Flowers for algernon 2
Flowers for algernon 2Flowers For Algernon
1.General Information-
I read the book Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It’s a fiction
book, but with all the advances in modern medicine it could happen. It
takes place over the course of a few months, starting in March and
ending in November. The book shows how society treats retarded people.
It also reminds us that all doctors are not all knowing, and some claim
to know more than they actually do.
2. Character Introduction-
Charlie Gordan’s character changes throughout the book. In the
beginning, when he is retarded, he is kindhearted and likable. In the
end, after the operation reverses, he is the same optimistic and happy
guy. In the middle, though, he almost turns into a new character, except
for the frequent reminders of how he used to be, in the form of
flashbacks to his childhood and other emotionally blocked parts of his
mind. He gets a new awareness of himself and others. He also makes the
realization that some people he had put on a pedestal are not as good as
they seem. He also starts to think about romance.
Miss Kinnian, or Alice as he later in the book calls her, is
Charlie’s night school teacher and then a romantic interest and then a
teacher again. She liked the old Charlie, but when he starts becoming
smart she finds it harder and harder to keep up with him. Being with him
makes her feel strange, inadequate at times. She’s almost afraid of him.
She thinks she knows Charlie, but discovers she doesn’t.
The people at the bakery employed the retarded Charlie for years.
While working there, they stood up for him sometimes, and sometimes
played cruel jokes on him.
The doctors are overconfident and pretend to know what they are
doing when they do the operation. They are dealing with stuff they
don’t understand and havn't researched on humans, or followed through
with their research on the test animals.
In the flashbacks of Charlie’s family his mother was very
protective of her daughter, and after her daughter was born she didn’t
pay much attention to Charlie unless she was trying to make him
“normal”. His sister was bratty and spoiled. His dad lived in his wife's
shadow, under her rule until the day he left. He thought they should’ve
loved Charlie just the way he was. When Charlie went back to talk to his
family, he found his mother psychotic and his sister overworked. His
father seemed lonely, but didn’t live with his family....
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