Paying the Price in Flowers for Algernon
Uploaded by HarryG on Dec 28, 2004
Paying the Price in Flowers for Algernon
Medical operations are carried out everyday, but for some, an operation can change a person's life. One experiment was done on a mentally retarded person to try to raise his intelligence. The experiment worked, but after months, the patient regressed dramatically. In the book, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, this intelligence operation was preformed, and the patient was Charlie Gordon. After the operation, Charlie was very bright, but experienced psychological traumas, loneliness, disillusionment, and social inadequacies.
Charlie's psychological traumas or emotional upset was caused by his memory recalls. After his operation, he remembered every aspect of his childhood, whether it was good or bad. "...He's normal! He's normal! He'll grow up like other people. Better than others..." Charlie had dreams of how his mother was ashamed of him. His mother always thought her son was normal and would grow up and be somebody. "...He's like a baby. He can't play Monopoly or checkers or anything. I won't play with him anymore..." Charlie's sister also ignored him. To her, Charlie was dumb and could not do anything. Charlie had dreams of his sister yelling at him and making fun of him. He also had memories of the night his parents took him to the Warren Home. He was terrified and his dad would never answer his questions. Charlie remembered his childhood and through his memories, he felt guilty for hurting his family.
After the operation, Charlie also suffered from disillusionment. In the bakery he used to have friends. Friends that would talk to him and care about him. "...Why? Because all of the sudden your a bigshot. You think you are better than the rest of us..." Charlie then realized that he had no friends but merely knew people that made fun of him. The bakery employees just liked him because they could blame their mistakes on Charlie. Then, they could not do this after the operation, so they all turned against Charlie. "...I had to find out just how much they knew. I found out. Nothing..." "Both frauds" Charlie also found out about Nemur and Strauss. He realized they were not professionals, but two men that were taking a shot in the dark. Charlie felt like an expendable lab specimen. Thus, Charlie had lost his friends and knew now he was...