Flowers for Algernon

Essay by Scorpio797rulzHigh School, 11th gradeA+, March 2004

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"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes is an inspirational boosting science fiction novel about a middle aged man and his life lifelong quest to be normal after society cruelly excludes him because of the intellectual disability he was sadly born with. It is then that his prayers are answered and is life takes a "U" turn when he volunteers for an experimental procedure that will turn him into what society accepts as normal by tripling his IQ level. Although there are no direct references to time period in the novel, I assume the events take place around the time the novel was written, the mid-1960s in New York City (one chapter also takes place in Chicago).

Charlie Gordon a mentally retarded thirty-two-year-old man, chosen by a team of scientists to undergo an experimental surgery designed to boost his intelligence. Alice Kinnian, Charlie's teacher at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults, has recommended Charlie for the experiment because of his exceptional eagerness to learn.

The directors of the experiment, Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur, ask Charlie to keep a journal. The entire narrative of Flowers for Algernon is composed of the "progress reports" that Charlie writes. Charlie works at Donner's Bakery in New York City as a janitor and delivery boy. The other employees often taunt him and pick on him, but Charlie is unable to understand that he is the subject of mockery. He believes that his co-workers are good friends. After a battery of tests--including a maze-solving competition with a mouse named Algernon, who has already had the experimental surgery performed on him--Charlie undergoes the operation. He is initially disappointed that there is no immediate change in his intellect, but with work and help from Alice, he gradually improves his spelling and grammar. Charlie begins to read adult...