Mental Retardation In Flowers For Algernon
Today the general public should recognize that no matter what the circumstance, all are created to be equal. However in the minds of a large part of society, that is not the case. Race used to be that aspect that segregated two groups of individuals. That problem is no longer withstanding, and whatever little is still present is not widely known. There is a situation that withstands today that does set two groups of people apart, and this is widely known in society. Mental illness is not something that can be chosen or changed. Instead of helping the mentally ill conform into society people today make sure that everyone knows that they are “different from us”. Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” stresses the intense ridicule society
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places on the mentally disabled through the actions of which Charlie Gordon, the protagonist, believes are his “friends”. Daniel Keyes, born in 1927 in Brooklyn New York, constantly battled an internal conflict over his choice to do what his parents told him, pursuing a career saving lives, or choosing his passion, which was writing. When his first year at NYU was coming to a close finish he thought to himself, “My education is a driving wedge between me and the people I love” (Keyes 1999 Pt. 1, ¶ 36). After later wondering what would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence, Keyes stored that idea and the ideas of education being a forcing wedge between people to then create “Flowers for Algernon” (Keyes 1999, Pt. 1, ¶ 36). Daniel Keyes was a high school English teacher during the time, grasping inspiring ideas from his students, that led to the the story, that later was turned into a best-selling novel (Werlock). Keyes had been teaching two Special Modified English for low I.Q classes at the time. Keyes mentions that one of the key motivating points for the novel happened in one of these modified English classes. A student once said to him, “I know this is a dummy class, and I want to ask you: If I try hard and I get smart by the end of the term, will you put me in a regular class? I want to be smart.” Keyes admits that the thought of that question haunted him for a long time. After putting many thoughts together the idea of that special boy longing for intelligence later collided with the idea of “what would happen if you could enhance a persons intelligence?” to create Charlie Gordon, a kind, good natured mentally disabled man who is treated with intelligence-enhancing drugs to become a genius (Keyes 1999 Pt.12, ¶ 6, 29-34). One of the main underlying messages in this novel is the mistreatment of the mentally disabled and how Charlie realizes that “those whom he considered his friends now resent him and had considered him only mildly entertaining in his former state” (Werlock). “Mental retardation is described as a significantly sub-average intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (Logsdon).
Medically, mental retardation is based on intellect and low functions in society. Socially, however, mental retardation is not even close to defined as that. One of the major ways the general public mocks the mentally disabled is through the use of offensive and belittling nicknames. Society has adapted new meanings to the term retarded, and has strictly linked that term to abusive, insulting means. Mentally retarded individuals have highly recognizable facial features as well, and this only adds to the ridicule. Terms such as retard, moron, idiot, etc. are bad enough but when derogatory words concerning their facial features come about it makes matters a whole lot worse. Mongoloid is another one of the many terms that society created to describe these distinct features. The name derived from the similarities of persons afflicted with Down’s syndrome and the facial features of Mongolian citizens. Labels placed on the mentally disabled are just as hurtful as racial slurs were, and still are …show more content…
today.
Charlie Gordon in “Flowers for Algernon” works for a bakery as an assistant, cleaning up here and there, since the boss doesn’t believe that he is well enough to do anything else.
Gordon believes that at his job he has many friends, some of those being Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy. Charlie Gordon begins to write progress reports to show his progress before and after his intelligence-enhancing surgery. After getting the surgery Gordon states “Im glad Im going back to werk because I miss my job at the bakery and all my frends and all the fun we have” (Keyes, March 20 ¶ 2). Little does he know that they are not really fun times and his “friends” look to him for entertainment purposes only. Gordon continues to explain all the “fun times” he has with his coworkers, and key details such as the new word they all use to describe a mess up on the job, they call it a “Charlie Gordon” (Keyes, March 21 ¶ 6). At one point Carp, Reilly, and Gimpy take Charlie to a party and get him drunk until a point where he dances with a girl who gives him certain feelings he never felt before (Keyes, April 10 ¶ 3-23). As the intelligence-enhancing drugs begin to kick in Gordon gets an intense wake up call. He starts to realize that all the times that Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy shared with him were on strict entertainment bases. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. Now I know what they mean when they say “to pull a Charlie
Gordon.” I’m ashamed” (Keyes, April 10 ¶ 23).
When dealing with a below average intellectual functioning human being it cannot be obvious enough that these individuals should be guided, starting from the developmental period in which this functioning begins, into society. Instead however, society chooses to ridicule and disregard the mentally handicapped instead. Research shows that the mentally retarded show outstanding signs of social problems not because they are mentally retarded but because of how society treats them. “A study founded that 45 percent of retarded people living in community based group homes have problems with social adjustment. Many have developed emotional disturbances not because they are mentally retarded but because they are rejected and stigmatized” (Reiss 24). “Charlie’s descriptions of other retarded people are telling – he speaks of vacant smiles and empty eyes. This perception is remarkably similar to his doctor’s assertion that Charlie did not properly exist as a person before the experiment” (Werlock). Charlie Gordon was, however, and always did exist as a person before and after the experiment. There is not one piece of evidence that backs up the idea that intelligence defines your existence in society.
At the end of the day, the mentally handicapped portion that makes up society is no different from the rest. Besides the unfortunate and slow social and intellectual learning process these special individuals are just as important and ready for the real world as anyone else can be. Charlie Gordon was one of those special individuals. Unfortunately he received the same harsh mistreatment and the unfortunate mental abuse. He genuinely thought he had friends and when he finally realized they never really accepted him for who he was, but used him for a couple good laughs, he was completely devastated. Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” helps people realize that society mistreats the mentally disabled on a daily basis. “This compelling novel is classified as disability literature because its explorations delve into fundamental questions about the place of disabled people in modern American society” (Werlock). “Flowers for Algernon” aids society into understanding how much words and actions can hurt someone. The mentally retarded cannot change the life they were born into. Even if it was possible though, society should not force them into a life of longing for something “better”.Works Cited
Keyes, Daniel. Algernon, Charlie, and I. Orlando: Hartcourt, 1999. Print.
- - -. Flowers for Algernon. Orlando: Harcourt, 1966. Print.
Logsdon, Ann. "Learn about Mental Retardation." About. About.com, 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. .
Reiss, Steven. "Researcher says society mistreats the mentally retarded." Herald-Journal [Chicago] 9 June 1987: 24. Print.
Werlock, Abby H. P. "Keyes, Daniel." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. (Updated 2011.) Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS482&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 5, 2013).
places on the mentally disabled through the actions of which Charlie Gordon, the protagonist, believes are his “friends”. Daniel Keyes, born in 1927 in Brooklyn New York, constantly battled an internal conflict over his choice to do what his parents told him, pursuing a career saving lives, or choosing his passion, which was writing. When his first year at NYU was coming to a close finish he thought to himself, “My education is a driving wedge between me and the people I love” (Keyes 1999 Pt. 1, ¶ 36). After later wondering what would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence, Keyes stored that idea and the ideas of education being a forcing wedge between people to then create “Flowers for Algernon” (Keyes 1999, Pt. 1, ¶ 36). Daniel Keyes was a high school English teacher during the time, grasping inspiring ideas from his students, that led to the the story, that later was turned into a best-selling novel (Werlock). Keyes had been teaching two Special Modified English for low I.Q classes at the time. Keyes mentions that one of the key motivating points for the novel happened in one of these modified English classes. A student once said to him, “I know this is a dummy class, and I want to ask you: If I try hard and I get smart by the end of the term, will you put me in a regular class? I want to be smart.” Keyes admits that the thought of that question haunted him for a long time. After putting many thoughts together the idea of that special boy longing for intelligence later collided with the idea of “what would happen if you could enhance a persons intelligence?” to create Charlie Gordon, a kind, good natured mentally disabled man who is treated with intelligence-enhancing drugs to become a genius (Keyes 1999 Pt.12, ¶ 6, 29-34). One of the main underlying messages in this novel is the mistreatment of the mentally disabled and how Charlie realizes that “those whom he considered his friends now resent him and had considered him only mildly entertaining in his former state” (Werlock). “Mental retardation is described as a significantly sub-average intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (Logsdon).
Medically, mental retardation is based on intellect and low functions in society. Socially, however, mental retardation is not even close to defined as that. One of the major ways the general public mocks the mentally disabled is through the use of offensive and belittling nicknames. Society has adapted new meanings to the term retarded, and has strictly linked that term to abusive, insulting means. Mentally retarded individuals have highly recognizable facial features as well, and this only adds to the ridicule. Terms such as retard, moron, idiot, etc. are bad enough but when derogatory words concerning their facial features come about it makes matters a whole lot worse. Mongoloid is another one of the many terms that society created to describe these distinct features. The name derived from the similarities of persons afflicted with Down’s syndrome and the facial features of Mongolian citizens. Labels placed on the mentally disabled are just as hurtful as racial slurs were, and still are …show more content…
today.
Charlie Gordon in “Flowers for Algernon” works for a bakery as an assistant, cleaning up here and there, since the boss doesn’t believe that he is well enough to do anything else.
Gordon believes that at his job he has many friends, some of those being Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy. Charlie Gordon begins to write progress reports to show his progress before and after his intelligence-enhancing surgery. After getting the surgery Gordon states “Im glad Im going back to werk because I miss my job at the bakery and all my frends and all the fun we have” (Keyes, March 20 ¶ 2). Little does he know that they are not really fun times and his “friends” look to him for entertainment purposes only. Gordon continues to explain all the “fun times” he has with his coworkers, and key details such as the new word they all use to describe a mess up on the job, they call it a “Charlie Gordon” (Keyes, March 21 ¶ 6). At one point Carp, Reilly, and Gimpy take Charlie to a party and get him drunk until a point where he dances with a girl who gives him certain feelings he never felt before (Keyes, April 10 ¶ 3-23). As the intelligence-enhancing drugs begin to kick in Gordon gets an intense wake up call. He starts to realize that all the times that Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy shared with him were on strict entertainment bases. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. Now I know what they mean when they say “to pull a Charlie
Gordon.” I’m ashamed” (Keyes, April 10 ¶ 23).
When dealing with a below average intellectual functioning human being it cannot be obvious enough that these individuals should be guided, starting from the developmental period in which this functioning begins, into society. Instead however, society chooses to ridicule and disregard the mentally handicapped instead. Research shows that the mentally retarded show outstanding signs of social problems not because they are mentally retarded but because of how society treats them. “A study founded that 45 percent of retarded people living in community based group homes have problems with social adjustment. Many have developed emotional disturbances not because they are mentally retarded but because they are rejected and stigmatized” (Reiss 24). “Charlie’s descriptions of other retarded people are telling – he speaks of vacant smiles and empty eyes. This perception is remarkably similar to his doctor’s assertion that Charlie did not properly exist as a person before the experiment” (Werlock). Charlie Gordon was, however, and always did exist as a person before and after the experiment. There is not one piece of evidence that backs up the idea that intelligence defines your existence in society.
At the end of the day, the mentally handicapped portion that makes up society is no different from the rest. Besides the unfortunate and slow social and intellectual learning process these special individuals are just as important and ready for the real world as anyone else can be. Charlie Gordon was one of those special individuals. Unfortunately he received the same harsh mistreatment and the unfortunate mental abuse. He genuinely thought he had friends and when he finally realized they never really accepted him for who he was, but used him for a couple good laughs, he was completely devastated. Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” helps people realize that society mistreats the mentally disabled on a daily basis. “This compelling novel is classified as disability literature because its explorations delve into fundamental questions about the place of disabled people in modern American society” (Werlock). “Flowers for Algernon” aids society into understanding how much words and actions can hurt someone. The mentally retarded cannot change the life they were born into. Even if it was possible though, society should not force them into a life of longing for something “better”.Works Cited
Keyes, Daniel. Algernon, Charlie, and I. Orlando: Hartcourt, 1999. Print.
- - -. Flowers for Algernon. Orlando: Harcourt, 1966. Print.
Logsdon, Ann. "Learn about Mental Retardation." About. About.com, 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2013. .
Reiss, Steven. "Researcher says society mistreats the mentally retarded." Herald-Journal [Chicago] 9 June 1987: 24. Print.
Werlock, Abby H. P. "Keyes, Daniel." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. (Updated 2011.) Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CASS482&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 5, 2013).