Alden Nowlan's short story, The Glass Roses, creates a melancholy tone with a contemplative mood. The setting of a rural sawmill, the rough atmosphere of those that surround Stephen, and his inner conflicts play a significant role in creating such mood and tone. Nowlan paints a picture of their surroundings being "a maelstrom of darkness" (Nowlan 5) and speaks to how "the wind...was still raw enough to lacerate [his] temples" (Nowlan 2) emphasizing the unforgiving nature of their job. Such imagery could also be a reflection of Stephens's inner turmoil as he struggles to belong amongst the men and his world too is "a maelstrom of darkness" all of which contributes to the melancholy tone. Further, Stephen's struggle to belong and conform contributes
Some authors use transformations in stories to show readers how characters change for the better as they go through hard times or make bad choices. Eugenia Collier uses the transformation in her fictional short story, Marigolds, to show us the change of the main character, Lizabeth, as she changes from childhood to womanhood when she destroys Miss Lottie’s marigolds. The story flashbacked to when Lizabeth was about to turn fifteen in the Depression and took place in the poor neighborhood she lived in, where she and her friends picked on Miss Lottie for being the poorest. Collier uses characterization to show Lizabeth’s change from childhood to womanhood.
In “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie came to realize that his mother Rose did not really care about him and that all she wanted was him to be “perfect”. Charlie realized that he would never be enough for his mom and family. Rose always got on to Charlie and spanked him for things he could not control. For example, when Charlie peed on himself he got spanked but it was not his fault because he could not control it. Charlie was basically excluded when his sister Norma was born because she was the child her mom had
The title of the short story “Glass Roses” by Alden Nowlan summarises the fragility of nonconformists in a society dominated by a collective stereotype. From the society's perspective, someone who is different is automatically classified as a misfit, solely on the premise of being anything other than the ‘norm’. The title “Glass Roses” represents Leka and Stephen at the pulp mill, as they possess different values and characteristics from the men with “ox-like shoulders”. They are beautiful in their own right; their beauty shines in comparison to “the monotonous rhythm of the pulp saw”. Unlike the men of the pulp cutting crew, Stephen and Leka engage with stories of fairy tales and beautiful cathedrals.
Shattered “There is not much room in the world for glass roses.” On a daily people attempt to live their lives in accordance with their own values but can be constrained towards certain actions because they feel obligated and/or forced to do so. Alden Nowlan’s short story “The Glass Roses” demonstrates the role of self-preservation in response to competing demands through a “willowy fifteen-year-old” protagonist who is faced with conflicting views on the true meaning of manhood. Throughout the story Stephens beliefs are detained and tested by the pulp-cutters, the Polack, and his father.
For example, on page 299, “I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide bright eyes of a child, uncertain but easy to please. And I had been laughing at him too. Suddenly, I was furious at myself and all those who were laughing at him.” Here, Charlie was realizing that people were mean and rude to people who weren’t like them. That people looked down to people who were different than them or not as smart.
One time Joe and Frank took Charlie to a party. Charlie said he did not want to drink alcohol, so Joe gives him a coke and then tells him to go dance with a girl named Ellen then he tried to dance with her but he was always stumbling because someone was always tripping him. He saw .that everyone was laughing at him and then he ran out of the building and threw up because somebody spiked the coke. A quote from that part was “ now I know what it means when they say “to pull a Charlie Gordon.”
In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon was a mentally impaired man that wanted nothing else but to be smart. He went through a series of procedures and experiments to become smarter. Both of the main characters in the novels, Of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon, contain many similarities and differences within them such as having true friends,
In “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, details about Charlie’s relationships with people he works with are revealed and the first person point of view helps us understand what Charlie thinks. For instance, in “Progress Report 8-Mar 25” Charlie writes, “Joe Carp said… what did they do Charlie put some brains in you. … Frank Riley said what did you do forget your key and open the door the hard way. … Their really my friends and they really like me,” on page 188.
What would you do if you had the chance to triple human intelligence? This is the question Daniel Keyes answered in the story “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie Gordon had this chance. Charlie learns about the struggles of becoming smart. Charlie has always wanted to become smart, but since he has a disability, Charlie isn’t able to learn like a normal human being. In the article, you will learn why Charlie Gordon should not have had this surgery.
After his surgery, He notice his “Friends” (Joe and Frank) were really making fun of him instead of being a real friend. He starts to Notice when Joe tries to make a fool of Charlie by getting him to use the machinery to make the dough. The surgery also caused Charlie to have lot of Anxiety. He never knew why they make such a fuss about a girl and why they always wanted to talk to her (before the surgery he rather play ball or something else). The other boy was obsessed with the girl and so was Charlie.
Charlie has a timid, easy going, way of composing himself which is contrasted with Hank’s brash, violent persona. This is illustrated in the supermarket scene and what immediately follows, where Charlie first becomes Hank, and exhibits a complete switch in the eyes of the other characters, such as holding a little girl underwater in a fountain between the girl saying “My daddy will get you for this, Charlie”, and Hank replying “the name’s Hank” and insults the girl while holding her under. At another point, late into the film, Charlie is seen switching back and forth at will between his two personalities during an action
Charlie did not have good romance because when he was little, his mom accused him of sexualilty with his sister when he “spied” on her in the bath. Now, since Charlie did not have a good relationship with his family, he does not know how to have a good relationship with people. Charlie is afraid of most things when it comes to being in a relationship. The past affected him and now he does not have a lot of love in his
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination,”(Einstein). Most people do not realize grades do not measure intelligence and age does not define maturity. The short story, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, is about a thirty-seven year old man named Charlie Gordon. He is a mentally disabled man who has an IQ of 68. As the subject of an experiment in human engineering, Charlie earns artificial intelligence that triples his IQ to 200; but this action came with more costs than benefits.
In the book, Charlie let's Patrick kiss him without Charlie reacting in a negative way and shows how his behavior is different than expected. Some would probably expect for Charlie to react different and not let Patrick kiss him, but he stays quiet and decides to go along with it. Charlie’s relationship with patrick isn’t really unstable, but maybe relationships from before are what cause him to let Patrick kiss him and try “something new.” In the book, Charlie says, “And moved in to kiss me again. And I just let him.
