CliffsNotes on Keyes' Flowers For Algernon

Cliff Notes

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• ISBN:
  9780544181540
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

Progris Riport 1 Martch 3–Progris Riport 6th Mar 8

Summary

These progress reports serve as the storytelling technique of the novel. We are introduced to Charlie Gordon, the main character, through his own narration as he documents the events of his story. These initial reports highlight his poor grammar and spelling, providing a good contrast for what is to come.

The reader meets Charlie as he is being considered for a surgical procedure that will increase his intelligence. Documentation of these six days covers the screening process and focuses on Charlie’s abilities. He is given many tests, but his own motivation to “get smart” is the primary reason that Charlie is selected as the first human candidate for this operation.

Charlie meets Algernon during this selection process. Algernon is a white mouse that has successfully undergone the surgery.

Analysis

By taking a closer look at Charlie’s personality, the reader can understand the many facets of Charlie’s world simply by understanding his motivation for this surgery. Charlie agrees to the experimental surgery because of his internalized need to please others. Consumed with a desire to “get smart,” Charlie essentially wants to please not only his mother, but also Miss Kinnian, Mr. Donner, his bakery friends, and now the creators of this experiment. Charlie is the very willing participant, not so much for himself but for the others. He believes that if he becomes “smart,” he will have “lots of frends who like me.” Understanding his character, one of trust combined with this desire to please and be liked as a result, helps explain many of the experiences that have shaped Charlie’s life.

When the prospect of this surgery arises, Charlie is very sure of himself and commits to the experiment without regrets. However, as the operation nears, an element of fear creeps into Charlie as he faces the unknown. He overcomes this fear by imagining the reactions of his family and friends to his newfound intelligence. His desire to please others strengthens his resolve.

Although Charlie is eager to participate, the scientists debate using Charlie in the experiment. Dr. Nemur fears the effects of the new intelligence layered over what he considers the sub-intelligence—a foreshadowing of the eventual outcome as Charlie’s genius rapidly sinks below the functional level he began with. Dr. Strauss supports Charlie’s participation because the experiment has the best chance of success with someone like Charlie, whose strong motivation has already helped him learn more than a person with his I.Q. can be expected to know.

This debate continues today as scientists discuss the standards and ethics of medical research that has the potential to harm the subject for the sake of increased knowledge. In Charlie’s case, later in the novel, his own increased knowledge as a result of the surgery makes it possible for him to find the flaw in the experiment’s calculations, The Algernon-Gordon Effect, adding to the world’s store of knowledge even as his own knowledge dissipates.

Keyes’ deliberate use of misspellings and poor syntax in Progris riports 1 through 6 help the reader frame Charlie’s intellectual development. Although random misspellings appear in the immediate progress reports that follow, and then again in the final Progress Report, 17, these initial examples suggest the definitive Charlie that will be transformed. By using this narrative technique, Keyes allows the reader to be visually assaulted with Charlie’s low intelligence—a very effective tool that impacts the reader on several levels.

Charlie is also aware of his poor spelling and grammar when he begins his duty of journalizing his reactions to his intellectual growth. Consistent with his desire to please others, Charlie immediately strives to correct his errors to please the people who read his reports. This personality trait does wane as his intelligence increases and his focus turns inward. It continues to be expressed, however, in his desires to make a difference for others who share his mental status and to make a lasting contribution to science, even as his own intelligence diminishes.

Glossary

• Rorschach Test (Raw shok Test) named after Herman Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist. A test for the analysis of personality, in which the person being tested tells what is suggested to him by a standard series of inkblot designs. The person’s responses are then analyzed and interpreted.

Progress Report 7 March 11

Summary

The operation is complete, and Charlie is recovering in the hospital. Bandages cover Charlie’s eyes for three days. When the bandages are removed, he continues his progress reports. A nurse in the hospital introduces the theme of Man Playing God, but it is too abstract for Charlie to understand. He is disappointed that he is not instantly smart, but Miss Kinnian tells him that it will take time for his intelligence to increase.

Analysis

One of Charlie’s tragic misperceptions about his surgery appears in this progress report. He writes, “If your smart you can have lots of friends to talk to and you never get lonley by yourself all the time.” This sentiment foreshadows many of the hard lessons that Charlie will learn.

The theme of Man Playing God is introduced at this time as well. Charlie’s first nurse, Hilda, tells Charlie that if God had wanted Charlie to be smart, he would have been born that way. Her reference to Adam and Eve and the “sin with the tree of nowlege” foreshadows the difficulties that the intelligent Charlie and other “knowledgeable people” often have in retaining their humility and compassion.

The role of knowledge in God’s universe is another theme that runs through this book. Charlie’s reaction to Hilda’s remark is true to form as he is immediately frightened that perhaps this surgery was a mistake. His desire to please those around him includes God; he does not want to make God angry. Hilda’s remark illustrates a conflict that many people find between science and religion.

Although Charlie is 32 years old, those around him still treat him as a child. He is unaware of this association and interprets many actions as signs of friendship. Dr. Strauss pats Charlie on the head before the surgery, and Miss Kinnian pats his hands after the surgery. These relationships will change as Charlie evolves into the man created by his increased intelligence, enabling him to recognize the patronizing elements of these interactions.

Glossary

• Photostat (Fotostat) a copy.
• all the tea in China a hyperbole meant to exaggerate an extreme amount.

Progress Report 8

Summary

This report shows Charlie’s intellectual abilities beginning to increase. Charlie is remembering things from his past and begins to reflect on these memories.

Charlie competes with Algernon and finally beats the mouse in their maze race. The maze imagery is carried over into Charlie’s memories as he remembers times when he has been lost: once with his parents in a department store, and the previous night with Joe Carp and Frank Reilly. Charlie and his coworkers went to a neighborhood bar; Charlie drank too much whiskey, and Joe and Frank ditched him.

Note that these bakery coworkers often characterize someone who has made a mistake as “pulling a Charlie Gordon.” Charlie does not understand this remark, as he still interprets things on face value.

Analysis

With this progress report, the reader begins to see the impact of Charlie’s operation. Charlie is no longer driven to please. He begins to question authority and probably for the first time in his life uses the word “hate.” He is very impatient for the operation’s results and believes that “those tests are stoopid and riting these progress reports are stoopid to.”

Charlie’s intelligence, however, is on the rise, and his self-awareness is becoming evident—for example, he says, “I never new before that I was dumber than a mouse.” It is also during this time that Charlie returns to his job at the bakery. His transformation is just becoming apparent to others as he asks that Mr. Donner consider him for a bakery apprentice position. Mr. Donner, who hired Charlie seventeen years ago, takes pause at this request.

The relationship that exists between Charlie and his bakery coworkers, Gimpy, Joe, and Frank, is now defined. They often use the phrase “pulled a Charlie Gordon” to explain a stupid mistake, and everyone laughs, including Charlie, who simply enjoys their friendship. This friendship exists at Charlie’s expense, and it is in this progress report that the comfort that Charlie finds with his friends ends.

The importance of friendship is one of the basic, unswerving convictions in Charlie’s life. For example, Charlie makes a conscious choice to befriend Algernon. Charlie is now aware of the fact that he is a superior being to Algernon, but he believes that Algernon deserves some basic kindness: “I dont think its right to make you pass a test to eat. How would Burt like to have to pass a test every time he wants to eat. I think Ill be friends with Algernon.” Miss Kinnian’s choice of reading material for Charlie— Robinson Crusoe—is both an omen of things to come and another barometer of Charlie’s beliefs. Charlie feels sorry for Robinson Crusoe because, although Crusoe is very intelligent and capable of living on a deserted island, Charlie does not think he is very happy. Crusoe is alone on the island without any friends, so how could he be happy?

Charlie also exhibits a great degree of loyalty to his family and friends; loyalty seems to be one of his measures of true friendship. Charlie does not abandon Algernon, and we see a small coterie of people, including Alice, who never abandon Charlie and who remain loyal to Charlie even during his regression. Charlie wants people to like him, and he looks at pleasing them as one way to get them to like him. Although not expressly stated, at some point Charlie realizes that liking involves more than pleasing—it’s connecting. Charlie connects with very few people both before and after his surgery, only the reasons are different.

Keyes also slips in another reference to his Man Playing God theme in this progress report. In attempting to remember his past, and understand his current surroundings, Charlie defines what religion means to him. “I know riligon is god. I don’t remembir how to prey to him but I think mom use to make me prey to him a lot when I was a kid that he shoud make me get better and not be sick. I do...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Life and Background of the Author
• Introduction to the Novel
• A Brief Synopsis
• List of Characters
• Character Web
• Summary and Analysis
• Progris Riport 1 Martch 3–Progris Riport 6th Mar 8
• Progress Report 7 March 11
• Progress Report 8
• Progress Report 9–Progress Report 10
• Progress Report 11–Progress Report 12
• Progress Report 13
• Progress Report 14
• Progress Report 15
• Progress Report 16
• Progress Report 17
• Character Analysis
• Charlie Gordon
• Algernon
• Alice Kinnian
• Mr. Donner, Frank, and Gimpy
• Matt Gordon
• Rose Gordon
• Norma Gordon
• Critical Essays
• Themes in the Novel
• Ethical Issues in the Novel
• Study Help
• Quiz
• Full Glossary
• Essay Questions
• Selected Bibliography
• Keyes’ Major Works