bought the book it was written like a modern classic a funny, uplifting, and incredibly moving novel to read in one sitting, pass on to others until long after to the final page. In the book talks about a young 10-year-old boy name August (Auggies) Pullman, living in New York City, he was born with a facial deformity that has made it difficult for him to make friends unless they start running away screaming. He lives with his parents, his old sister Via and his dog Daisy, August wishes that he could be “normal” just like the other kids that he sees and wishes that people don’t stare at him every day and wishes that everyone