Family Abuse Related to Child Development in Flowers For Algernon.

The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing. The people that children grow up with permanently affect that child’s life. Every word they say, every action they make, every path they send the child down can drastically change what kind of adult that child will become. Every family has its own way of raising their children, some spoil their children, some abuse their children, and some neglect their children. To raise a successful child the family needs to have a balance of involvement, respect, communication, support, and most of all love. The abandoning of any of these strategies can corrupt the child and permanently damage the adult stage of that child.

Doctor Wood, Bishop, and Cohen wrote a book on parenting in 1978. This book has served as a guideline for the most successful parents to this date. In Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, Rose raised Charlie against all the guidelines that were set by Doctor Wood, Bishop, and Cohen.

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Flowers for Algernon

First, she refused to accept that her son Charlie was abnormal no matter how much her husband, Matt Gordon, tried to talk her into seeking help for their son. Finally, she had another child and became exceedingly hostile towards Charlie, thinking that he would harm his sister. For example, when Norma’s friend came over, Charlie got an erection and Charlie’s mother saw it.

“‘He’s got no business to think that way about girls. A friend of his sister’s comes to the house and he starts thinking like that! I’ll teach him so he never forgets. Do you hear? If you ever touch a girl, I’ll put you away in a cage, like an animal, for the rest of your life. Do you hear me?’”(Keyes 112).

This damaged Charlie for the rest of his life, even when Charlie...