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Flowers for Algernon

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Flowers for Algernon

“Flowers for Algernon” is about a man called Charlie who goes through an operation to get smarter. At his work, he gets bullied because he is dumb. Before the operation he goes through some tests, and he cannot beat a mouse in a labyrinth game. After the operation he gets smarter and smarter, he falls in love with his teacher Miss Kinnian. Reading and spelling gets easier. He has to let the TV on all night, so he actually can learn when he is sleeping. After some time he can read faster than most adults, and talk different language. As the story goes by he gets fired from his work, because he is too smart. He realizes that his friends have been making fun at him all the time he has known them. At some point his friend the mouse Algernon cannot beat the labyrinth, and after some time it dies. At the same point Charlie starts to get dumber, reading and spelling gets harder. He gets very frustrated, and do not want to leave his apartment. Now he cannot spell or read as good, his IQ is falling and falling. He gets his old work back working, but there is too many who is feeling sorry for him, and he leaves for New York .

The reason why the doctors Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur choose to give Charlie the operation was because he knew what he wanted and would do anything to get smarter. “His friends” Joe and Frank is very nice to him in the beginning in Charlie’s mind. When Charlie got smarter, he realized that they have been making fun of him the whole time. In the start Charlie sees Miss Kinnian as an old wise woman. But later he sees her as an attractive ordinary woman. There are many good things in being smart, and there are bad things. Charlie finds out how the real world looks like.

The meaning of Fanny’s wise words is that, we have to be glad for the things we have been given, and not reach for more. It’s bad to chance suddenly, because nobody is going to understand what is going on. It is hard for Charlie understand what people want from him. He has the mouse Algernon to talk to about his sadness and confusion, they are going through the same changes. That is why everybody compares them to each other.

There is an incident at a restaurant where the dishwasher drops some dishes and the restaurant owner tells him to get a broom. The dishwasher is mentally retarded, and all the costumers laughs at him. Charlie realizes that I could have been him, and gets very angry. In that scene Charlie learns a lot about humanity, and how the world treats special people.

Charley is happier than ever when he realizes that his old friends can’t make fun of him anymore. But he is still sad that they did. In some kind of way it would have been better if he just have been stupid all the time then he wouldn’t become that disappointed over himself. He is studying in being smart, and that a special thing for him, because before he was stupid, now he is smart and even studying in being smart! - When Charlie starts to get dumber the doctors choose to leave Charlie to himself, because they cannot constantly give one operation after another, but he don’t get angry so after my opinion it is a successful way of being dumber. Charlie does not blame anybody because it was his choice to get smarter, and now he is paying for it by getting dumber. The doctors learned a lot from Charlie! What they did wrong. I do not think they are going to make anybody smarter again, It will have too many consequences.

The reason why Charlie moves to New York is that he does not want everybody to feel sorry for him, and especially not Miss Kinnian. In the last part of the story he tells Miss Kinnian to put some flowers on Algernon’s grave. Because that’s the way for Charlie to say goodbye, and put an end on their relationship, without anybody gets hurt.

The author wants the world to take its course. So it is not good idea to play with other people’s intelligence.

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