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Comparing Flowers For Algernon And The Book Thief

452 Words2 Pages

People with lack of acceptance have differences in personalities, experiences, and behaviors. There are many major similarities and differences concerning the characters in “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keys and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Even though The Book Thief was based on a little girl named Liesel, another character, Max, in the book experiences a lack of acceptance. The setting of The Book Thief is during World War II, when Jews were being persecuted for their religion and beliefs. Max has a worldly personality, so he is knowledgeable of the series of events happening around him. Jews were being put in Concentration camps, but because of his knowledge he goes into hiding at the home of the Huberman’s. The book describes him as an introvert because in the book it states, “He was the type of person who worked quietly away for very little reward. He kept to himself...”(Zusak 188). Max has positive solutions that he wants to fulfill in a negative way. We can can determine this because Zusak expressed in his writing, “Punches are thrown, the crowd …show more content…

The setting of “Flowers for Algernon” takes place in New York during the 1960s where people with mental disabilities were treated unfairly. Even though Charlie and Max persevered through similar situations, Charlie had a different personality. Unlike Max, Charlie was innocent, extroverted, and naive. We know this because Keyes presented in the book, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when he is potted”(Keyes 40). With Charlie being outspoken, he was able express in a positive manner what he was feeling and believed. For example, “This day was good for me. Seeing the past more clearly, I have decided to use my knowledge and skills to work in the field of increasing human intelligence levels”(Keyes

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413 Words | 2 Pages

He experiences, psychotic behavior, convulsions, paranoia, and more, Leonard eventually goes back to the catatonic state he was in towards the beginning of the film and eventually passes away. As Well as in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon after the surgery Charlie was using big words and, his IQ was very high, but he started to rapidly decline towards the end of the story and eventually says he is "going away" which can be inferred as the after life and/or death. It can be understood that although the results of both treatments were good at first, the long term effects were not well known and neither of characters had good long term outcomes. A third connection between Algernon's Flowers and the film's awakening is the similarity of medical ethics issues. On page 270 of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Doctors Nemur and Strauss fail to tell Charlie what the operation is, nor does Charlie have any sort of ability to understand what is happening to him.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

He fights the nazis by painting over the pages of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and writing his own stories over Hitler’s words. Lastly, Max has the selfless courage to not come back to 33 Himmel Street even after Hans said that he could because he did not want to endanger their family any more than he already had. No matter what challenges he faces, Max makes the ultimate decision whether to let the things that happened to him affect him or to instead persevere through any means that he can, even if it does not seem to amount to much in the grand scheme of

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854 Words | 4 Pages

Mark Zusak, in The Book Thief, uses similes, situational irony, and symbolism to demonstrate the human trait of standing up for what they believe in. Through his similes, Zusak exemplifies the tendency of humans to stand up for what they believe in. Amazing and thrilling describes the exact opposite of life in Munich, Germany. The streets consisted of slumped over people trying to get past the struggles of war, and hundreds of Jewish people making their way to the atrocious concentration camp, Dachau.

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552 Words | 3 Pages

“Flowers for Algernon” is a short story about an adult with a mental disability. In the story we get to see viewpoints through his eyes (first person). The main character (Charlie Gordon) is an adult 37 years of age with blonde hair has a mental disability that holds him back. Introduction to the broad topic (“Flowers for Algernon”) “Flowers for Algernon” is a short story about Charlie Gordon and his life.

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879 Words | 4 Pages

In the outside world, there are many occasions where people tend to behave and conduct peculiarly, specifically due to their desperation. Sometimes, this can even mean that individual could create loss for others. Both stories, The Book Thief and Night, embed a lesson: desperation and the intensity of want can drive a person to have actions that would not normally happen. While both stories have the resulted thoughts/actions built on the base of negativity and loss for others, the desperation in Night was caused by lack of basic needs. Meanwhile, The Book Thief demonstrated the intense feelings of want due to hate.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

The power of words in “The Book Thief” and the endless strength they carry is a prime topic throughout the book. “The Book Thief”, a novel narrated by Death about Liesel, a young German girl who is given up for adoption to live with the Hubermann’s shortly before World War II. Liesel discovers the power that words, written or spoken, have to transform people, relationships, and lives. In the novel, Mark Zusak uses the relationship between characters to signify the power of words. Within “The Book Thief” the author suggests that words hold much power and have a major role in crafting the relationships between the characters.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

The classic book Flowers for Algernon, which was written by Daniel Keyes in the late 1900’s, explains the story about a middle-aged man named Charlie Gordon and the struggles he faces from having a mental disability. Charlie Gordon worked at Donnegon’s Box Company, but while working there, he was made fun of and called stupid for something he can’t control. Charlie had a wish for all people to love and accept him, but couldn’t understand that there is always going to be someone that wouldn’t like him which made him feel unwanted and unappreciated. Throughout Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes develops a theme of self-acceptance to explain how people shouldn’t change themselves to fit in with others.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

Max is a Jew in hiding with the Huberman’s, however, due to the increasing danger his presence brought to the Huberman’s, he left the household in search of a new hiding place. Max’s departure is devastating to Liesel, however months afterwards Liesel finds Max again, on his way to a Nazi concentration camp. Liesel breaks all Nazi codes and

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215 Words | 1 Pages

The short story, “Flowers for Algernon,” and the movie adaptation, “Charly,” were both based off of the same book by Daniel Keyes, but they have some similarities and differences that greatly affected the plot. One of the similarities between the the two adaptations was that Charlie was a janitor at his job. In the movie, he was the janitor of the bakery, and in the short story, he was the janitor of Mr. Donnegan’s Plastic Box factory. This was important to the plot because it was a reminder to Charlie and his coworkers that he was mentally disabled, which, in turn, led to Charlie being made fun of at his workplace. One of the differences between the movie and the short story, however, was that the short story hadn’t expanded on Charlie’s relationship

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886 Words | 4 Pages

The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives. The first theme in Flowers for Algernon is self-realisation. Charlie’s new found knowledge has allowed him to have the ability to voice his needs and wants for understanding, acceptance, and love.

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840 Words | 4 Pages

Growing as a Character Every event in our lives happens for a reason, whether it is to learn from our mistakes or to gain experience from them. In Markus Zusak's novel “The Book Thief,” Liesel Meminger uses her experiences with living in the 1940s to learn life lessons and experience first hand the many terrible things Hitler is doing to people around her. She learns how to deal with the many obstacles that are thrown at her. Liesel grows as a character by following her step-father’s footsteps in being a kind and generous person, going through childhood with her best friend Rudy, and being aware of what is going on around her by learning from Max.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

Developing Friendship through Justice, Love and Humanity Human relationships break or develop depending on the circumstances. The values that creates a stable relationship may vary on historical setting or the characteristics of each person. The novel, “The Book Thief” written by Markus Zusak shows justice, love and humanity through the friendship Liesel and Max developed during the time of the Holocaust.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

To Heal and to Hurt: The Importance of Words in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Words do two major things. They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” This quote by Jim Rohn highlights the two major things words do, indicating they have a power, an important role in everyday lives. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an outstanding representation of many topics including the most crucial one, the importance of words. It is the late 1930s to early 1940s in Germany during the World War II, and the main character, Death, cannot help himself but to be intrigued by Liesel Meminger’s story, a girl that lives in Munich, Germany on Himmel Street.

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862 Words | 4 Pages

One by one they climbed into the ring and beat him down. They made him bleed. They let him suffer." (Zusak 254). Max is struggling to understand that he's a Jew, doesn't understand why people hate him and why people follow Hitler.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

We come to know Max as a struggler who doesn’t give up. He is a fighter. If he gets knocked down he gets back up. However, he carries great guilt on him for leaving his family. He also feels guilty for putting the Hubermann’s in danger, but one must do such sacrifices to survive and only hope it will be all over soon.

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