Charlie Gordon's Motivation In Flowers For Algernon

Charlie Gordon is a simple minded 32 year old. The first piece of evidence showed that he has a basic mindset and would stick to what he was told by his mother, even in situations when the advice isn’t applicable. Additionally, the fact that he did not understand simple instructions reveal that Charlie is not that clever. On page 9, it is confirmed that Charlie is mentally retarded as he has an IQ of 68. However, he is still hard working and wished to get the surgery done so he could become smarter. The fifth quote reveals the motivation Charlie. Despite knowing himself that he wasn’t the brightest student, Charlie still gave everything his best and stuck to his mother’s words. His low IQ and high motivation made Charlie an ideal candidate

The first excerpt makes it obvious that Charlie spent a lot of his life in New York, and that he still resides there now. Also within the state, is Marks Street: Charlie’s home from his once forgotten childhood. The dirty, torn down holds the ghost of bright houses and children playing, that Charlie longfully watched from his window.

Although discovering where the story took place was quite simple, finding the time period proved to be more laborious. . There was no clear evidence that flat out told the year, so therefore I had to infer when the story took place with minor details. Flowers for Algernon was written around the early 1960s. Elements that were considered futuristic around that time, other than the surgery, remained absent. For instance, smart phones or tablets were not mentioned anywhere in the book and instead, most conversations were exchanged face to face. Additionally, news was delivered by mouth or by a physical newspaper. With this in mind, it is obvious that the story did not take place within 20 years of present time. After doing more research, I discovered that there was a prominent Disability Rights Movement in the 60s. After and during this movement to increase awareness of disabilities, disabilities were more understood. However, in this novel, those with disabilities weren’t even considered people. On page 89, Professor Nemur indirectly told Charlie that he