Isolation In Flowers For Algernon

Two Ends of the Spectrum: Behavioural Isolation
It’s a scenario that is common, if not heartbreaking. Someone who is different is ridiculed, taught to try and hide what him or her unique, and grows up hating who they really are. In America, young girls are taught that “beautiful” means light-skinned, blue-eyed, and blond-haired; in China, beautiful exemplifies pale skin, long, glossy black hair, and big eyes- because that is what surrounds us. That is the norm. Children grow up into insecure adults, who use means like plastic surgeries to conform to the standards society sets for them. But what if operations didn’t just change the way you looked? What if they could change the level of your intelligence, too? Such is the plot of short story

Any conclusion that is drawn from this piece is not to be taken lightly, as “Flowers for Algernon” is an enigmatic text, a puzzle of sorts, with philosophical roots that examine the human nature. The more we reflect on this question Keyes poses, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human mind, which leads us through the devious mazes of dreams, of wanting things we can’t have, out of which it is difficult to find our way. The answer seems easy enough in the beginning; Charles Gordon, the 32 year old developmentally disabled man who is the main character of Keyes’s short story, has the opportunity to undergo a surgical procedure that will dramatically increase his mental capabilities. Charlie has always wanted to be smart, and so jumps at the chance without a second thought for any side effects. On its surface, the deal looks like a good one; Charlie gets to become smart, and interact with his friends in a normal fashion. However, as the story progresses, the deal doesn’t look so great after all. For one, after the operation, Charlie is unable to converse at an everyday level, falls into a downward spiral in both mental and physical health, and figures out that Joe Carp and Frank Reilly, two people he thought were his friends, just kept him around to laugh at him, which leads to him starting to suspect everyone around him. By observing the piece with a more critical mindset that acknowledges the story’s importance, and after deliberating claims and evidence from both sides, we can safely come to the conclusion that the operation merely traded one form of isolation for another, with added physical and mental deterioration. In the end, the choice is obvious: Charlie was better off before the surgery after