Normality In Flowers For Algernon

The famous theorist and author Robert Anthony once said that “[p]eople concern themselves with being normal, rather than natural.” There are many people in the world who would like to disagree with this statement based on how they personally view the word ‘normal’, though, there are many others who would agree. Both parties are portrayed in the short story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes that was then converted into a movie in 2000. The main character Charlie Gordon is mentally handicapped and earns the chance to become ‘smart’ with a surgical procedure on his brain, and there are certain people that seem to use it against him, such as his coworkers at the bread making factory he works in. Although, there are still other characters, such as his teacher Miss Alice Kinnian who believes that his attitude towards life was ‘better’ than how other people view the story, just showing that the definition of ‘normal’ differs from person to

There are many conflicting opinions on how to or if there should be a separation of certain people from others, such as there was a separate classroom in the movie Flowers for Algernon, as well as there being one true definition of the word ‘normal’ which can change from person to person, and just how people decide to use their perception of ‘normal’ to perceive others with how they act or just who they are can cause controversy. In Flowers for Algernon, all of these points are represented with the different characters, such as Charlie Gordon, Miss Kinnian, Dr. Strauss, and even Charlie’s coworkers by seeing the contrast in how Charlie takes in different information or just how people treat him. In the end, it is not how people see normal, it is how they use their own definition to judge those around them instead of looking before