Daniel Keyes "Flowers for Algernon"

1.

Flowers for
Algernon
BY DANIEL KEYES.

2.

About the author
Daniel Keyes was born in New York City, New York, His family was Jewish. He
attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime
Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers. Afterward he returned to
New York and in 1950 received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn
College. He eventually became an editor of their pulp magazine Marvel Science
Stories[5] (cover-dated Nov. 1950 – May 1952) after editor Robert O.
Erisman,[6] and began writing for the company's comic-book lines Atlas Comics,
the 1950s precursors of Marvel Comics.After Goodman ceased publishing pulps
in favor of paperback books and men's adventure magazines, Keyes became
an associate editor of Atlas under editor-in-chief and art director Stan Lee.The
short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress
reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental
surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The
short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress
reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental
surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The
story was initially published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy &
Science Fiction and the expanded novel in 1966.The novel has been adapted
several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly,
starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire
Bloom. Keyes also won the Hugo Award in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966
for the story.
Keyes also won the Hugo Award in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966 for the
story.

3.

Artcovers for
the book

4.

Artcover for
the book

5.

Charlie
Gordon
"32 years man with a low
iq number as they say."
Charlie Gordon is a man with
an IQ of 68 who works a
menial job as a janitor at a
factory, and is attending a
literacy program taught by
Ms. Kinnian. He is selected to
undergo an experimental
surgical technique to
increase his intelligence. The
technique had already been
tested on a number of
animals; the great success
was with Algernon, a
laboratory mouse. The surgery
on Charlie is also a success,
and his IQ triples.

6.

Alice
Kinnian
Charlie's teacher at the
Center for mentally-ill Adults
at Beekman College. Alice
initially recommends Charlie
for experimental surgery
because she is impressed
by his motivation. Although
she is not one of the
scientists who conduct the
experiment, she acts as an
unofficial member of the
team due to her concern
for him. Alice is the only
woman Charlie falls in love
with.

7.

Professor Harold Nemur
The scientist responsible for the experiment that
increases Charlie's intelligence. An arrogant and
career-obsessed man, Nemur views Charlie as a
laboratory animal, not as a person. Nemur has a
tendency to imply that he created Charlie, as if his
mentally-ill patient is not human.

8.

Fay Lillman
She was a Charlie's roommate in the
apartment building that he's moving
into after running away from a
science convention. Faye is an
attractive, energetic and seductive
artist whose favorite games are
drinking and dancing. She enters into
a brief relationship with Charlie,
knowing nothing about his past.

9.

Algernon
A white mouse, who is the first
successful test subject after an
experimental operation that Charlie
later undergoes. The operation
makes Algernon three times smarter
than a normal mouse and it allows
him to solve complex puzzles.

10.

My thoughts and conclusion
And in the end, when Algernon dies, Charlie
brings flowers to his grave. It is the act, it is a
farewell symbol to a friend, as well as to himself.
Charlie, which still in the state of a sane person
not for a long time, understands that his end is
near. Soon he will start to lose his intelligence
and become stupid one.
The meaning of the title is that everything
passes that the future is beyond the control of
people. You can improve your
intelligence but you can't escape from yourself,
and everything will return to its place.
People like to feel smart, so they like
the company of people around whom they
feel like geniuses.
This novel shows that we should be kinder to
each other, see a man in front of you, not a
single stereotype about him.