The Role Of Stupidity In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because

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

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes directly addresses mental disabilities and their treatment during the mid 1900s. The introduces Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded, 30-something year old man who attempts to heighten his IQ. Instead of utilizing safe methods to help the mentally disabled, a surgical cure was always sought. Through employing a journal format Daniel Keyes is able to show Charlie’s state of mind before, during and after the medical procedure. The structure of the book provides insight on the difference of how Charlie views his treatment and how those around him view his treatment. The juxtaposition between the two allows for the reader to relate to the mockery and humiliation mentally ill people faced during this time. Keyes employs motifs to truly display Charlie’s mental development and deterioration. Motifs, however, are not themes. Motifs are recurring ideas, images or subjects as opposed to a themes which are "the underlying dominant ideas in every written piece" (“The Difference Between Motif And Theme”, 2016). Motifs present in Flowers for Algernon include love, and memory. Keyes’ utilization of such motifs enables the depiction of maltreatment of the mentally disabled as well as the understanding the phases of development and deterioration of Charlie Gordon .

While reading “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, many thoughts about the story were going through my head. Certain parts of the story caught my attention but none more than when Charlie falls into the same trap as everyone else by laughing at the mentally disabled dish-washer until he suddenly remembers that this used to be him once. This story enters the debate on the treatment of people with below and above the average intelligence. By being part of society, we all fall victim to judging people based on their intelligence even though we should be treating them based on who they are as a person and their personalities. Within my class many people believed the main problem of the story of Charlie was his trying to improve his way of

The societal conflicts that occurred in Charlie’s everyday life became a reality. Coworkers of his turned out to be people mistreating Charlie for their personal amusement and the amusement of others. Dejectedly, a common phrase held by his coworkers was, “to pull a Charlie Gordon”; which he later discovered was an insult. Charlie became aware of people signing a petition to fire him. Additionally, Charlie understood that the doctors who took control of the operation were opportunists. Not until the operation was over did Charlie realize how much people treated him like an outsider.

“Them changes. I don’t know. You use to be a good, dependable, ordinary man--not too bright maybe, but honest...Like everybody around here’s been saying, Charlie, it’s not right” (Keyes 235). Charlie speaks to Fanny Girden in this paragraph, and she points out the obvious changes in him, trying to point out that they were mostly altruistic, as he had become obsessed with different studies and began to act superior to others. Consequently, his very own Dr. becomes uncomfortable around him because of the inferior complex Charlie gives him. He cannot grasp the concept of why people are tense around him, simply because they are all “average”. On the other hand, Charlie is extremely gifted. This leads to a lack and understanding of a basic conversation, which some people may deem necessary. “I saw Miss Kinnian last night...I tried to avoid all discussions of intellectual concepts and to keep the conversations on a simple, everyday level., but she just stared at me blankly and asked me what I meant about the mathematical variance equivalent in Dorbermann’s Fifth Concerto” (Keyes 236). As a result, he constantly struggles to maintain an adequate conversation, because all of his friends are of ordinary intelligence, unlike himself. When Charlie realizes Miss Kinnian doesn’t understand what he is speaking about, he gets angry and realizes he cannot communicate with her on her level because of the

First, symbolism supports the theme. Charlie has always loved hanging out with his friends Joe Carp and Frank Reilly from his job at the factory. One day, he goes to a party with them where he discovers the truth behind their relationship. At the party, he is drugged and publically humiliated in front of everyone. Confused and ashamed, Charlie thinks to himself, “It’s a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the other like to have me around all the time just to make fun of me” (34). Joe Carp and Frank Reilly symbolize how Charlie’s friendships change throughout the story. Even when he gets smarter, Charlie loses his only friends. Since the beginning, Charlie has adored hanging out with the both of them. Although, this was just because he didn’t understand that his co-workers had been laughing at him, and not with him. Now that he has had the surgery, he understands that their friendship is in fact one sided, and Joe and Frank had just been using him to get a laugh out of everyone. Now, even with his recent increase intellectually, Charlie feels friendless, and more alone than ever. As a result of his newfound intelligence, Charlie has had a hard time communicating

Likewise, friendships with Sam, Patrick, Mary Elizabeth, and Bob help Charlie recognize his positive attributes. This allows Charlie to acknowledge the value he brings to the world. The reader sees Charlie come into himself and become comfortable with who he is. You see this at the end of the novel on page 213, when Charlie states, “So if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough.” This demonstrates the advancements Charlie has made with himself.

While Charlie is different since he, “... has a good natcher hes intristed and eager to please.” This convinced Dr. Nemur that Charlie is a good candidate for the surgery. After Charlie has surgery, he is still the same kind and caring Charlie that he was before the surgery. When Charlie is having his evening meal at a diner, the new dishwasher boy drops and break the dishes, but while everyone is making comments such as, ”He’s not so dumb. It’s easier to break’em than to wash’em…” and, “Here, sonny, over here there’s a nice piece behind you…”, Charlie realizes that he had laughed at the mentally retarded boy along with everyone else and that he has to do something.

Throughout the novel, we can also notice a lot of changes happening to the people around him when he was turning out to be a smart person. Charlie thought when he becomes a smart person, he can get friends and can be happy, but on progress report 10 in the novel, Charlie feels alone and also gets fired from Mr.Donner’s bakery because of his friend do not like him because of his change, they cannot understand what has really happened to Charlie and do not know why Charlie is not like he was used to be. One of the other most important reason that no one was talked to him or care him at the bakery was probably for they think that Charlie remembers every evil thing that they did to him when he was not smart, and they thinks that he will point those out on one day and he will question them for what they done to him. Before the surgery, Charlie thought Gimpy, Frank and Joe are his best friends, but when he had his operation done and when he became smart he was able to view their relationship and realise that those people were not his friends. They often pick on Charlie and gimpy often used to steal money from his boss secretly (on progress report 11).

Imagine having your dream come true but then regretting it all and not being able to reverse it. The short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, is a tale about a learning delayed adult name Charlie Gordan who is given the opportunity to increase his intelligence by artificial means. It is through the character’s stages of intellectual development that one is able to see the second chance provided to change oneself. Despite any positive outcomes associated with the surgery, Charlie Gordan is better off with his natural IQ.

Humans are human; all people change in one way or the other over the course of certain events. Some of the changes people experience may cause them to have a sad outlook on certain matters, others may cause people to have a positive outlook on a matter. Just like all other humans, Charlie, from Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers For Algernon” changes over some time too. His life drastically changes after he gets surgery to alter his intelligence level. In Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers For Algernon,” Charlie becomes a different person over the course of events. His most significant changes include his mentality towards certain people and his attitude, and also the sudden regression of his mental health after his surgery.

Although, sometimes his low self - esteem plummets his determination and would rather give up. His mental disability also makes him oblivious to how his so called “friends” treat him at work, in which he later discovers that they are making fun of him. Charlie undergoes a procedure to cure his mental issue, that solves his problem but not long term. During the time

You should accept who you are because nobody is perfect, but everybody has something special to give. Charlie should learn how to accept himself instead of expecting to be like someone else that way he'll have fewer letdowns. For example: he was below average intelligence, but he wanted to be as smart as everybody else and after the operation he became intelligent. But other employees at the bakery didn't like this change in him and in the end Charlie loses his

Throughout the whole novel, Charlie battle his internal thoughts, a result of the tragic accident of his Aunt Helen and the suicide of his best friend Michael. Whenever Charlie feels like he is accepted he then loses it all at once and throughout the novel he fears showing his true identity because he doesn’t to feel lonely as he had before. He constantly alters himself to be accepted by a group, but this is the first time in his life where his friends accept him for what he truly is. For instance, after he gets into an argument with his girlfriend and he has to leave his group of friends for some time he then claims, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep going without a friend. I used to be able to do it very easily, but that was before