Charlie Gordon's Portrayl of Other Characters as a Reliable Narrator
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded thirty-two-year-old man, is chosen by a team of scientists to undergo an experimental surgery designed to boost his intelligence. Charlie’s teacher at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults, recommends Charlie for the experiment because of his exceptional want to learn and better himself. The people that direct the experiment, Dr. Strauss and Professor Namur, ask Charlie to keep a journal. The book is composed of the “progress reports” that Charlie writes. After an array of tests, including a maze-solving competition with a laboratory rat named Algernon, who has already had the experimental surgery performed on him, Charlie receives the operation. In the beginning he is disappointed that there is no immediate change in smartness, but with work and help from Alice, he gradually improves his spelling and grammar. Charlie begins to read adult books, slowly at first, then voraciously, filling his brain with knowledge from many academic fields. Charlie amazes the workers at the bakery by inventing a process designed to improve productivity. Charlie also begins to recover moments of his childhood that he forgot about his mother, who resented and often brutally punished Charlie for not being like other children. Charlie realizes that Nemur’s hypothesis contains a problem and that there is a possibility that his smartness will only be temporary. Algernon’s intelligence begins to slip, and his behavior becomes erratic. Charlie worries that whatever happens to Algernon will soon happen to him as well. Algernon dies. Charlie succeeds in finding the error in Nemur’s hypothesis, scientifically proving that a flaw in the operation will cause his intelligence to vanish as quickly as it has come. Charlie calls this phenomenon the “Algernon-Gordon Effect.” As he passes through a stage of average intelligence on his way back to retardation, Charlie enjoys a
Daniel Keyes Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded thirty-two-year-old man, is chosen by a team of scientists to undergo an experimental surgery designed to boost his intelligence. Charlie’s teacher at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults, recommends Charlie for the experiment because of his exceptional want to learn and better himself. The people that direct the experiment, Dr. Strauss and Professor Namur, ask Charlie to keep a journal. The book is composed of the “progress reports” that Charlie writes. After an array of tests, including a maze-solving competition with a laboratory rat named Algernon, who has already had the experimental surgery performed on him, Charlie receives the operation. In the beginning he is disappointed that there is no immediate change in smartness, but with work and help from Alice, he gradually improves his spelling and grammar. Charlie begins to read adult books, slowly at first, then voraciously, filling his brain with knowledge from many academic fields. Charlie amazes the workers at the bakery by inventing a process designed to improve productivity. Charlie also begins to recover moments of his childhood that he forgot about his mother, who resented and often brutally punished Charlie for not being like other children. Charlie realizes that Nemur’s hypothesis contains a problem and that there is a possibility that his smartness will only be temporary. Algernon’s intelligence begins to slip, and his behavior becomes erratic. Charlie worries that whatever happens to Algernon will soon happen to him as well. Algernon dies. Charlie succeeds in finding the error in Nemur’s hypothesis, scientifically proving that a flaw in the operation will cause his intelligence to vanish as quickly as it has come. Charlie calls this phenomenon the “Algernon-Gordon Effect.” As he passes through a stage of average intelligence on his way back to retardation, Charlie enjoys a