Form and Content
In the form of diary entries by Charlie Gordon, Flowers for Algernon tells an emotionally wrenching story and implies much about human nature, psychology, and values. Charlie, a thirty-two-year-old with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 68, is the first human subject of an experimental procedure to increase intelligence, funded by the Welberg Foundation and conducted at Beekman University (somewhere in New York City) by Professor Harold Nemur, psychiatrist and neurosurgeon Dr. Strauss, and Burt Selden, a graduate student in psychology. Charlie is suggested as a candidate by Alice Kinnian, his teacher at the Center for Retarded Adults at Beekman, because of his kind temperament and desire to learn.
At the laboratory, Charlie meets Algernon, a white mouse that has undergone the procedure and that can beat Charlie at running mazes. At Dr. Strauss’s suggestion, Charlie begins keeping what he calls “progris riports”; their bad spelling and misunderstandings show Charlie’s mentally handicapped state. After the surgery, Charlie’s intelligence and memory both increase, which is conveyed by his writing: in better spelling, more elaborate sentences, expanded vocabulary, and intellectual references.
The changes, however, bring problems and unhappiness as well as abilities and enjoyment. Charlie loves learning, and he happily reads (at greater and greater speeds) and discusses abstract ideas with Beekman students. He also realizes that the people around him make fun of him—including Gimpy, Joe Carp, and Frank Reilly, his “best friends” at the bakery where he works—and he begins to remember childhood traumas. Charlie catches Gimpy cheating the bakery; the men at the bakery protest the presence of the new Charlie, and he is fired. Even Fannie Birden, a kind coworker, declares that Charlie’s change is against God’s will.
Charlie’s intelligence soon reaches genius level (an IQ of 185), causing problems with Strauss, Nemur, and Kinnian. Charlie falls in love with Alice, but she knows that he will soon be too intelligent for her. Charlie thinks that Nemur treats him like a laboratory animal, and, when he surpasses Nemur in intelligence, both behave badly. Nemur is condescending, and Charlie has grown arrogant and unforgiving.
When Charlie is taken to a psychological conference in Chicago, he flees with Algernon, returning to New York City but not to Beekman. There he begins a casual affair with his neighbor Fay Lillman, a painter whose trust and openness to life are needed by the now-cynical Charlie. Charlie remembers more about his childhood, including his mother’s desire to make him “normal” and his parents’ arguments. He goes to the Bronx to see his father but leaves without identifying himself. When drinking with Fay, Charlie regresses to his preexperiment self.
Increasing evidence indicates that the procedure is temporary, leaving its subjects worse than before. Algernon grows irritable and forgetful, then alternately lethargic and violent. Charlie persuades the Welberg Foundation to put him on the project as a scientist, and his genius reveals a central error by Strauss and Nemur. In “The Algernon-Gordon Effect: A Study of Structure and Function of Increased Intelligence,” Charlie proves that he too will regress. He visits the Warren State Home in Long Island, where he may have to be placed.
Furiously working in his remaining time, Charlie moves into the laboratory; Fay resents this abandonment but soon finds a new boyfriend. Charlie is almost haunted by his old self, and he realizes that “intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection” cannot succeed. Algernon dies, and Charlie buries him.
The last three months of entries document Charlie’s regression, worsening in spelling and grammar. Charlie visits his mother and sister Norma while he can, shocked to find his mother senile and Norma a kind person, proud of Charlie. Alice returns to Charlie, stating that they are now again on the same level; they make love—“a mystery,” “more than sex”—and she stays until Charlie drives her away.
In the end, Charlie is back working at the bakery, sexually adolescent again, barely able to read and write; he even shows up for his old adult reading class, to Alice Kinnian’s distress. He seems to have regained his old sweetness while having learned some things about human nature.
The Plot
Flowers for Algernon unfolds in a series of diary entries. In the first, dated “martch 3,” Charlie describes himself as a thirty-two-year-old man who works at a bakery and attends “Miss Kinnians class at the beekmin colledge center for retarted adults.” Ensuing entries chronicle Charlie’s progress as the first human subjected to an intelligence-boosting surgical procedure.
Before the operation, Charlie undergoes a series of tests that measure his intelligence. In one, he tries in vain to pencil through a maze faster than Algernon can run it. Algernon is a laboratory mouse that already has undergone the surgical procedure. After the surgery, sleep learning accelerates Charlie’s mental development. By the end of the month, he outraces Algernon. In early April, he comprehends a grammar book overnight and shows signs of increased self-awareness, staying home from Donner’s Bakery after realizing that he has long been victimized by coworker “friends” Joe Carp and Frank Reilly.
Counseling Charlie is Dr. Jay Strauss, a neurosurgeon and psychiatrist who, with Professor Harold Nemur, is responsible for the experiment. Together with lab assistant Burt Selden and teacher Alice Kinnian, they guide Charlie as he begins a long-delayed maturation process.
Two months after the operation, Charlie is able to converse intelligently with college students but is stymied in acting on his amorous feelings for Alice. Although she is attracted to him, both fear that they may jeopardize his development.
As Charlie accumulates knowledge at a breathtaking rate, his illusions are shattered at a similar clip. He sees the fallibility of his mentors and realizes that their interest in him stems largely from selfishness. Charlie rebels at a scientific conference in Chicago, where he and Algernon are put on display. Freeing the mouse from its cage, Charlie takes his counterpart back to New York and moves into an apartment near Times Square.
Independent after years of institutionalization, Charlie initiates a new phase of his education, entering into an affair with free-spirited Fay Lillman and visiting his father, Matt, who fails to recognize him. Charlie also applies his brainpower to studying Algernon’s regressive tendencies. Suspecting that he also may regress, Charlie visits the Warren State Home and Training School, where his doctors and family had arranged to send him if the experiment failed.
In late August, Charlie concludes that the experiment’s results are indeed temporary and potentially fatal. After Algernon dies on September 17, Charlie spares the mouse from laboratory incineration by burying its remains in his backyard.
Mindful of his inevitable decline, Charlie visits his mother, Rose, and sister, Norma, both of whom he remembers as hostile. He finds that Rose has entered senility and Norma feels remorse over her past unkindness toward him.
Charlie consummates his relationship with Alice on October 11. Though heartened by their shared love, ten days later he tells her to leave in a fit of anger over his deterioration. Having already lost his multilingual abilities, he rapidly loses his typing prowess and command of English. Isolating himself from the Beekman staff, he returns to Donner’s Bakery, where newly sympathetic coworkers welcome him.
In his last entry, dated “nov 21,” Charlie writes of his decision to go to Warren. Bidding farewell to Alice and the others at Beekman, he asks that the reader “put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard.”
Style and Technique
“Flowers for Algernon” is a classic “what if?” story. Keyes explores the proposition, “What if an operation could increase human intelligence?” from the point of view of an experimental subject, using the intimacy of a diary to immerse readers in Charlie Gordon’s reality. Keyes uses a bittersweet, but always respectful, humor to illuminate Charlie’s interpretations of events. For example, when one coworker accuses another of “pulling a Charlie Gordon” when he loses a package, Charlie reflects, “I dont understand why he said that. I never lost any packiges.”
Charlie’s spelling, grammar, and syntax mirror his changing intellectual and emotional states. His first “progris riport” on “martch 5” establishes Charlie as uncomplicated, guileless, and eager to please. His elation as his intelligence grows is reflected in later entries when he uses punctuation marks with exuberant abandon. In the ensuing weeks, his writing becomes flawless, and his subject matter grows increasingly complex. As his intelligence declines, his grammar, spelling, and punctuation revert to substandard forms.
“Flowers for Algernon” is a science-fiction story because it is set in a future time and involves a speculative technology. Keyes needs no distant, alien civilization to expose the failings of contemporary human interactions. Instead, he probes the inadequacies of a society uncomfortable with human diversity through the eyes of an unforgettable character.
Historical Context
Civil Rights in the 1960s
At the core of Flowers for Algernon is Charlie Gordon's battle to be
acknowledged and treated as a human being. Before his operation, he was
considered less than fully human due to his below-average intelligence.
Following the operation, he faces a different kind of discrimination, as
ordinary people avoid him and the scientists who increased his IQ treat him
merely as another test subject. It's fitting that this narrative of a person
belonging to two different minorities—the mentally disabled and the
intellectually superior—emerged during a time of rising awareness about the
issues and rights of minority groups.
From the first publication of Flowers for Algernon as a short story in 1959 to its novel release in 1966, the civil rights movement in the United States was gaining momentum. While the movement primarily focused on securing equal rights for African Americans, it also brought attention to the broader issue of fair and equal treatment for all. The 1964 Civil Rights Act banned racial discrimination. In 1966, the same year Flowers for Algernon was published, the National Organization for Women was established. During this era, the rights of the mentally handicapped were also addressed: in 1962, the President's Panel on Mental Retardation was formed, leading to the 1968 Declaration of the General and Specific Rights of the Mentally Retarded. By the 1970s, the term "retardation" was replaced with "developmental disability," and laws were enacted to protect the mentally handicapped from violence and discrimination. The message of Flowers for Algernon—promoting tolerance and understanding for the mentally handicapped—mirrored the social and political struggles of its time. In the years following its publication, many issues concerning developmental disabilities were finally addressed in legislation and the courts.
Psychology and the Rise of Scientific Research
Alongside the civil rights movement, the 1950s and 1960s also witnessed the
rise of psychoanalysis as a widely accepted method for addressing emotional
disorders. Sigmund Freud's theories, which posited that human motivation
largely stems from unconscious desires often rooted in childhood experiences
and frequently centered around sex, were particularly influential during this
period. Freud's ideas were so pervasive that even those without formal training
in psychoanalysis were likely familiar with concepts such as repression,
neurosis, and the unconscious mind. As a result, the novel's emphasis on
psychological themes, especially Charlie's emotional issues stemming from his
mother's abuse, resonated immediately with readers of the 1960s.
In the 1950s and 1960s, funding for scientific research saw a significant increase. Amidst the Cold War with the Soviet Union and with the haunting memories of Nazi Germany's V-2 rockets and the devastating success of the atomic bomb, the United States invested an unprecedented sum in scientific research during this period.
Government entities like the National Science Foundation, alongside private foundations and corporations, funneled millions of dollars into science. This investment included "basic" research, which did not necessarily promise immediate practical applications. With such substantial funds available, competition for grants grew fierce, prompting universities to prioritize obtaining and maintaining research funding.
In Flowers for Algernon, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss receive funding from the "Welburg Foundation." The pressure Nemur feels to publish his findings and bolster his professional reputation mirrors this era's trend.
Setting
The setting of Flowers for Algernon is primarily New York City, with a brief episode in Chicago, taking place in the present or near future. While the physical and cultural landscape isn’t a central focus of the novel, critic Robert Scholes has pointed out that the ordinary and indistinct setting makes the novel’s unique element—the surgical procedure that enhances Charlie's IQ—stand out even more. At one point in the story, when Charlie is hiding with Algernon from the scientists, the bustling cityscape of New York becomes significant to his struggle to understand his new reality: "on a hot night when everyone is out walking, or sitting in a theater, there is a rustling, and for a moment I brush against someone and sense the connection between the branch and trunk and the deep root."
Although initially published as a work of science fiction—the short story won the World Science Fiction Convention's Hugo Award and the novel won the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America—Flowers for Algernon has gained widespread popularity beyond the science fiction genre. Much of the novel’s impact is due to Keyes's exceptional use of the first-person perspective, as Charlie’s journal entries evolve from semi-literacy to complex sophistication, and then back to semi-literacy.
At the core of Flowers for Algernon is Charlie Gordon’s quest to be acknowledged and treated as a human being. Before his surgery, he was seen as less than fully human due to his below-average intelligence. After the surgery, he faces a different form of discrimination, as ordinary people avoid him and the scientists who increased his IQ regard him as merely a laboratory specimen. It is fitting that this narrative, about someone who belongs to both the mentally handicapped and mentally superior minorities, emerged during a period of growing awareness about the issues and rights of minority groups.
Expert Q&A
What's the address of Beekman University's Center for Retarded Adults in "Flowers for Algernon"?
The address of Beekman University's Center for Retarded Adults in "Flowers for Algernon" is on Twenty-third Street, east of Fifth Avenue, in New York City. It is located in an old schoolhouse used by the Beekman University Clinic for experimental education and special classes for the handicapped. The entrance is marked by a brass plate reading "C. R. A. Beekman Extension."
The significance and details of the setting in "Flowers for Algernon"
The setting of "Flowers for Algernon" is significant as it takes place in New York City during the 1960s. This urban environment reflects the scientific and technological advancements of the era, which are central to the story's plot. The lab where Charlie undergoes his surgery symbolizes the intersection of hope and ethical dilemmas in scientific experimentation.
Literary Style
Point of View
Keyes's exceptional use of the first-person "I" perspective is arguably the
most significant source of Flowers for Algernon's narrative impact.
Charlie's transformation from an IQ of 68 to nearly three times higher, and his
subsequent decline back to subnormal intelligence, is conveyed through
"Progress Reports" that Charlie writes for the scientists overseeing the
experiment that enhanced his IQ. The reports before and shortly after the
operation are written in non-standard English, filled with the types of errors
one might expect from a writing by a mentally disabled adult:
Dr Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evrey thing that happins to me from now on. I dont no why but he says its importint so they will see if they can use me.
As Charlie's intelligence increases, his reports become increasingly literate and sophisticated.
I've got to realize that when they continually admonish me to speak and write simply so that people who read these reports will be able to understand me, they are talking about themselves as well.
The stark contrasts between the earlier and later entries, both in style and substance, highlight the changes Charlie undergoes and the challenges he faces. Even more striking is the contrast between the high-IQ entries and the final ones, where Charlie loses his intelligence and reverts to the semi-literacy of the initial entries. Keyes's choice of Charlie as the narrator makes the reader's experience of Charlie's inevitable decline more immediate and poignant. As a reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement noted, Keyes "has the technical equipment to keep us from shrugging off the pain."
Foreshadowing
A significant source of the novel's impact is the inevitability of Charlie's
fate, especially after it becomes clear that the experiment's effects are not
permanent. Even before this revelation, Keyes cleverly incorporates several
instances of foreshadowing that hint at future events. The most evident
foreshadowing involves Algernon the mouse, who underwent the same procedure as
Charlie. Algernon's progress and subsequent decline both mirror and predict
Charlie's own journey. When Algernon starts to become agitated, struggles with
the maze, and begins biting people, it signals troubling times ahead for
Charlie. Additionally, two minor characters—Hilda, a nurse, and Fanny Birden,
one of Charlie's colleagues at the bakery—reference the story of Adam and Eve's
expulsion from Eden, which foreshadows Charlie's own "fall" from genius.
Charlie's visit to the Warren State Home while he still has heightened
intelligence also foreshadows his eventual loss of that intelligence. In a more
subtle instance early in the novel, as Charlie lies on the operating table
before surgery, he expresses his fear to Dr. Strauss. When Dr. Strauss
reassures him that he will "just go to sleep," Charlie responds, "That's what
I'm scared about"—perhaps hinting at Charlie's later descent into darkness.
Setting
The setting of Flowers for Algernon is primarily New York City, with a
brief segment in Chicago, set in the present or near future. Although the
physical and cultural landscape is not a major focus of the novel, critic
Robert Scholes has observed that the setting's normalcy and indistinctiveness
make the novel's unique element—the surgical procedure that enhances Charlie's
IQ—stand out even more. At one point in the story, when Charlie has taken
Algernon and is evading the scientists, the bustling urban environment of New
York City becomes crucial to Charlie's efforts to understand his situation: "On
a hot night when everyone is out walking, or sitting in a theater, there is a
rustling, and for a moment I brush against someone and sense the connection
between the branch and trunk and the deep root."
Irony
Irony, which is the contrast between how things seem and how they actually are,
plays a significant role in Flowers for Algernon. Early in the story,
Charlie's coworkers at the bakery, particularly Joe Carp and Frank Reilly,
treat him with condescension and cruelty, mocking him openly and playing mean
tricks. However, Charlie writes, "lots of people laff at me and their my
friends and we have fun.… I cant wait to be smart like my best fnends Joe Carp
and Frank Reilly." When Charlie gains intelligence, he realizes these people
are not truly his friends, presenting another layer of irony. Before the
operation, he wished "to be smart like other pepul so I can have lots of frends
who like me." Yet, his increased IQ makes the bakery workers fear him, reveals
the scientists as merely limited humans who see him more as a test subject than
a person, and does not help him when he falls in love with Alice Kinnian. As
Charlie the genius observes, "Ironic that all my intelligence doesn't help me
solve a problem like this." In a final twist of irony, when Charlie returns to
his original IQ of 68 and asks for his old job back, Joe and Frank, who once
tormented him, defend him against a new worker's attack.
Tragedy
In literature, tragedy refers to stories where a person, often of significant
achievement, is ruined by a personal flaw. In classic tragedies, this downfall
is usually from a great height (like Oedipus and Hamlet, who were royalty) and
is unavoidable due to the character's inherent flaw. Flowers for
Algernon is indeed about a fall from a great height, as Charlie's
deterioration from genius to subnormal intelligence is inevitable. While
Charlie does exhibit flaws—such as arrogance and impatience when he becomes a
genius—these do not cause his downfall. Instead, the "flaw" lies outside of
Charlie, in the technology that elevates him and then lets him fall. Through
this, Keyes uses the elements of tragedy to convey a modern message: our
technology is as flawed as we are.
Expert Q&A
How does Charlie's language decline in terms of phonetics, vocabulary, punctuation, and structure?
What is the style of "Flowers for Algernon"?
Compare and Contrast
- 1960s: The civil rights movement was at its peak,
resulting in the passage of laws addressing discrimination against African
Americans and raising awareness of the rights of other marginalized groups,
including those with mental disabilities. Nevertheless, prejudice remained
widespread, and there was little to no legal protection for individuals with
mental disabilities.
Today: There is extensive legislative and legal protection for individuals with mental disabilities, and public sensitivity to their rights has significantly increased. Terms like "retarded" and "feeble-minded" have been replaced with more respectful phrases such as "mentally challenged" and "developmentally disabled." However, civil rights as a whole are in a turbulent period, with growing public resistance to the demands of minority groups.
- 1960s: Psychoanalysis gained acceptance as a method for
addressing mental illness, and Sigmund Freud's theories were widely recognized
and embraced by the public.
Today: The treatment of emotional disorders has become more varied, with traditional psychoanalysis being supplemented by various holistic, Eastern, and "New Age" approaches, along with the development of more effective antidepressants and other psychoactive medications. However, Freud's theories are not as widely accepted as before, and there is public impatience with behaviors perceived as abnormal or dangerous being "excused" due to past trauma.
- 1960s: The Cold War pressures led to unprecedented
spending on scientific research by both the U.S. government and private
entities.
Today: With the Cold War over and budgets tightening, competition for research funding is fiercer than ever. Funding agencies are increasingly hesitant to support research that does not promise immediate, practical outcomes.
Media Adaptations
- The original short story version of Flowers for Algernon was adapted for television as The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon for CBS Playhouse in 1961.
- The novel Flowers for Algernon was transformed into the feature film Charly in 1968. Cliff Robertson received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Charlie Gordon. This film is available from CBS/Fox Home Video.
- The novel has also been brought to the stage. David Rogers adapted it into a two-act play, Flowers for Algernon, in 1969. Additionally, a dramatic musical titled Charlie and Algernon was first produced in Canada in 1978 and made its way to Broadway in 1980. Stage adaptations of the novel have also been performed in France, Australia, Poland, and Japan.
- Flowers for Algernon has been adapted for radio as well: as a monodrama for Irish radio in 1983, and as a radio play in Czechoslovakia in 1988.
For Further Reference
"Flowers for Algernon." In Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them, Volume 4: World War II to the Affluent Fifties (1940-1950s). Edited by Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Detroit: Gale, 1997, pp. 151-56. This section provides an overview of the story, including its historical context, publication details, and critical reception.
Small, Robert, Jr. "Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes." In Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints. Edited by Nicholas J. Karolides, Lee Burress, and John M. Kean. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1993, pp. 249-55. Small discusses the various formats in which Flowers for Algernon has been released and commends Keyes' creativity.
Keyes, Daniel. "Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction 98 (May 2000): 64. Keyes describes the journey and process behind writing Flowers for Algernon.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Aldiss, Brian W., with David Wingrove. Trillion Year Spree: The History of
Science Fiction. Gollancz, 1986.
Clareson, Thomas D. Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: The Formative Period, 1926-1970. University of South Carolina Press, 1990, pp. 231-33.
Fremont-Smith, Eliot. "The Message and the Maze," in New York Times, March 7, 1966, p. 25.
Hillegas, Mark R. "Other Worlds to Conquer," in Saturday Review, Vol. 49, March 26, 1966, pp. 33-34.
"Making up a Mind" (review of Flowers for Algernon), in Times Literary Supplement, No. 3360, July 21, 1966, p. 629.
Scholes, Robert. "Structural Fabulation," in his Structural Fabulation-An Essay on Fiction of the Future. University of Notre Dame Press, 1975, pp. 45-76.
Further Reading
DISCovering Most-Studied Authors. Gale, 1996. Provides biographical
and critical insights about Keyes.
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