Flowers for Algernon Modern Fantasy Book Reflection Week 3

 

Keyes, D. (1966). Flowers for Algernon. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

Summary: Charlie Gordon has the motivation and will to learn.  More than anything, he wants to read and write. Charlie has always been pushed to be normal, especially by his own family, and made fun of because of his indifferences.  Charlie, however, has never been loved for who he really is. Now, Charlie a thirty-two-year-old man who is mentally handicapped attends classes with Alice Kinnian at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults.  Alice Kinnian can see firsthand the amount of potential and desire Charlie has to learn and recommends him for an experimental surgery to make him “smart.” The directors of the experimental surgery, Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur, observe Charlie closely as they conduct tests in which Charlie describes as games, cards, and puzzles. Charlie is asked to keep a journal where he records thoughts and occurrences over a period of time as part of the experimental surgery. Charlie calls these journal entries “progress reports.” After going through with the operation, Charlie is disappointed that there is no immediate change in his intelligence. With help from Alice and Burt, Charlie’s intelligence begins to change little by little, especially in regards to the spelling and grammar in his progress reports. Then, his intelligence makes immeasurable changes in which he is even able to learn to read other languages. 

Charlie shocks the workers at Mr. Donner’s Bakery, where he has worked as a janitor and delivery boy since a young age. The changes scare the workers, as they are unaware of the experimental surgery Charlie recently had.  They also don’t like the idea that the “moron” they once made fun of is now more intelligent than all of them.  Charlie notices that as his intelligence rapidly increases, the friends he thought he had were not really his friends at all, he has nightmares and memories about his horrifying childhood, and he becomes anxious looking for answers in the world around him.  Charlie and Algernon, a lab mouse that has already had the experimental surgery, are invited to attend a scientific convention in Chicago in which they are the prime exhibit.  While in Chicago, Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur talk about Charlie in the same way they would Algernon, just a laboratory experiment.  They make comments about how they created Charlie, which greatly upsets him. Out of rage, Charlie frees Algernon from his cage while they are onstage and they escape the scientific convention together.  However, Algernon’s intelligence begins to decline and Charlie worries that his intelligence could decline as well.

Literary Terms: Charlie Gordon is the protagonist in Flowers for Algernon, a science fiction novel. The reader sees everything from Charlie’s perspective by reading his progress reports. The readers can see his extraordinary change, his behavior as if he is fighting to keep the old Charlie out of his new identity, and his emergent feelings for Alice Kinnian, his teacher before the operation.  Charlie is a round character because he is a complex individual who has both good and bad traits, like a real person.  Many times while reading, I pictured Charlie Gordon as a real person. His emotions, reactions, and dialogue with others made me feel as if I was standing in Mr. Donner’s Bakery or the Beekman Psychology Lab.  I was eager for him to find love with Alice and overcome the obstacles of his past.

Alice Kinnian, Professor Nemur, and Dr. Strauss are secondary or minor characters. The reader learns things about these characters and envisions their appearance and expressions based on the details provided. Although these characters are important to fully understand the story, they are not as intricate and fully described as Charlie.

The climax is when Charlie attends the scientific convention in Chicago and has finally had enough of Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, who treat him as if he were not even a person before the operation. It is finally the last straw or breaking point for Charlie and he must retaliate.  He decides to release Algernon from his cage and the audience panics.  

Charlie is beginning to understand his past, his desire of acceptance by others (i.e., mother, father, sister), and finally, his self.  The theme of the book is about Charlie finding out who he is and his place in the world around him. He learns that he has a right to live and not be judged.  He learns to forgive those who mistreated him and be grateful for the opportunity his has been given.

Curriculum Activity/Standard:  Create a plot diagram of Flowers for Algernon (using an online diagram from Read-Write-Think to incorporate technology). Students can describe the beginning, middle, and end or exposition, climax, and resolution.

·   CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3 Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

·   CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6 Using technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

Big Questions:

·   Was the experimental surgery a good idea for Charlie? Why or why not?

·   Do you feel Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss had enough evidence to perform the operation on Charlie? Why or why not?

·   Do you think Charlie regrets having the surgery or would he do it all over again? Why or why not?

·   Why did Charlie want acceptance from his mother even after she sent him away?