Long-Lasting Trauma In Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

Long-Lasting Trauma In Flowers For Algernon The novel, Flowers For Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, portrays the following theme: Trauma stays forever, especially when it is created earlier on in life. The main character, Charlie Gordon—who was traumatized by his parents, Matt and Rose, due to him being intelligently challenged—gets life changing surgery that may result in him for the better or worse. Norma, his younger sister, is normal, which creates disbelief in his mother that he is dull-witted. Dr. Strauss, his psychologist, recommends he journals his thoughts in the form of progress reports. The surgery is successful in the beginning; but then declines and leaves him at the start again. To begin, Charlie recalls in his progress report, “And she slapped me so hard I fell on the bed…she startid screaming…she

Now that makes me feel bad because I would never of hurt the baby” (Keyes 38). After Charlie's surgery, he starts remembering his memories, most of which are negative, also known as agony. This memory happened when Charlie was left alone with Norma as a child, and once he approached her, his mother started taunting him for ‘hurting the baby’. This is just one example to prove that Charlie was dismayed as a child, and since this was so powerful, it shows that it is to stick with him. To continue, in another flashback from progress report 7, Charlie evokes Gus saying, “You keep away from my kids sister, you degenerate. You don't belong in this school anyway” (54). On Valentine's Day in elementary school, Charlie gives a classmate, Harriet, a locket. Instead of the reaction he expected, Harriet's brother, Gus, detonated off onto Charlie. This commotion caused Charlie to switch schools; and it also resulted in the diminishing of the outgoing part of his personality and he even regrets it himself, “I believed what people told me. I shouldnt have trusted Hymie or anyone” (55). Charlie is shown to be timid to