Preview

What Does Raymond's Run Mean In Flowers For Algernon

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
503 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Does Raymond's Run Mean In Flowers For Algernon
As an anonymous person once said “ don't let anyone's hate, drama, or negativity stop you from being the best person you can be.” Toni Cade Bambara displayed this in ”Raymond’s Run” throughout the story, as Raymond, a mentally challenged youth, only did things that made him happy despite other people’s thoughts. In “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes shows this as well when Charlie tries and tries to gain intelligence even though he has his disability. He always does what he thinks he should, even though other people doubt him and his choices. The similarities between " Raymond's run " and " Flowers for Algernon " include the first person narrator and the dialogue; however there are also differences such as the characters tone. …show more content…
`// 0.-7nmu mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmi8fkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkm

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    People has the dream to become smarter than their friends, some even succeed while others fail. Charlie dreamed of becoming smarter so he could be accepted, and he achieved his dream with one simple operation. His life after the operation was easy, but it all started going downhill from there. People, such as myself, say that in the story “Flowers for Algernon”, by Daniel Keyes, Charlie should have never had the operation. But the opposing side has a different view on the situation. But in my own personal opinion, I believe that Charlie should of never had the operation.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon changes throughout the story by being a mentally retarded man to a genius. Charlie Gordon's life completely changes because he is smart now. At the beginning of the story, Charlie didn't understand anything and didn't know how to write. But then Charlie gets a scientific operation and with that operation he gets really smart.…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daniel Keyes’ story, “Flowers for Algernon,” is the progress reports of 37 year old, Charlie Gordon, who gets a surgery to gain intelligence. Throughout the reports, you can see where Charlie intellectually starts and his progress from there. Then, unfortunately, Charlie’s intelligence descends and he’s back where he started. The story teaches you that too much of anything is unhealthy.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, I firmly believe that the best theme for “Flowers for Algernon” is that too much of a good thing can end up being bad. In the end, you can look at it two ways… either Charlie died or he simply moved away. “Goodbye Miss Kinnian and Dr. Strauss and evreybody.” (pg. 215) The point is, his happy-ever-after ending never happened. His brain couldn’t keep the new intelligence in his mind, therefore, it began to wash away. I think that my choice of theme works best with this…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Estimated 26% of people 18 or older are diagnosable with a mental disability. Charlie Gordon, a 37 year old man, has a mental disability and undergoes an operation to make him smart, but the result is that he becomes too smart and then hostile and eventually dies. Daniel Keyes portrays a theme in Flowers for Algernon that since some situation can come back and bite a person, be careful what you wish for.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "That's the thing about human life" said author of Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes, "there is no control group, no way to ever know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had been changed" (Keyes). In two societies where science is used to change the order of the world, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, show the impact of science on society. As one book shows the consequences of altering intelligence, the other deals with the brainwashing used to create a stable community. Flowers for Algernon and Brave New World share the common themes of science being used to perfect society, the incompatibility of truth and…

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The reputation of Daniel Keyes is a result of "Flowers For Algernon.” In 1959, Keyes won the Hugo Award for best short story. The version of the novel also received The Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1966, for the best novel. As a reader of this short story, one could be overwhelmed with anticipation and emotion. Keyes enhances the story with the use of the progress reports and the first person point of view.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men” (pg.199). In the novel, Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes expresses the lifelong changes of Charlie Gordon. Charlie Gordon is thirty two years old, he’s a sweet kindhearted loving man who just wants to be accepted for the person that he is, while having the mindset and characteristics of a six year old. In this novel Charlie Gordon, a dynamic character, is inspired to changes with his personality and intelligence, to his lifestyle, and his final passing.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Nature is like art; there are always those elements you want to change.” In the science fiction story, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie had always wanted to be intelligent, and he did with a special operation. People today are trying to figure out how this story could become a reality. Genetic engineering is the modification of characteristics of a plant by changing its genes. Humans may give people confidence, cure them from diseases, and help people live longer.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Daniel Keys wrote the short story Flowers for Algernon in 1958. The story took over 14 years to develop. He did not have a good relationship with his parents who wanted him (especially his dad) to become a doctor. In college he had two professors (Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss) whose names he decided to use in his story along with the name Algernon which belonged to one of the mice he dissected. Before that he also taught children with special needs and one day one of the children asked him if he could be put in a normal class if he became smart enough. This really triggered Daniel to write the short story in the first place. After the story was finished he tried to publish it but was unsuccessful because they wanted him to change the ending so that Algernon did not die. Daniel liked the ending and the message which the story gave and in the end his story was finally published. It was banned in a few states in the US and Canada because this was considered to be wrong to want to alter the human mind and it went against religion. Charlie is the main character of this story who has a low IQ, but by getting an operation by a group of scientists he manages to triple his IQ. Charlie is a unique and brave individual, who by making a choice, becomes a tragic hero, causing him to possibly lose more than he gained and regretting the choice of having the operation.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Short story Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes gives the opportunity for many different themes. Even if I have only chosen one, ‘ Too much of anything is not good for anybody’ that does not mean that it is the only one that I can see throughout the story. Though I do find it to be the best represented. As the story starts out we see that the main character Charlie is obviously not very intelligent. Some might interpret this to mean that he is not very happy, but he is actually very enthusiastic about everything in his life and everything it has to offer. This is specifically shown when he is chosen to participate in an expirement/surgery that could potentially triple his intelligence. After Charlie goes through the surgery he starts getting tested on his intelligence level. Because he is only in the beginning process he starts to becoming frustrated at constantly failing these and feeling stupid. As the story progresses he starts to gain intelligence at a un humanly rate and have much more knowledge than anyone around him. During…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to CBS news, 15% of people are mentally handicapped, but what if I said that there was an operation to make a person three times as smart and make one normal. In the fictional story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, It is about a mentally handicapped man named Charlie Gordon that gets an operation that is supposed to make him smarter and get rid of his disability. The operation is tested on a mouse and it gets smarter, so they perform it on Charlie and it makes him smarter for a short period of time. Eventually the mouse loses the intelligence and dies. Obviously, there are more costs as a consequence of Algernon-Gordon experiment.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After having read several short science fiction stories, two certain stories really stood out to me, those two short stories were," Flowers for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keyes and,…

    • 1627 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the book begins, a major conflict of man vs. society appears. Basically its between Charlie, representing the mentally retarded vs. society. Charlie does not realize this when his intelligence is limited but as he grows brighter he notices the people he used to call friends, namely his co-workers in the bakery, were outwardly mean to him. Frank Reilly, Joe Carp, and Gimpy play cruel tricks on him that Charlie does not understand. Once they took Charlie to a bar, got him drunk, and laughed at him while Charlie. Charlie never understood this at the time and he tools the laughter as a sign of friendship. His other co-worker, Fanny Birden, is the only one nice to him but it is only out of pity because of his disability. Once Charlie realizes the mistreatment of mentally retarded people, he cannot help but feel resentment to those who used to look down on him. At one point in the novel, Charlie is at a restaurant and there is a mentally retarded kitchen helper. When he sees that they are laughing at him he proceeds to yell at them telling them that the kitchen helper is human too. Charlie feels a connection with him. However when Charlie visits the Warren Home, he looks at the boys with the same perception people used to look at him with. For example, when the deaf mute boy in the shop class shows Charlie a mediocre lamp he made, Charlie said it was a nice job to humor the boy. Charlie resents the boys in the Warren Home because he knows that soon he will become just like one of them soon, and he does not want to go back to being dumb. Another conflict in "Flowers for Algernon" is man vs. man, namely Charlie vs. himself. When he grows smarter, he starts to talk about how Charlie is always looking at him. This Charlie is the dumber version of him and…

    • 920 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Raymon'd Run

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Raymond's Run" is Toni Cade Bambara's short story about a young girl named Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker and her brother Raymond. Raymond is mentally handicapped and Hazel is his self-proclaimed caretaker. The two of them both enter a race. Hazel ends up beating her main competition (Gretchen), and actually wins the race. She is proud to have won, but also proud of Raymond for making his first "run" as well. The story ends with Squeeky not only winning the race, but gaining respect for her rival and considering a myriad of other activities to pursue and conquer.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays