Charlie Gordon is a character with little understanding of humanity. His entire life he was neglected by his family due to the mental retardation he suffered from. At thirty years old, he struggles to read and write, but still has a burning passion to learn. Algernon, a white mouse used in a science experiment seems to be the solution to his problems. After Doctors Strauss and Nemur successfully add artificial intelligence through a complicated surgery of brain enzymes into Algernon, they are ready and willing to test it on humans. Charlie becomes the test subject in hope to become more intellectually powerful. Rapidly, his knowledge begins to surpass the doctors who gave him his intelligence, and he becomes fluent in twenty different languages. Charlie feels like he could not live a better life now that he has learning abilities, however his understanding of humanity makes him second guess his entire past. Flashbacks of his abusive family and tormenting peers allows him to get an idea of humanity that he was never able to comprehend before. Life all of a sudden does not seem so desirable or Charlie. He  begins to feel emotions he wasn’t aware of as a retardate, and finds that the people he had always looked up to are not the shining stars he used once thought them to be.

Life gets difficult for Charlie after being fired from his low-paying job from the bakery. His co-workers despised his new intelligence, and felt like insignificant next to him. They voted him out of the bakery, and Charlie no longer had a job. He was then taken to a science convention for display. The two doctors that successful injected intelligence into Charile shared their new innovation ideas to many world famous scientists. Due to the fact that Charlie was beyond the capabilities of the scientists, he found many flaws in their research, which generated the concern that the procedure wasn’t completely safe. “God darn him. He didn’t know what he was talking about. At this point, the compulsion overwhelmed me.” This quote on page 145 explains how Charlie felt after he realized the scientists he idolized had turned out not to be the geniuses he thought them to be. Charlie took initiative and ran away, hoping to find his own scientific discoveries and determine the future of himself and Algernon. In his new rented apartment, he sets up mazes and studies Algernon’s behaviors.

Charlie begins to see a steady amount of deterioration in Algernon’s abilities. He soon began to find erratic behaviors in the lab mouse, extreme hostility, and one day found Algernon dead. Algernon was buried peacefully in a garden and was honored with flowers. Shocked, Charlie began to use his findings to research why Algernon was deprived of his mental abilities to a point of death. His next question… was he next? Charlie worked vigorously to solve his theory. “ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE,” was Charlie’s final claim found on page 226. What follows this thesis in his report showed a tremendous amount of heart, considering he just figured out his genius abilities were temporary. “I am sorry, however, that my own contribution to the field must rest upon the ashes of the work of this staff, and especially those who have done so much for me.”  Charlie felt dedicated to this research after understanding how dreadful his past was. He wanted to make sure that more people did not have to experience what he had went through.

As fate would have it, Charlie’s theory was true. He began to see progressive deterioration in himself, to a point where suicide seemed like his only solution. He slowly began to readapt his past abilities, and could not longer read, write, or comprehend what occurred around him. He was able to obtain his job back at the bakery, and the people who had been teasing him all his life had come back as supporters and helped him during hardships. “I felt bad because I could tell he was making fun of me… I got so afraid I felt like I was gonna cry.” This series of events occurred on page 271 after Charlie was being teased by a new employee at the bakery for being retarded. “Later Gimpy came over limping on his bad foot and he said Charlie if anyone bothers you or tries to take advantage of you you call me or Joe or Frank and we will set him straight.” The people who had teased Charlie for years were able to realize how special he actually was, and became motivators and true friends. These deeds show how people can change when given the right opportunities, and how these changes can bring out the best in people.

This was a very unique book. It was written and portrayed through a progress report written by Charlie, so the reader was directly in his mind and could see his progression throughout the story. The book was also rich with many themes that opened up new perspective’s in my life. One theme in the story was that life is not always what it seems. Charlie always perceived people to be his friends, because they always portrayed themselves as kind. When he gained his intelligence and realized that his peers thought of him as a joke, his perspective on humanity changed. Charlie suddenly found that people weren’t as friendly as they appeared, and that all of his life nobody cared for him. This theme enables the reader be more conscious of how people treat others, and helps to show that everybody is human and has feelings. It explains that we need to be kind to everyone, so they feel that they have a place in this world where they belong.

Another theme that emerged through this book is that intelligence is not the most essential factor of life. “Intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection leads to mental and moral breakdown,” states Charlie on page 221 after realizing that there’s more to life than being smart. When Charlie was a genius, he typically discredited the thoughts of his peers, because he found them childish. Many viewed him as arrogant, but after time he was able to learn that his gift was not as appealing as he thought it to be. As Charlie began to cognitively deteriorate at the end of the story, he tried to show others that he cared for them, so they wouldn’t experience what he made others feel like when he was intelligent.

This book was truly incredible. The author, Daniel Keyes did a fantastic job writing this novel. The journalistic format of this “page- turner” was a very unique touch, and it did a fantastic job portraying the story from Charlie’s perspective. I believe that the author’s intentions for writing this book was to let people know that although everyone is not given the same talents, each and every person in this world is special, and has the potential to do great things. This book was very powerful and will remain with me for a  long time. This inspiring story helps readers look at life differently, and allows them to realize the struggles that many face in life. I believe that overall this book was very successful, and I definitely suggest for anyone to read it. Flowers for Algernon truly helped me understand more in my own life, and I know that it can open new perspectives to others as well.