"Flowers for Algernon"

          The book, "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, is about a young man named Charlie Gordon and his experience in becoming a genius. In the beginning, Charlie had an IQ of 68 (he was a delayed/retarded adult) and he was very friendly, kind-hearted and a bit oblivious. There was an experiment of human intelligence concocted on him and he slowly starts to become a genius. He starts to read a lot, and write much better, he studies different scientific topics and he even learns a couple of languages! Now that he's a genius, he starts to change in an emotional sort of way. Charlie begins to have new insights on life, love, and just the world in general. He also becomes a bit more thoughtful and arrogant.

          While reading, "Flowers for Algernon," I noticed how, as Charlie's intelligence grew/developed, his way of thinking and feeling also started to change. He began to think more about the world around him and his own life; his past, present, and his own future. He began to think about things the "old Charlie" would've never thought about! Things like love, relationships and sex. Also the way he has been treated and how he's currently being treated. There was this one part that made me stop and consider this. "Why haven't I ever noticed how beautiful Alice Kinnian is? She has pigeon-soft brown eyes and feathery brown hair down to the hollow of her neck. When she smiles, her full lips look as if she's pouting." I realized that this is the first time Charlie expresses what he feels about someone (Alice Kinnian) ans he starts to fall in love. It isn't just for the looks though, there were some previous parts where Charlie starts to question himself and his feelings for Alice. This particular part just happened to stand out to me.

          Charlie Gordon also starts thinking about the way he's being treated and he starts to express his feelings more openly now. "Everything but treat me like a human being. You've boasted time and again that I was nothing before the experiment, and I know why. Because if I was nothing, then you were responsible for creating me, and that makes you my lord and master....I was always a person—even before...." This part stood out to me because I saw how Charlie starts elaborating on how he really feels about the experiment and how people have been treating him because of it. It really frustrates him how people don't treat him as a normal human, but as an experiment/creation instead. There was one more example, this is the first time Charlie has been so openly angry. "'What do you mean?' I shouted at him. Being so afraid of the inkblots had made me angry at myself and Burt too. Just because you're smart enough to go to college doesn't mean you have to make fun of me. I'm sick and tired of everybody laughing at me." This is actually the first time Charlie openly expresses his anger towards others' actions to him. It's frustrating being looked down upon just because one isn't "smart enough."

          While reading the book, "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, I noticed and started focusing on character change and realization. Charlie Gordon's thinking and insights certainly did change from beginning, to the middle, to the end. He started off as oblivious, friendly, humorous, innocent and started to become more arrogant, sharp, thoughtful. In the end however, the experiment wore off and Charlie became a delayed adult once again. That experience though, changed his life forever. He may not remember all these scientific formulas, or all the languages he's learned, or anything like that, but he remembers how it felt to be loved, how it felt to be able to have a new perspective on things; he basically had another chance at life.

          "If you ever reed this Miss Kinnian dont be sorry for me. Im glad I got a second chanse in life like you said to be smart because I lerned alot of things that I never even new were in this werld and Im grateful I saw it all even for a littel bit. And Im glad I found out all about my family and me. It was like I never had a family til I remembird about them and saw them and now I know I had a family and I was a person just like evryone."