Flowers For Algernon: An Exploration Into The Stigma Against Mental Disabilities
In the mid to late 20th century a story swept across the nation challenging societal beliefs surrounding the mentally disabled: this story is know as Flowers for Algernon. Flowers For Algernon began as a short story, written in 1958 by Daniel Keyes, but after it gained popularity, Keys decided to turn the story into a novel which he then published in 1966. Up until the creation of this book, cognitive disabilities had been a taboo topic which American society avoided addressing due to their lack of knowledge and residual discomfort surrounding the subject. Flowers for Algernon directly challenged this intentional ignorance through the creation an entire story
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This experiment has only been done on a lab rat named Algernon before. Charlie is the first human to receive the procedure, and as the weeks go by, his IQ gets higher and higher. Flowers For Algernon gained notoriety not only for its subject matter but for the way in which it is written as well. The novel is a first person narrative in the style of diary entries. In the beginning, Charlie’s “progris riports” are full of grammatical and spelling errors and they are lacking almost all punctuation. However throughout the novel, his cognitive progress is visually apparent as his writings become more grammatically correct and the overall subject matter of what he says is spoken in an increasingly intelligent manner. At the climax of the novel, Charlie reaches an IQ of 185 and it is at this time that he reflects on his past life and has a new insight into the way he was treated and abuse he endured due to the fact that he was born with a cognitive disability. Flowers for algernon was written as a political statement to both expose the stigma against mental disabilities and simultaneously bring attention to the discrimination people …show more content…
Charlie’s childhood was filled with both mental and physical abuse due to his mother who wanted a “normal” son. Whenever he would get scared, he would not be able to control his urination, which resulted in a spanking from his mother, Rose Gordon. Moreover, when Charlie got an erection in public, his mother threatened to beat the filth out of his mind and lock him up like the animal that he is. Charlie was victim to mental abuse as well, including his mother allowing his sister, Norma, to tell her friends that he was adopted and that they weren't actually related. In his previous mental state, Charlie was unable to understand his family’s distance and constant anger towards him. However, when reflecting on his past with his newfound intelligence he writes,
“Now I can see where I got the unusual motivation for becoming smart that so amazed everyone at first. It was something Rose Gordon lived with day and night. Her fear, her guilt, her shame the Charlie was a moron. Her dream that something could be done. The urgent question always: whose fault was it hers or [her husband’s]? Only after Norma proved to her that she was capable of having normal children, and that I was a freak, did she stop trying to make me over. But I guess I never stopped wanting to be the smart boy she wanted me to be, so that she would love me,”
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.
People believed that Charlie was artificial, man-made, a lab rat. Professor Nemur thought that he had created Charlie, and that he was nothing before the operation “It might be said that Charlie Gordon did not really exist before this experiment…”. Charlie was a human before and after the operation “I’m a human being, a person with parents and memories and a history and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room!”. (p.161) As Charlie began to grow mentally and become intelligent, his understanding of the world became clearer than before. Although he could understand reality, he couldn't understand his feelings. Charlie thought he could understand his feelings but he really didn't, especially love “Something inside is burning me up, and all I know is it makes me think of you.”. Later, as he continues to grow, he decides that he could let his feelings rule him only during his relationship with Alice but not during anything else. He realized that he really loves Alice because his feelings and emotions go wild when he's with her. Also because he sees the old Charlie when he's with her helping him realize he loves her. Charlie loved her enough to let her go because he didn't want her to see him deteriorate. Charlie decided to go to the Warren Home because he
In Flowers for Algernon, the main character, Charlie Gordon is a 32 year old who is mentally disabled. He has been living his life thus far with an IQ of sixty-eight. Although Charlie is not smart, he is very happy, but being happy does not always mean being content, and Charlie is a perfect example of this. Charlies teacher, Miss Kinnian, explained to him that there is a chance for him to get smarter, and that is through a secret surgery. He wants to fit in and be smart like everyone else, but the outcome of the surgery may not be as planned. Charlie’s increased intelligence causes him to lose his innocence. When Charlie loses his innocent mindset he gains experience, which also brings him emotional outbursts. The sacrifices Charlie makes
Flowers For Algernon Essay In Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the main character Charlie Gordon under goes in an operation to increase his intelligence as a mentally disabled person. Later on in the story he looses the intelligence he gained and could be on the road to dying. He is better off with the surgery because he gained so much such as, social cues and intelligence. Before the operation Charlie could barely say complete sentences let alone spell, but after the operation he was becoming smarter than his teacher, Mrs. Kinnian.
His mother had taught him to not look at girls, and after the operation when he started to develop more feelings, he had a hard time talking to Alice Kinnian because he had the thought that he liked her, and that he shouldn’t. Due to the hard nature of his mother, Charlie’s emotional life was not maturing with his new-found intelligence. Emotionally, he was still a little kid. “I knew she would give herself to me, and I wanted her, but what about Charlie?” Whenever he would get near Alice, he would start to panic because he felt that there was still a part of his old self within him, keeping him from taking his relationship further with
The Experiment People all around the world are affected by mental disorders and they all wonder what is it like to be normal. In the excerpt, Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes, Charlie a 37 year old man with mental disability, that agrees to have a surgery to make him one of the smartest people in the world. Charlie Gordon goes through love and heartbreak. He also learns many new things. This story will touch your heart.
From the inability to write out a cohesive sentence, to having a perceived IQ of over 200. Unfathomable in this claim in today's understanding but in the realm of science-fiction anything and everything is possible, even having the mind of one person enhanced past unimaginable levels. But with every great Triumph for every great achievement there is a downfall, a falter, a end to the regime...and in Charlie's case it was one that tore at the cords in our heart, the very fiber of our soul, and almost made us wish we didn't embark on this emotional roller-coaster that is "Flowers for Algernon". As the story progresses notice Charlie speech becoming more intelligent and his sentence going from completely missed spelled out of order and very basic, to becoming as complex as that of postdoctoral research paper. We as readers see his rise along with animal test subjects the smartest among them being a small white rat named Algernon, and together they both experience this exponential rise to intelligence, but as the readers ill prepared for what was to come, we see the small white rat Algernon losing his intelligence...
The novel Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, has been an eye-opener to many for years on end, and sparked new ideas for readers all around the world. The novel focuses on Charlie Gordon—an adult with an extremely low IQ—by following him and his experiences through his written progress reports. The only view of his life the reader obtains is through his eyes and what he writes down, which may act as both an advantage and disadvantage at times to the reader. One day, a couple of doctors got in contact with Charlie and asked him if wanted to participate in an experiment they were conducting meant to enhance one’s IQ. After eagerly accepting the offer, Charlie realized the world he lived in was not what he once thought it was.
The main character in the story “Flowers for Algernon”, by Daniel Keyes, can be compared to a blind person. They can not experience world in way that all people should have the chance to. His name is Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled 37 year old man. Charlie is chosen for an operation that could allegedly make him smarter. However, after he becomes intelligent from the surgery, he then regresses to his original state. A test subjects symptoms show that he will have health problems and then die.Charlie should have had the surgery because he could finally see the world around him and fulfill his goal; to be smart.
Flowers for Algernon is a novel written by Daniel Keyes; It is about a man named Charlie, 33, who has been mentally retarded all his life. Charlie gets an operation on his brain to reverse his retardation, but the experiment doesn’t last more than a couple of months. Charlies IQ raises from 67 to almost triple that. Within a few months the effects reverse and Charlie is disabled again, barely remembering that an operation even occurred. On May 25, Charlie visits Alice’s apartment. He examines the room and discovers two paintings; one being Picasso’s Mother and Child, and the other is a Renaissance painting of a courtier protecting a maiden. Though, these may seem insignificant, they represent Charlie’s goal to protect Alice and fill the missing mother role. Keyes represents this theme throughout Flowers for Algernon with memories and uncontrollable outbursts against his friends, loved ones, and himself.
Flowers for Algernon - Book Report Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction, the story is written by Charlie Gordon as a diary, a man with a relative low IQ of 68, whom participates in a science project, selected due to his curious, mild, cooperative mentality, and a vigorously promotion from Miss Kinnian, his writing teacher, with the goal to increase the functioning of the brain, through surgery, and thus increasing and tripling the IQ, of the participant Charlie Gordon. In the beginning, Charlie Gordon is trying to learn how to write and read, which is why he attends the writing classes by Miss Kinnian. Charlie is then prompted to participate in a science project, where he will undertake various experiments and go through a surgery that
Flowers for Algernon is a powerful dramatization of Daniel Keyes perceptive and emotional novel that tells a story of a mentally challenged man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie has an I.Q of 68 and undergoes an operation that is supposed to boost his intellect. However, yet such an operation asks many questions- can Charlie's emotional expansion keep pace with the intellectual? As the story progresses the operation's effects soon wear off and Charlie ends up in a worse place than he was in the beginning. Ultimately he discovers that being smart is not as good as he thought it would be.
Charlie has an IQ of 69. He, unlike many other mentally disabled, is motivated, and wants to learn. That is why Charlie is chosen to take part in an experiment to increase his intelligence. However, it is only temporary. There are two works that follow Charlie’s story, the movie, Charly, and the book, “Flowers for Algernon.” In these two, many of the specific aspects differ in frightfully unnecessary ways. Despite the clear fact that many of the details of the two piece differ, the essential themes of the works are highly analogous.
Flowers for Algernon is a fictional novel written by Daniel Keyes. This novel is about a mentally man named Charlie Gordon, who will be the first human to go through an operation that will make him smarter. When the operation is successful, and Charlie becomes smarter over time. However, when he reaches his peak, his mental ability starts deteriorating until he is back to his low before, if not worse. Overall, Charlie goes through changes, mentally, physically and socially before and after the operation.
Following a series of journal like entries, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is about a fictional character named Charlie Gordon. Born developmentally disabled, Charlie Gordon was recruited to undergo a neurosurgery that increases his mental capabilities. In a successful turn of events, Charlie was the first human subject to gain artificial intelligence. As he gradually expanded his knowledge, changes in his writing, his beliefs and perspective became prominent as he achieves “genius status.” The humbling nature of Charlie Gordon transformed into a socially deprived, arrogant man. Due to the lack of social intelligence, Charlie was self-centered, his difficulty to establish human relationships only lead to violence and pain. Finally,