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Themes In Flowers For Algernon

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The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives. The first theme in Flowers for Algernon is self-realisation. Charlie’s new found knowledge has allowed him to have the ability to voice his needs and wants for understanding, acceptance, and love. Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence …show more content…

The novel portrays the alienation and loneliness individuals go through and how they react to being isolated when trying to be accepted by society. Charlie desired to be intelligent so he could have a lot of friends and so people would like him yet when he had surgery to triple his i.Q he finds that he is singled out and isolated from others around him. Charlie’s limited emotional maturity also creates a barrier between him and others around him which disables him to understand and connect with others. People around Charlie are having trouble relating to him as they are alarmed at his new found intellect. The techniques which represents this theme are rhetorical question and rhyme .The quote that represents this is “It may sound like ingratitude, but that is one of the things I hate here-the attitude that I am a guinea pig. Nemur’s constant references to having made me what I am, or that someday there will be others like me who will become real human beings. How can I make him understand that he did not create me?” The effect created separates Charlie from being normal, make him question his existence and isolates him into a new category of human which makes him feel alienated and alone. Nemur’s constant mention of having ‘made him’ moreover disconnects him from forming connections and having emotional maturity leading him to be alone and

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The story, "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes, articulates a vacuous man's journey as he undergoes an operation which will lead him to being a genius. Charlie Gordon was born mentally challenged, but precedes an honest, kind, and simple mien. Throughout his journey, Charlie saw the world in a different view as his intelligence increases, but it had drew a wedge between him and the world. As a man who no longer owns the enjoyment of life, Charlie turned into a somber loner. Daniel Keyes used this story to convey that people are each created beautifully and uniquely; intrusions will only take away the arcane happiness inside life's marrow.

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The book ”Tangerine” by Edward Bloor seems to have one common theme throughout the book; “the truth will set you free”. There are three examples in this book that seem to clearly exemplify the point being made. Here’s how I beleive this theme is exemplified in the book. The first example is represented though the character Antoine, followed by Paul Fisher’s family dynamics, as well as Paul Fisher himself.

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The setting of “Flowers for Algernon” takes place in New York during the 1960s where people with mental disabilities were treated unfairly. Even though Charlie and Max persevered through similar situations, Charlie had a different personality. Unlike Max, Charlie was innocent, extroverted, and naive. We know this because Keyes presented in the book, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when he is potted”(Keyes 40). With Charlie being outspoken, he was able express in a positive manner what he was feeling and believed.

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Because Charlie maybe had not stayed as smart as he was for a long time after, but the surgery was at least able to let him understand more. Charlie changed at the end of the book a lot. Charlie at the beginning had not to be able to write very good, or understand his feelings. He was like a child in a 32 year old man’s body.

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Unit 5: Lesson 4: Flowers for Algernon, Part 2 Apply: In the story "Flowers for Algernon, Part 2," One example of foreshadowing is when Charlie thinks his landlady is afraid of him. I think this si foreshadowing because it says that she looks at him funny. Another example is when Charlies coworkers petitoned him to have him fired. This is foreshadowing because I think the reason he was fired was because everybody was scared of him, and in the surrounding paragraghs, the clues supported my thought.

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In some cases, the main characters of two very different books can share many similarities and differences. One example of this was shown in the novels, Of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon. In Of Mice and Men, the novel took place during the Great Depression. Lennie, the main character, and his best friend George conquered this toilsome time together. They found work at a farm in California.

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The novel Flowers of Algernon by Keyes have one major thematic augments which we shall discuss in this paper. The thematic augment is about the mistreatment of the people who are mentally disabled (Yal 7-14). The fictional idea in the novel of falsely diminishing or augmenting intelligence has enabled Keyes to be able to provide a portrayal of the society telling or showing how the mentally disabled are mistreated. After Charlie has been operated he becomes more intelligent and he transforms effectively from the known man who is mentally retarded and becomes a genius. It’s during this period when he realizes that the people in the society have been having attitudes

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Is it Good To Change Ourselves? God made us all different for a reason. The thing is that many people forget that we are not allowed to change ourselves. Charlie Gordon is one of those people.

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Since Charlie had such a low IQ, the smallest thing, such as a mouse, could be seen as life changing for him. He had such a firm attachment with Algernon and considered him to be a friend and competition. Charlie's IQ enabled him to be incapable of making decisions that the “normal” person could placing him at a disadvantage for social situations. "The author (Keyes) refers to (Charlie) as ‘the Wedge of Loneliness…’” (Ickles-Dunbar 1).

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If you had one chance in life to get an operation that triples your intelligence would you do it? Charlie Gordon took his chances and got the operation done. Charlie is better off before the operation rather than after. There are many reasons why he is better off before the operation in the short story Flowers for Algernon, but the three most important ones are because his intelligence is higher at the very beginning than in the end, his relationships with his friends get worse as he becomes more intelligent and if he hadn’t had the operation then maybe he would still have a job. The first reason why Charlie was better off without the operation is because of his intelligence.

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After the operation however Charlie starts to have conflicting feelings “I told her I didn’t like her...that is not true I love her. ”Charlie doesn’t know what he is feeling in love, sad, happy, with losing his brain. Losing his cerebral superiority Charlie starts to get confused but first he is sad. The operation changed the word sad into a lifestyle and happy into an

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After the surgery was performed Charlie went through a period of time with no change, and then within a few days his intelligence immediately skyrocketed, making him so smart his journal entry began to be difficult to understand from all of sophistication in word choice. This all came to an end quickly as his mind soon began to deteriorate as fast as it had grown. Charlie was better off after the surgery and made the right decision by having it done because it gave him insight

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Within Flowers for Algernon and his other works, Daniel Keyes emphasizes awareness for the cognitively impaired using first person narration, pulling experiences from his life, and using his education in psychology to

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