At first “Flowers for Algernon” was written as a short science fiction story in 1959. Its author, an American writer Daniel Keyes, received one of science fiction’s highest honors, the Hugo Award, for the best story that year. After a successful television adaptation, The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon, Keyes decided to extend “Flowers for Algernon” to the size of a full-length novel in 1966. The novel brings Daniel Keyes another highest honor in the world of science fiction – Nebula Award as a prize for the best novel of the year.
Flowers for Algernon remains the highest point of Daniel Keyes’s career as his most popular and most acclaimed work. The creature of Daniel Keyes highlights the fact that intelligence and knowledge does not always bring much happiness to a person’s life.
Algernon is just the name of the mouse who was the first target for the experiment that triples the one’s IQ. The main character, a mentally retarded man called Charlie Gordon, has a dream to become wise and just as intelligent as his mother wanted him to. Becoming intelligent is Charlie’s most important desire! He follows his dream and in order to become smarter he agrees for the life-making opportunity – the experimental operation makes him much smarter, almost a genius.
In fact, the operation itself was not an evil act, rather it was a well deserved glimpse at the life of an intellectual adult. He was precisely chosen by the Dr. Strauss, Dr. Nemur, and recommended by his teacher, Miss Kinnian as Charlie was the most suitable volunteer for this experiment.
As the story tells, higher IQ does not bring Charlie happiness. First of all, Charlie’s change confuses all of his co-workers as he now understands that everyone is laughing at him because he is fully and stupid, not because he is a friend of theirs. After inventing the way to make the machines at the bakery work quicker, Mr. Donner gives him a fifty dollars as a bonus and a ten dollar raise in his salary (Keyes 43). However, it only makes the relationship with colleagues more complicated. Secondly, his family, especially mother, cannot understand what has happened. Smart Charlie scares her a lot, and lack of attention and understanding from the mother’s side scare Charlie. As the result, the main character runs away from his home where his own mother points the knife at him.
After becoming a bit smarter Charlie can finally understand religion and politics and loves go to the library frequently, reading everything he can get his hands on. His only friend is a mouse called Algernon, who was the first target for this unique experiment. Charlie lets Algernon free. He scoops Algernon into his pocket and gets on a plane away from the laboratory (Keyes 79)
The novel is written in a very unusual and specific first-person narration so that readers follow Charlie precisely, especially his progress and thoughts. This way of narration keeps the reader closer to the character, and makes Charlie both more personalized and likeable character. The Flowers for Algernon starts with a very simple and grammatically incorrect text. During the experiment the reader can see that the writing becomes more correct and complex, Charlie starts using smart words and, what is more important, starts thinking in a different way. It also gives insight into what Charlie is thinking, which is remarkably important in a story that is concerned with the mind. (Cline 12)
The issue of increased intelligence is shown as a disease that makes a simple man suffer. Charlie lost all his happiness, even a mouse Algernon dies. The author may have tried to show how mankind is trying to improve everything in its life, but looses the most important, the happiness of our life (Bhattacharya 394-395). As the result of the experiment, the main character feels even worse than from the beginning. Finally, in a postscript of his last report in the novel, Charlie writes: “P.S. please if you get a chance put some flowers on Algernon’s grave in the back yard.” (Keyes 112)
Works cited:
Cline, Brent Walter. “”You’Re Not The Same Kind Of Human Being”: The Evolution Of Pity To Horror In Daniel Keyes’ Flowers For Algernon”. DSQ 32.4 (2012): n. pag. Web.
Bhattacharya, Ananyo. “In Retrospect: Flowers For Algernon”. Nature 536.7617 (2016): 394-395. Web.
Keyes, Daniel. Flowers For Algernon. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966. Print.