Flowers for Algernon: Charlie Gordon’s Point of View
Flowers for Algernon Book Report and Summary
Main Characters
1. Charlie Gordon
He is a thirty two-year-old, mentally retarded adult, who is living and working in New York. His life changes dramatically when he undergoes an experiment operation tom improve his intelligence. Charlie is the protagonist as well as the narrator of the story.
2. Rose Gordon
Charlie's mother who appears mainly in Charlie's flashes of memory that he has about his disturbed childhood. She initially denies he retarded state and drives him to overcome it. She rejects him completely after bearing a second normal child. She makes an appearance towards the end of the novel, as a senile and still unhappy woman.
3. Norma Gordon
Charlie's younger sister. She, like the parents, appears in the scenes that Charlie remembers. At the end she appears when Charlie visits his family home. A spoiled and high-strung girl, she reflects her mother's attitude.
Story from Charlie Gordon’s point of view
I am a thirty seven-year-old man who has a learning disability. After many years I finally get the chance to alter my I.Q. substantially through an operation. The only drawback from this operation is the long-term outcomes. The operation does succeed, but later I will realize that I should've stayed the person I was. This operation takes me back to a life that I never wanted to go back to. So here is my story.
I was a very motivated person who always put forth as much effort as I could. I struggled for independence and freedom in a world I desperately wanted to be apart of. I always said, "I'm gonna try awful hard." Even the doctor who gave me the operation, Dr. Strauss, described me as good natured, interested and eager to please. I at first don't even want to try, then I can't even remember what it means to try, and finally I don't even have the hope to try. I never had to feel ugly, unwanted, alone, and most of all, ashamed. The operation caused people to become frightened of me and separate themselves from me. I find that I don't communicate much anymore. The only reason I wanted the operation was to communicate with others on a higher level, but it did just the opposite.
During my operation with Dr. Strauss a teacher by the name...