'Charlie And Equality In Flowers For Algernon'

During his childhood, he was blessed with an individual spirit and the intelligence to understand the knowledge of the world. In spite of this, he reckoned his abilities as transgressions. He acknowledged that the way of life was that “Everything which comes from the many is good. Everything which comes from the one is evil” (Rand 85). Equality strives to accept the totalitarian society and consequently, he desperately struggles to disregard his abilities and subdue his desires. The grisly effects of society are portrayed immensely through the profound sense of guilt he suffers while committing the Sin of Preference. He continually recites that, “We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by, and for our brothers who are the State. Amen” (Rand 21). Gradually, his aspirations contradict with the dogma of society. He discovers that he finds more joy committing the Sin of Preference rather than restraining himself from happiness, which ultimately, allows him to elude his conscious premises. Equality’s belief that “[he] [has] torn [himself] from the truth which is [his] brother men… [he] knows [this], but [he] [does] not care” (Rand 76) marks his complete triumph over collectivism. Prior to his transformation, he belonged to a society in which the Sin of Preference revoked all rights for any desire, which ultimately disallowed citizens to think for freely. If permitted to do so, no

Equality stands out from everyone around him, making him an individual. This also makes him the archetype of the loner or outcast. In the beginning of the novel Equality states that, “We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden.” (page 18.) He also says “We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall.” (page 18.) These quotes show exactly how Equality is an individual compared to those around him who fit in the idea of collectivism, or sameness.

Equality contemplates, “I wonder, for it is hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word “I”, could give it up and not know what they lost” (103). This quote narrates the discovery of one of the most essential words used to identify as a single, original person, I. Equality realizes the tragedy of the loss that his previous society created before his lifetime and really ponders why and how this could happen in a very separate world. Equality readies himself to be an individual person as a result of feeling strongly against the beliefs of his previous society. Equality excitedly states, “We made a fire, we cooked the bird, and we ate it, and no meal had ever tasted better to us. And we thought suddenly that there was a great satisfaction to be found in the food which we need and obtain by our own hand” (79). In the past, Equality had never done anything to express his originality because of the law stating otherwise, so when given the opportunity to finally understand his own strengths and weaknesses, he takes it. He disregards the law and excitedly grasps the concept that he isn’t supposed to be a follower like his peers were, he was meant to be a leader. Disagreeing with the law was a main point of Rand’s novella, promoting personal

Before the operation, Charlie Gordon, from Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is happy. He may have a simple, pitiful existence, but he thinks his friends like him, and enjoys being with them and Miss Kinnian at the Learning Center for Slow Adults. However, Charlie wants to be smart, the one dark cloud in his sunny sky of life. Because of this, Charlie volunteers for an operation to triple his IQ of 68. With a high IQ comes awareness of the world around him, so Charlie suddenly becomes conscious of his previously pitiful existence which leads to a slew of feelings such as embarrassment, shame, and superiority. Charlie thinks that becoming smart will make him happy and well-liked, but the operation works the opposite effect. Charlie starts to look down on everyone, and cannot socialize with others because of his IQ. As a result, Charlie becomes almost depressed. His depression deepens when Charlie discovers that his intelligence will not be permanent. Soon, Charlie regresses to his former childlike mentality. Although at the end of the novel, Charlie does not find himself any worse off after the operation, the few months he spent smarter are not terribly enjoyable for him, and his changing mentality negatively impacts those he is close to, namely Miss Kinnian. Because the effects are not permanent, Charlie would be far better off without the operation.

To begin, Equality encourages differences and individuality. He and Liberty created new names for themselves, as to separate themselves from each other and the old society. Equality became Prometheus and Liberty became Gaea. “There was a time when each man had a name of his own to distinguish him from all other men.” (Rand 99). Once

Society has become a shallow place. If an individual does not fit into societies form of the normal person then they are treated differently. But does society treat those who are different in a negative or positive way? In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the author Daniel Keyes shows an in depth look at the treatment of individuals in today's society. Firstly society tends to discriminate against those whose IQ does not fit into the norms of our society. The physically handicapped in today's world are not considered to be "equal" as those who fit into the normal physical appearance, Keyes portrays this through Charlie's thoughts while in the café. Although animals are not technically humans society treats them in ways which no human would

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman. Charlie Gordon is a very welcoming, playful, and genuine man. He attends Beekman College for Retarded Adults and has a strong motivation to learn and to improve his intelligence. He dreams of being popular, and making friends. Throughout the novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon changed in many ways. Prior to his life changing operation, he was not able to grasp that the people at Donner’s Bakery were not his friends, they only spoke to him to make fun of him. Charlie acknowledged their harsh actions, and started retaliating. Charlie is a very open

    Equality, a very curious main character, wants the experience of feeling valued not only within himself but also from others. The feeling of accomplishment and knowledge is what he is deprived of in his collectivist world and what many seek to feel. Individuality distinguishes one from others which is why each and every one is unique and why Equality feels he is different. This difference is due

“I said Miss Kinnian never gave me tests like that one only spelling and reading. They said Miss Kinnian told that I was her bestist pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardist and I reely wantid to lern” -Charlie. Concluding that if you could feel smarter than you are now, would you. That's what Charlie feels like until he has an operation that makes him smart. The theme of this story I think is that people change over time. Like charlie changes throughout the story. In the story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes Charlie patarys the theme that people changed overtime.

After that first step is taken, people will begin to realize the merits of their situations and therefore, begin to fight as well. This theme is evident throughout the book as the motif of individuality is so prevalent but it only really becomes clear once the main character begins to act on his beliefs. Character development also takes many large strides in this section. Equality’s actions during his meeting with the Council of Scholars were rash and perhaps even radical. Now however, we begin to see his logic in his actions. This all shows the fact that he is beginning to think for himself more than ever and is therefore becoming an individual rather than a monotonous member of the collective. This all comes back to the major conflict of the book: Equalities search for a life in which he can exhibit nonconformity and live in any way he chooses. The conflict is fully resolved after Equality and Liberty find a small house hidden from the rest of society which is from the “Unmentionable times”, a time period similar to our own which the World Council attempts to hide as best they can because it can be implied that they fear to lose power over this society. In the final few chapters of the book, Equality learns, through reading classical texts of the word ‘I’. Thus, his journey for individualism and nonconformity is completed and his conflict is resolved. Rand writes:

Flowers for Algernon is about a man named Charlie who is mentally slow and not smart. Charlie had an operation to make him smart. What the doctors did was unethical.

Both Flowers for Algernon and the Garden of Eden are both similar as they both thought biting from the tree of knowledge would bring them intelligence. In the beginning of the story of Flowers for Algernon, Charlie was blessed with happiness, but always desired to be smart. Just like the story the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve did not necessarily wanted to be smart, but wanted to be like God and wanted to experience the knowledge like God had. Charlie knew no other life outside of his job and school and he liked his

The society of Anthem banned pronouns like I or me. Equality defied this by using these pronouns after he read them in “ancient scripts”. “I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I am the meaning” (94). Equality said this because the pronouns he used symbolized his escape from his past world. He reached his final goal, and broke free from the regulations of the strict society. Ayn Rand said in her article, “The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.” This means that Equality was freed by his gaining of independence from the past society. Equality does not owe anything to his brothers, and that helped him escape. He even gave names to himself and Liberty. This act is condemned in his original home. By defying the rules and regulations, Equality managed to free himself for good from the society of

In the book of Anthem, Equality wanted to change himself because he did not want to do what he was told to do , he wanted be himself and do what he likes to do .

He realizes he had everything to fear from the twisted society that he lived in. Equality had trusted himself enough to completely let go of his old society, to leave everything behind and adopt a new culture. He must have trusted himself immensely to have done this. He also realizes humans are much too smart to govern that society and wonders if they were just too afraid to contradict their government or just did not trust themselves to try and overthrow it. Equality realizes he should be confident in himself. He is a very headstrong person and is not persuaded so easily. That is why he had left his society in the first place. Equality would like to live as an individual where he would not work together for the common good, as a group, but where he alone will work as an individual in his new society that he will soon create.