Flowers for Algernon

Over the winter break, I read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I chose this book because it looked like a very interesting book that most people would like, and it was. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded adult, Charlie Gordon, who is at age thirty-two. He goes to the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults where he is being taught by Alice Kinnian, a teacher. Charlie works at a bakery where his uncle used to work at before he died. Charlie writes down about what happens during his experiences at a laboratory, being tested by a neurosurgeon, Professor Nemur, accompanied by Doctor Strauss. Charlie goes through a series of tests, all because he wants to be used for an operation to raise his I.Q., which is at a rate of 68. The reports he wrote, after a certain amount of time, get turned in to Professor Nemur and Doctor Strauss, and he starts off writing a new batch of reports. A man working in the laboratory in the same fields with the doctor and professor, Burt, also tests Charlie with inkblots. At first, Charlie is confused of what he should be seeing in them, and thinks that Burt spilled ink on the white cards. Charlie needs special permission from his family to undergo the operation to raise his I.Q., but he says that his family (His mother, father, and younger sister,) sent him away and he doesn't know where they live. Doctor Strauss assures Charlie that after the operation, they would find his family. After the operation, Charlie thinks he would get smarter immediately, but Professor Nemur told him that it takes some time for him to get smarter. He continues to take tests and write down the reports to help the scientists see how his I.Q. grows.

A quote that reveals the major conflict of the main character, is on page 246, "Since when is a guinea pig supposed to be grateful?". In this quote, Charlie is responding to what Professor Nemur had said, that he "created" and that Charlie is "indebted to these people." Professor Nemur was referring to operation the scientists preformed on Charlie to raise his I.Q.. Afterwards, Charlie explains to the Professor, "I've served your purpose and now I'm trying to work out your mistakes, so how the hell does that make me indebted to anyone?" I think that this is one of the major conflicts in the book because Charlie is trying to tell the scientists that he is a human being, and not a creation of science.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot because when I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down until I knew what would happen next. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read science fiction because it is very interesting to see what happens to a person before, during, and after an operation, even if its fiction. Whether its a person, or a mouse! They both undergo an I.Q. raising operation, which I thought was very interesting. I think it was an amazingly good book.

Catherine K.

Ms. Bennett

Period 1