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Differences In 'Ponies And Flowers For Algernon'

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“We focus so much on our differences, and that is creating, I think, a lot of chaos and negativity and bullying in the world. And I think if everybody focused on what we all have in common - which is - we all want to be happy,” (Ellen DeGeneres). There are all of these ideals of having an equal and happy society; however, there will never be one because of our differences in many different areas. Some of these areas can be found are in the differences of class, gender, and education. An examination of “Ponies,” “Honor to Us All,” “Lamb to the Slaughter,” and “Flowers for Algernon” reveals that people make others feel inferior to them because of the differences we have. In “Ponies,” by Kij Johnson, and “Honor to Us All, “ from Disney’s Mulan, …show more content…

There are people who are intellectually incapable and are made fun of because of a quality that they are born with. In “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie wrote about a situation where he was being mocked. “Joe Carp said I shoud show the girls how I mop the toilet in the factory and he got me a mop. I showed them and everyone laffed … I dont know what that means but everybody likes me and we have fun,” (Daniel Keyes, page 5). At this time Charlie was unintelligent, so he did not understand the situation. He was clearly being mocked by his “friends” and other people for the unusual ways he does things because he was different from them. Even though Charlie did things that were weird to them, it wasn’t right for them to laugh at him just because he was different. Another part in “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie witnesses a situation where someone else was mocked. “A few of the rowdier customers kept up the remarks, amusing themselves at his expense … and finally broke into an uncertain grin at the jokes which he obviously did not understand,” (Daniel Keyes, page 13). As you can see, the other people are picking on the unintelligent boy for his mistakes. He clearly does not understand the situation and the other people took advantage of this to entertain themselves. It is very despicable to see people make fun of others because of their …show more content…

The texts “Ponies” and “Honor to Us All” shows that there is a difference in power of societies. In “Honor to Us All” and “Lambe to the Slaughter,” the men held more power over the women thinking that they were only capable of housework and bearing children. “Flowers for Algernon” is a great example of how people ridicule others based on their intelligence. “It is not our differences that divides us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences,” (Audre

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Authors use characters and genres to develop theme. Sometimes different genres can be used to build the same theme. In the poem, “The Lesson of the Moth,” poet Don Marquis uses the protagonist, a moth, to teach the narrator, Archy, a cockroach, what it is like to have a dream worth dying for. Similarly, Daniel Keyes, author of “Flowers for Algernon,” a short story, uses the main character, Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled man who longs to be smart, to develop the idea that it is better to risk to achieve happiness rather than to live wondering what life could have been like. Both the poet and the author use the main character in their literary work to contribute to the idea that risking something is worth even momentary happiness.

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Immaturity is not always a bad thing, and sometimes silliness is welcome and encouraged, but one has to be grown up in order to know when a good time for the silliness is and when it is inappropriate. As people age, they decide who they are going to become and what they are going to do with their lives. In order to achieve their goals, they need to realize at some point

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Living in a world with complete fairness among people sounds perfect, but not when everyone in your society is forced to be completely the same. In the story Anthem, Equality is a character that is different from the others in his society of forced sameness. Equality longs to learn and expand his knowledge, however, there are rules that halt Equality from following his own will, but also push him to learn more. No one is allowed to read, write, experiment, or explore. These rules allow the community to be easily controlled, and forces them to stay similar to one another.

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There is an important theme in the story Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes. It is a fiction novel about a thirty year old man who has been battling to overcome an intellectual deficit all of his life and has an opportunity to become more intelligent than he ever had imagined through an experimental operation. He takes the opportunity and in a few weeks he becomes a genius for a short time before his itelligence receded as fast as it increased. The author includes many important themes throughout the passage. Daniel Keyes develops the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are through Charlie’s experiences both before and after the operation.

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“Embrace diversity. Unite—Or be divided, Robbed, Ruled, Killed by those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity or be destroyed. ”(Butler 196) Lauren believes that we, as a society, must embrace each other’s differences and when society learns to do this, it can overcome

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Like everybody around here’s been saying, Charlie, it’s not right.” Charlie’s response to that was, “But how can you say that, Fanny? What’s wrong with a man becoming intelligent and wanting to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world around him?”Charlie was disappointed in Fanny when she said that it wasn’t very possible for Charlie to become smart that quickly. This is another very important event that happens in this story because Charlie tries to change himself to fit in and then realizes that’s not what matters. What matters is that he’s happy and it doesn’t matter what other people

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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.

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It is in one's power to decide whether or not to conform to society. Indeed both texts include many similarities and differences such as the stereotypical roles set on each gender, their search for individuality and their desired privileges. While approaching adulthood, many people encounter obstacles which lead their understanding to a fact that gender stereotypes do not only occur for women but, for men as well. The narrator in Boys and Girls discovers the societies’ views and expectations of her.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been made fun of, or heard someone else being made fun of? I am sure the answer to that question is yes. Or maybe, you’ve insulted someone else without realizing the true meaning behind it? Ultimately, this is because language is more powerful than we think. Words and language can be used as weapons, and it may be hard for people to understand that certain words can be thought of as insulting to someone else but may not seem that way towards you.

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