Flowers For Algernon Theme Essay
Will Esposito
Mrs. Broich
10 Honors English
9/17/15
Themes in Flowers for Algernon
When reading this book, the casual reader might overlook some of the themes presented in the story's contents. But, upon looking deeper within the book, the reader will notice aspects first unseen by the casual reader. Upon analysis of the book, it is shown that Keyes was intending to portray men as God in this novel, and he does so through the characteristics shown by Fanny Birden, Professor Nemur, and Hilda the nurse. Keyes shows the reader, through these people, that the actions that the professors/doctors are immoral and beyond their power.
The first obvious time that the theme of improper portrayal of men as God is portrayed in the book is in his exit from surgery. In his recovery time in the hospital, he recalls his nurse Hilda indicating, “Mabey they got no rite to make me smart because if god wantid me to be smart he would have made me to be that way” (Keyes 16). His nurse speaking to him about how it’s possible that the surgery that the doctors have performed on Charlie was wrong to do, reflecting the idea that man has no right to alter what God has given him by making Charlie smarter. Furthermore, her comment first plants the seed of doubt into the reader’s mind and gets the not-casual reader thinking …show more content…
On page 107, Fanny Birden quotes the Bible by expressing, “you’d know that it’s not meant for man to know more than what was given to him in the first place.”. Fanny Birden is in all sense a minor character in the book, much like the nurse Hilda, but they play a vital role in portraying the theme. Her mentioning of the Bible and the undeniable mentioning of the themes portrayed throughout the book is the proverbial nail in the coffin. She implies that his newfound intelligence in wrong and ungodly, much as Hilda let slip
Mrs. Broich
10 Honors English
9/17/15
Themes in Flowers for Algernon
When reading this book, the casual reader might overlook some of the themes presented in the story's contents. But, upon looking deeper within the book, the reader will notice aspects first unseen by the casual reader. Upon analysis of the book, it is shown that Keyes was intending to portray men as God in this novel, and he does so through the characteristics shown by Fanny Birden, Professor Nemur, and Hilda the nurse. Keyes shows the reader, through these people, that the actions that the professors/doctors are immoral and beyond their power.
The first obvious time that the theme of improper portrayal of men as God is portrayed in the book is in his exit from surgery. In his recovery time in the hospital, he recalls his nurse Hilda indicating, “Mabey they got no rite to make me smart because if god wantid me to be smart he would have made me to be that way” (Keyes 16). His nurse speaking to him about how it’s possible that the surgery that the doctors have performed on Charlie was wrong to do, reflecting the idea that man has no right to alter what God has given him by making Charlie smarter. Furthermore, her comment first plants the seed of doubt into the reader’s mind and gets the not-casual reader thinking …show more content…
On page 107, Fanny Birden quotes the Bible by expressing, “you’d know that it’s not meant for man to know more than what was given to him in the first place.”. Fanny Birden is in all sense a minor character in the book, much like the nurse Hilda, but they play a vital role in portraying the theme. Her mentioning of the Bible and the undeniable mentioning of the themes portrayed throughout the book is the proverbial nail in the coffin. She implies that his newfound intelligence in wrong and ungodly, much as Hilda let slip