How Is Charlie Gordon Similar To Flowers For Algernon

There are many obstacles we have to face throughout life. Although we may not know if and when we will prevail, we must try our hardest to fight through them positively, and learn how to adjust when things don’t work out for the best. The idea of trial and error and how to survive through defeat is a similar theme in the stories of “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes and Penny Marshall’s Awakenings. In these stories, the main characters Charlie and Leonard got a sense of relief and hope for recovery from their medical conditions for a short time, but it was suddenly taken away from them. The character Charlie Gordon in “Flowers for Algernon” is mentally impaired and receives treatment in hopes of improving his cognition. Similarly, Leonard

Both men experience a miracle. Their treatments enable them to feel “normal” but the outcomes are only temporary. Their suffering is relieved but ultimately resumes.

In “Flowers for Algernon”, the protagonist Charlie Gordon ends up suffering from an operation that triples his IQ. Charlie is a 37-year-old man with an IQ of 68. Charlie’s doctors (Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss) ask Charlie for permission to operate on him. Charlie says yes because he doesn't know what he is getting into. He undergoes the operation and it was successful. His cognition improves along with his reading and writing. Charlie works at Donogan’s Plastic Box Company as a janitor. His “friends” Frank Riley and Joe Carp also work there. Charlie’s best friend Algernon (a mouse) who got the same operation before Charlie, starts to regress. Algernon ends up dying and Charlie gets upset because of how much he loved him. Charlie begins to regress as well and eventually reverts to his former IQ. On April 20, Charlie goes to a bar with Joe and Frank. He tells them that he doesn’t want to drink but Joe gave him a “coke” which is actually (and intentionallyl) alcohol. Charlie got drunk and started to dance.

Leonard was put in a chronic hospital with many other patients who have the same disease as him. He began to get sick when he was about 12 and had been stuck ever since. Leonard’s mother had always been there for him. She was loving, caring, and protective of him. Dr. Sayer (Leonard’s doctor in the chronic hospital) asked Leonard's mom if he could give Leonard a medicine called Levodopa, which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease. She agrees and Dr. Sayer gives it to him. The next morning Dr. Sayer notices that Leonard is not in his bed. He woke up! Dr. Sayer proceeds to give it to the other patients. They all woke up and were so happy. But then Leonard started to regress and struggle with his new freedom. He started to have ticks and couldn’t control them, and he also tried to run away. All he wanted was for it to stop. Dr. Sayer was trying to help but nothing was working. All the other patients were worried that this would happen to them. While Leonard was regressing, he met a girl named Paula whose dad had a stroke and was staying on another floor. They hung out a few times but then Leonard eventually went back to his previous life where he was stuck in a catatonic state. Leonard didn’t deserve to go through all of this since the awakening didn’t last too long. One way he suffered occurred