I read the short story version of
Flowers for Algernon in eighth grade English and it has always
stayed with me, so when I recently found out it was expanded into a
novel I read it right away. So, herewith my thoughts on it, and as
most people know how it all turns out there will be spoilers. :)
Charlie Gordon is a mentally
handicapped man in his early thirties who has a deep-seated longing
to learn to read and write, to be 'smart,' and through his classes at
the Center for Retarded Adults in Brooklyn, he meets the teacher
(Miss Kinnian) who will eventually nominate him for an experimental
surgery at Beekman University. Dr. Nemur and Professor Strauss have
succeeded (so far) in performing the surgery on a mouse named
Algernon, which greatly raised the little guy's intelligence, and
they feel ready to attempt the same on a mentally handicapped human
being.
Probably the best thing about the story
is that it is told through Charlie's own words, via progress reports
he keeps for Nemur and Strauss. Through his basic vocabulary,
misspellings, and complete lack of punctuation we are immediately
drawn into his mind and his world, and it's heartrending to read.
Like a child, he carries no natural suspicion of others, least of all
his 'friends' at the bakery where he works as a janitor; he's
superstitious, carrying a rabbit's foot and lucky penny; and he has
no real memory of the past.
The surgery, as we might expect, is a
success, and there's something really exciting in being able to
follow along as his writing, via the progress reports, reflects his
increasing IQ. We're right there with Charlie as he begins to really
understand the world around him, and this of course inevitably means
the good he formerly saw in people is exposed for what it is. For
example, he believed the men who work at the bakery were his friends
because they laughed at him, which in turn made him laugh and feel
good; in reality, he was always only their foil, their court jester,
and when Charlie realizes this, he is ashamed. (That was probably the
strongest impression I took away from the short story, that moment
when the veil fell away)
Eventually Charlie's intelligence far
outstrips that of Miss Kinnian, Professor Strauss and Dr. Nemur; most people, in fact, as his IQ reaches 185 and beyond. He
reads voraciously, teaches himself twenty languages, becomes an
expert on fringe mathematics – the world of thought is his oyster.
At the same time, Algernon (who had the surgery weeks before Charlie)
begins a slow decline.
