FREE ESSAY ON ESSAY ON FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

ESSAY ON FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

In this story, the intelligence of a mentally challenged man is greatly enhanced by
neuro-surgical treatments. He forms an attachment with a mouse named Algernon who has
already undergone this same treatment shortly before him. Charlie is asked to keep a
dairy and the novel consists of his daily reports. As his intelligence grows Charlie
becomes more aware of his status. He soon develops into a super genius and finds he is
just as isolated and lonely (if not, more so) as he was before the treatment. 
I felt that I could see the characters develop before my eyes, especially the young
Charlie who haunted the older Charlie while he was in his genius state. Daniel Keys was
able to make the people (pepul) come alive by painting their portraits with Charlie
Gordon's words. I don't remember when I have read a book that incorporated so many
interesting ideas and concepts into the actions of one person. Also, it seems to me that
Charlie was right when he wrote, Ironic that my intelligence doesn't help me solve a
problem like this. He was referring to a moral decision he had to make about one of his
co-workers at the bakery. Charlie's intelligence put him into just as much of a
disadvantage as did his retardation.
He never could fully relate to or understand Alice Hannigan, though he did know that he
loved her. Unfortunately, she loved the retarded, yet compassionate, sensitive, and
good-natured Charlie. She just couldn't have the best of both worlds...his intelligence
and his simplistic yet beautiful outlook on life. Charlie felt a strong connection to
Algernon because he had undergone the exact same operation (opershun) as he had. He felt
sorry for him as he was constantly taunted with food as a reward for solving a puzzle.
Charlie felt that he too was being treated somewhat like guinea pig in a science lab and
he wanted to take special care of Algernon--he was a special mouse to quote Charlie's
words. This book, along with being a fictional story of a retarded man and the operation
that gave him the intelligence he always dreamed of, is about Charlie relating to
Algernon and a romance between him and a woman named Alice, who loved him as he was
before.
Some people I've spoken to about this novel had commented that Charlie caused his own
loneliness. How can that be? He was mentally challenged at the start of the novel and,
after his treatments, he did not have the time we all have to develop social skills. He
is not at fault here. But, he also discovers that it is only temporary and he has to deal
with his upcoming return to mental retardation (as what happened to Algernon). 
As I sit down and think, I realize that there is another issue that should arise whenever
discussing the novel. It concerns the ethics of the researchers who provide the
treatment. They convinced a mentally challenged man, who clearly doesn't fully understand
what is happening, to undergo a treatment that had only been applied to a single
laboratory mouse! These same researchers also performed the treatment when their
understanding of neurochemistry and neuroanatomy is clearly deficient (as Charlie later
shows in the novel). In my opinion, they are actually the villains of the tale! 
At the end of the book, Charlie realizes that the retarded boy who lay hidden inside his
sub-conscious deserved a chance to live his life...although it may not be on the same
intellectual level as others in our society. Maybe the operation shouldn't have even been
performed in the first place? Maybe the nurse was right when she said that we should
simply appreciate what God gave us and live our lives to the fullest? Maybe we shouldn't
try to change what seems as if it was meant to be? I'll leave you with one final quote
from the book that pertains to this question: Who's to say that my light is better than
his darkness? It refers to whether or not a genius lifestyle is in fact any better than a
retarded lifestyle. Well, is it any better? Could it possibly be worse? Ahhhhh...I leave
you with that question to contemplate.
In closing, this is a great story and provides much insight into our dealings with
others, how different people look at the world, our interactions with the mentally
challenged, and in bioethics. I highly recommend it.