Flowers For Algernon Literary Analysis

2) In this novel flowers for Algernon Charlie’s story is being told on how the first human to be operated on to boost his intelligence is progressing and adapting to his new life. Norma Gordon’s Charlie’s sister story isn’t being told because Charlie doesn’t really know his sister and they live in different cities. And Charlie mother Rose story isn’t told either because he only has bad memories of her.

Despite the amount of traumatising murders Charlie comes across, he is determined to understand people that are different from himself, providing him with a sympathetic and compassionate personality. Charlie's efforts to understand the minds of others does not go to waste as he successfully learns in-depth details about Jack Lionel "I don't know who this man is, but he didn't kill anybody. I've done everything wrong. Mad Jack Lionel isn't a criminal. He's probably not even mad. He's just old and sad and poor and lonely" (Charlie Bucktin p234). Through the sympathetic side of Charlie, a softer and more vulnerable component has been added to the novel, expressing Charlie's curiosity towards understanding Jack. A transition between Charlie regarding someone as dangerous and cruel compared to a harmless and nostalgic man is clear throughout chapter seven of the novel as Charlie begins to develop a further and deeper understanding of Jack's personality traits and motives. Instinct is a powerful aspect of the novel as it begins to delve into the innocence of the mind of Charlie when he originally assumes the worst of Jack before having a moment of realisation where Jack is no longer the criminal but instead a lonely, old man. After evaluating the multiple aesthetic features that constructed this particular novel, the innocence, understanding and sympathetic components are highlighted and contributed to the description of Charlie as a typical

Charlie’s friendship with Jasper Jones, his parents, and witnessing the intolerance of Corrigan are the three biggest factors in Charlie's development from innocence to experience. Jasper Jones exposed him to fear and forced him to be brave and face his fears, the rampant intolerance in Corrigan, both racial and otherwise, exposed him to the injustices of the real world, and his relationship with his parents taught him to be diplomatic and control his

Charlie, also has a peculiar speech pattern. Despite being a young teenager, his language is somewhat outdated; and he has a sardonic sense of humor. He shifts from “fancy” vocabulary to a more simple type of speech on a regular basis. In his first letter of Part 4, he describes someone’s face as “ashen”; but he had previously described his family members using the words “nice” and “fat”. Surprisingly simple speech from someone so seemingly contemplative. He, Charlie, is also very “matter-of-fact” about things. He does not say things that he does not believe to be true; and if he’s unsure, he states his ignorance as a fact. This is easy to see in Part 1 when he states, “I am really in love with Sam, and it hurts very much,” like it was an immovable thought or an unchangeable

Charlie is very far from what most people call normal: he is shy, introverted, awkward, independent, paranoid, confused, respectable and kind; showing many examples of this throughout the book. He keeps to himself for the most part and is constantly in his own head. Aside from the many negative traits he also has many attributes: he is a loyal friend and listens to the people he talks to, he is a caring person and comforts those in need. However he has his flaws as well: Charlie can get very angry and upset at others which causes him to lash out with violence or sadness, he is extremely sensitive, crying frequently and constantly questioning himself. Several of his peers labeled him as nerd or a weirdo, which damaged

In the novel Charlie takes each person’s words into his heart and ponders about them thoughtfully. Nostrils Charlie’s best friend sticks by his side and is loyal at all times. While Nostrils is doing a job with Charlie, Nostrils gets beat up by Barlow and Nostrils tells Charlie to run which lands Nostrils in hospital. This teaches Charlie to be loyal and listen to what his friends tell him to do. Another incident is where Daisy Molony who is a prostitute tells Charlie to ‘use that money fer somethin’ good’, the filthy money that Squizzy Taylor gave to Charlie, for doing jobs for him. Mr Redmond is another strong character in Charlie’s life, teaching Charlie boxing, giving Charlie a gramophone and training him to run in the Ballarat mile. This shows Charlie, through an old man’s eyes, love and compassion. Mr Redmond dedicated a lot of time and energy for Charlie. All these people show Charlie a fragment of properties and qualities. From himself and spending time with his friends he learns how to nurture the feeling s of others but not the feelings one

The character of Charlie (being the protagonist) is who the readers are directly linked too, as we are taken on a journey with him through his actions, feeling, ideas and perspectives. His journey also includes his maturation/ coming of age as he does not escape from his issues and problems however he faces them head on. “I have no idea where we’re going. The further we move, the keener my apprehension grows. Still, there is something emboldening about being awake when the rest of the world is sleeping. Like I know something they don’t.” The passage has shifted from the description of late-night Corrigan to the thoughts/feeling of Charlie. He has been called to a mysterious place by a peculiar figure called Jasper Jones. As they travel further and further away from Corrigan the more Charlie’s worry and doubt comes to him about where they are travelling, what they might be doing and why did Japer choose him over everyone else? The readers are unaware of why Charlie is following Jasper blindly and so is Charlie. This is a stage in the narrative where Charlie’s progression as a character starts. The mood is created here from the events that are happening and from the readers attachment to the protagonist. The thoughts of the characters are reflected as the feeling from the readers. In some ways we already understand what might happen based on different reading from

Character development is the core for Daniel Keyes endeavor to convey themes to his audience by developing the character of Charlie Gordon. One way to develop his character is through relationships with other characters, which is critical in conveying the themes in the book. Another way through which Keyes develops Charlie Gordon’s character for his audience is through letting in the audience on the thoughts of the character in the book so they get on a ride with his emotion, conflict, and dilemmas. Flowers for Algernon illustrates how cruel the society treats the mentally disabled with the use of literary elements. Daniel Keyes conveys the message that the grass is not always greener on the other side through character development.

For example, by the end of the book, his IQ lowered, and left him where he started from. In that way, he has not changed. While at the convention, Dr.Nemur was explaining his hypothesis, and Charlie noticed a mistake. And in that moment, he realized his knowledge was going to be short lived. “The professors had made a mistake, and no one else had caught it. I wanted to jump up and tell them, but I couldn’t move. Like Algernon, I found myself behind the mesh of the cage they had built around me. Now there would be a question period, and before I would be allowed to have my dinner, I would be required to perform before this distinguished gathering. No. I had to get out of here.” (Keyes, 162) After this huge climax in the story, Charlie came to the conclusion that he would still write the reports, to show his regression and decrease in his IQ. As time went on, it was getting more and more obvious how difficult it was for Charlie to read and write. By his last report to the University, he forgot everything he had learned while he had the IQ of a genius, he forgot everything about his relations with Alice Kinnian, and he forgot all that he had learned about himself, he only remembered very little. “I don’t know why Im dumb agen or what I did rong. Maybe its because I dint try hard enuf or just some body put the evel eye on me. But if I try and practis very hard maybe Ill get a littel smarter and know what all the words are. I

Charlie was a man that did not know how to stand up for himself. He allowed his peers to bully him, and treat him like he is worthless. Charlie thinks that if he allows people to laugh at him, and tease him, they will become his friend. He thinks “Its easy to make frends if you let

     The book also focuses on Charlie’s home life. Charlie has two siblings that make him feel invisible. There’s a hidden resentment in the tone that is used by Charlie to explain his sister and brother. But by the end they have managed to form a certain bond that Charlie has always wanted.

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.

At the beginning, Charlie is without friends and is rather alone. He is very gifted and quite an overthinker which expels him from the usual teenage social groups. This changes, however, when he meets Sam and Patrick at a football game. They expose him to all new experiences. Resulting from his new friendships, is his relationship with Mary Elizabeth, his experimentations with drugs, and new knowledge of being a person. During this time, he is increasingly happy because Charlie was finally living.

Throughout the novel Charlie’s personality and intelligence level changes a lot. In the beginning Charlie is happy, has friends, he’s retarded, and can’t remember a lot of things. “I fergot his last name because I dont remebir so good.” (Keyes 2),

Charlie decides to put his knowledge and skills to good use when he sees the boy drop the dishes at the restaurant. He wants, "to work in the field of increasing human intelligence levels." The boy at the diner was so oblivious of the fact he was being made fun of, and that reminded Charlie of himself. He didn't want other people to end up like he did. (Keyes, 202)