Charlie Gordon the protagonist in "Flowers for Algernon" is the narrator of this story. He has a number of issues with his mental health. Throughout the story Charlie becomes smarter, because of an experiment, that causes him to realize things he never would have known without it. Alice Kinnian, also referred to as Miss Kinnian, is Charlie's teacher. Even before the surgery Charlie and Miss Kinnian had a special relationship, that Charlie had with no one else ( 3d progris riport p. 3-4). After the surgery Charlie falls in love with Miss Kinnian, which is his first relationship with a women (PROGRESS REPORT 11, May 1 p. 76). Professor Neumer is one of the scientists that works on Charlie in the experiment. Professor Neumer is focused mainly on Charlie's emotions, but still things of Charlie as a lab rat like Algernon. Rose Gordon is Charlie's mother, she never excepted the idea of Charlie being different from other kids. Her denial eventually led Charlie out of the house (PROGRESS REPORT 13 June 10 p 134-135). Charlie's life was harder than it had to be because Rose disowned him and no longer excepted him as a son. Even when Charlie went home to see her later in the book, she struggled to remember him (September 21 p 26), which impacted his emotions. This could have possibly impacted the experiment. Algernon is the second most important character in "Flowers for Algernon". Algernon is not brought up much in the book, but contributes to many of the decisions that Charlie makes throughout the book.
There are many important symbols and themes, but possibly the most important is The window Charlie sat at wen he was young (). It may not have seemed like such a big deal, but it simbilize the most important parts of the book. When Carlie is young he is often sitting at a window, blocked from all parts of society. Often he wanted to go outside to play with the children, but was unable to because of the issues he had. The window symbolizes the divide between Charlie and society. When Carlie had the surgery to make him smarter, society statred to welcome him more and more. The "window" between him and society was finally broken. In "Flowers for Algernon" the reader can see the complications between intelect and emotions. As Charlie becomes more intelectual he begins to have different emotions. His head is going faster than his heart and he cannot catch up. He was struggling to understand basic emotins because of his high intelligence. His struggles symbolizes the connection between intelect and emotions, that everyone struggles with. http://www.sdfo.org/gj/stories/flowersforalgernon.pdf |
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