The relationship between the individual and society in the novel "Flowers for Algernon"
“Personality is something infinitely valuable, supernatural, uniquely inimitable in each of us”
L. Vasilenko
Written on the basis of the short story of the same name, the novel "Flowers for Algernon" is a work whose direction can be defined as "soft", or humanitarian, science fiction. Although it is based on a natural scientific assumption, namely the possibility of artificially raising the level of intelligence through surgical intervention, the main thing in the novel is still the psychological and emotional maturation of the individual, as well as its social adaptation.
The idea to rework the story, published in 1959 in the journal Fantasy and Science Fiction, into a full-fledged detailed narrative about the fate of thirty-two-year-old Charlie Gordon, who suffers from dementia, must have come from the author, Daniel Keyes, not by chance. Of course, this decision to a large extent could be due to the incredible success of the story: already in 1960, he received the Hugo Award, the highest level award in the field of science fiction. However, it was the use of the genre of the novel by the author to reveal the plot that made it possible to create a broad and integral picture of the special, unlike anything, world of the protagonist, whose tragedy in part lies in the fact that he has always been “on the other side of the intellectual fence” [Keys, 2007 , With. 116]. In addition, as the author of the Afterword to the novel “Flowers for Algernon” - A. Korzhenevsky, writes, the reader gets to know the hero much closer, there are more emotions, more thoughts, but this is still a subtle, incredibly powerful drama, a tragedy of the mind and one of the most important works of fantasy literature [Korzhenevsky, 2007, p. 316].
It is worth noting the unusual narration technique: the novel is a series of reports and diary entries covering, if you look at it, not such a long period of time: the first of them dates from the third of March, and the last - the twenty-first of November. It turns out that the story of the life of one person, incredible in its depth and drama, fits in some seven months. It is symbolic that the process of rapid intellectual development, as well as the flowering of the protagonist's genius and the equally rapid regression successively replace each other, as the seasons succeed each other: spring, summer and autumn. The winter, as well as the rest of his life, Charlie Gordon will have to spend in a specialized hospital.
The novel "Flowers for Algernon", in our opinion, is a kind of writing experiment, the purpose of which is to go beyond the usual first-person narrative. The very first report, so confused, with many punctuation and spelling errors, written by the narrator - Charlie Gordon, completely immerses the reader in the world of a person with a congenital intellectual disorder. The innovation and originality of such a presentation is a step, perhaps risky for America in the mid-60s, but it fully justified itself: again an award and again the highest - the Nebula Prize for the best novel received by D. Keyes in 1967. The unusualness of the author's choice of the narrator, so unlike the people around him and so far from what is commonly called the norm, can only be compared with the novel by another American writer - C. Kesey "Over the Cuckoo's Nest", where Chief Bromden, the patient, acts as the narrator psychiatric hospital. The heroes of both works are people rejected by society, which is full of prejudices and social stereotypes: who and when said that a person suffering from an intellectual or mental disorder is not a person? Perhaps this is the very main question that the writer poses to us, while putting the answer into the mouth of his own hero: “But I "m not an inanimate object. I" m a person. I was a person before the operation. “Don’t compare me to a dumb piece of iron! I am a man,” says Charlie Gordon. “I was a person even before the operation.” But the rest not only do not understand this, they simply do not want to accept the fact that people, for some reason deprived of the opportunity to behave like the majority of normal representatives of humanity, are individuals in the full sense of the word and require an appropriate, humane, attitude towards yourself. And again, Charlie Gordon is indignant, he is outraged by the similar limited thinking of the people around him: “It may sound like ingratitude, but that is one of the things that I resent here - the attitude that I am a guinea pig. Nemur's constant references to having made me what I am, or that someday there will be others like me who will become real human beings. How can I make him understand that he did not create me? He makes the same mistake as the others when they look at a feeble-minded person and laugh because they don't understand there are human feelings involved. He doesn't realize that I was a person before I came here." "Maybe it smacks of ingratitude, but what really angers me is the treatment of me as an experimental animal. Nemours' constant reminders that he made me who I am, or that one day thousands of cretins will become real people.
How can I make him understand that he didn't create me? Nemours makes the same mistake as people who make fun of an underdeveloped person, without realizing that he is experiencing the same feelings as they are. He doesn’t realize that long before I met him, I was already a person.” Professor Nemours is so far from the idea that Charlie Gordon was a unique person and in his previous state prior to the operation that he even tries on the role of the creator who created something new: “We who have worked on this project have the satisfaction of knowing we have taken one of nature's mistakes and by our new techniques created a superior human being. When Charlie came to us he was outside of society, alone in a great city without friends or relatives to care about him, without the mental equipment to live a normal life. No past, no contact with the present, no hope for the future. It might be said that Charlie Gordon did not really exist before this experiment..." out of the mistakes of nature and created a new, completely exceptional human being.Before coming to us, Charlie was out of society, alone in a huge city, without friends and relatives, without the mental apparatus necessary for a normal life. He had no past, there was no awareness of the present, there was no hope for the future, Charlie Gordon simply did not exist ... "Unwilling to put up with such an attitude, the protagonist voices an idea that may be the key in trying to define the" human personality "as such: "I "m a human being, a person - with parents and memories and a history - and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room!" "I am a person, I am a person, I have a father and a mother, memories, history. I was before they rolled me into the operating room!" Yes, he has both a father and a mother, and most importantly, he has memories and his own story, which makes him different from everyone else, which makes him a personality.Moreover, Charlie Gordon always had a goal towards which he moved with an enviable persistence. "I want to be smart", - he declares already in his first report. That is why he attends Miss Kinnian's classes at the school for the mentally retarded and therefore agrees to the operation, which means that here we can already talk about awareness of choice, about will and inner aspirations aimed at achieving the desired goal.But isn't all of the above an integral part of the human personality? The conclusion suggests itself: Charlie Gordon - albeit deprived of some of the opportunities that most people are endowed with, but still a person who, like everyone else, thinks, feels and is aware of what is happening as much as her intellectual and emotional development allows. However, the modern dehumanized society, instead of accepting the main character as he is and recognizing his inalienable rights, rejects him, making him an unwitting social outcast.
But here comes the moment when Charlie Gordon becomes a genius in the truest sense of the word. And then what happens? - Again rejected by the same society, a full-fledged member of which the hero so much dreamed of becoming. The reason for this, in our opinion, is that Charlie the genius with an IQ of 185, like everything that goes beyond the generally accepted norm, perhaps even more did not fit into the usual framework of public consciousness than Charlie with a minimum level of intelligence . One way or another, the protagonist is still alone, with the only difference being that now he is fully aware of it: “Before, they had laughed at me, despising me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hated me for my knowledge and understanding.” But such is the price of acquired genius: “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I knew and loved. Now, I "m more alone than ever before".
The rapidly rising level of intelligence is also reflected in his written reports: “Strauss again brought up my need to speak and write simply and directly so that people will understand me. He reminds me that language is sometimes a barrier instead of a pathway. Ironic to find myself on the other side of the intellectual fence".
Indeed, the language sometimes "instead of the road turns into a barrier."
Ironically or according to the author's idea, the main character had to face this problem twice. In order to understand the full scale of the changes that occurred to him, which, of course, were reflected in his speech, as well as to trace the dynamics of these changes, it is enough to give a few examples: “Dr Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evrey thing that happy to me from now on.<…>My name is Charlie Gordon I werk in Donners bakery where Mr Donner gives me 11 dollers a week and bred or cake if I want. I am 32 yeres old and next munth is my brithday. I tolld dr Strauss and perfesser Nemur I cant rite good but he says it dont matter he says I shud rite just like I talk and like I rite compushishens in Miss Kinnians class at the beekmin collidge center for retarted adults where I go to lern 3 times a week on my time off". The first report, dated March 3, is characterized by simplicity of syntactic constructions, lack of punctuation marks, many spelling errors, grammatically incorrect use of auxiliary verbs, and violation of lexical combinability. The author of the novel, thus, immediately immerses the reader into the world of Charlie Gordon, brilliantly conveying the deplorable state of his intellectual state at the linguistic level.
With the gradual development of the protagonist's mental abilities, his speech, written and oral, also changes radically: “April 6. Today, I learned, the comma, this is, a, comma (,) a period, with, a tail, Miss Kinnian, says its, importent, because, it makes writing, better, she said, somebody, could lose, a lot, of money, if a comma, isnt in, the right, place, I got, some money, that I, saved from , my job, and what, the foundation, pays me, but not, much and, I dont, see how, a comma, keeps, you from, losing it, But, she says, everybody, uses commas, so Ill, use them, too". April 7. I used the comma wrong. Its punctuation.<…>Miss Kinnian says a period is punctuation too, and there are lots of other marks to learn. I told her I thought she meant all the periods had to have tails and be called commas. But she said no. She said; You got. to mix? them! up: She showed? me" how, to mix! them; up, and now! I can. mix (up all? kinds of punctuation- in, my. writing! There" are lots, of rules; to learn? but. Im" get"ting them in my head: One thing? I, like: about, Dear Miss Kinnian: (thats the way? it goes; in a business, letter (if I ever go! into business?) is that, she: always; gives me "a reason" when-I ask. She "s a genius! I wish? I cou" d be smartlike-her; Punctuation, is? fun!
Some two months later: "June 11. "Just a minute, Professor Nemur," I said, interrupting him at the height of his peroration. "What about Rahaja mati"s work in that field?" He looked at me blankly. "Who?"
"Rahajamati. His attacks article Tanida"s theory of enzyme fusion-the concept of changing the chemical structure of the enzyme blocking the step in the metabolic pathway."
He frowned. "Where was that article translated?"
"It hasn't been translated yet. I read it in the Hindu journal of Psychopathology just a few days ago."
He looked at his audience and tried to shrug it off. "Well, I don't think we have anything to worry about." Our results speak for themselves"
"But Tamda himself first propounded the theory of blocking the maverick enzyme through combination, and now he points out that"".
Thus, the main character comes to understand how much he has surpassed the people around him intellectually, including many prominent scientists: “Am I a genius? I don't think so. Not yet anyway.
As Burt would put it, mocking the euphemisms of educational jargon, I "m exceptional - a democratic term used to avoid the damning labels of gifted and deprived (which used to mean bright and retarded) and as soon as exceptional begins to mean anything to anyone they'll change it. The idea seems to be: use an expression only as long as it doesn't mean anything to anybody. Exceptional refers to both ends of the spectrum, so all my life I "ve been exceptional". "I'm genius? Not sure. At least for now. I am, as Bart would say, an exception. A perfectly democratic term that avoids the cursed labels like "gifted" and "incapable" (which actually means "brilliant" and "imbecile"). As soon as the word "exception" begins to take on meaning, it is immediately replaced by another. Use the word only as long as no one understands its meaning. The "exception" can be attributed to both ends of the mental spectrum, so I've been an "exception" all my life.
So, the novel by D. Keyes "Flowers for Algernon" fully reveals the relationship between society and an individual, which, for well-known reasons, cannot correspond to the norm accepted in it. The protagonist's attempts to become a part of this society run into the unwillingness of the majority to understand and recognize that he, like all his other representatives, has the right to be treated with respect. However, the story of Charlie Gordon, perhaps, would have remained a simple description of the tragic fate of another social outcast, if not for the author’s clear position on this matter, which is expressed both in the novel itself and in the epigraph preceding it. Namely: the novel contains a moral and ethical attitude, incredibly powerful in its impact, designed to finally establish in the public mind the idea that people who for some reason differ from those around them should be treated the same as everyone else. Perhaps this explains the fact that the novel is required for study in American schools.
Conclusions on the second chapter
Based on the analysis of the distinctive features of D. Keyes's fiction as a science fiction writer, we can conclude that his works are an outstanding example of "thought out" literature. Moreover, the pronounced humanism of the author's fantasy can be traced in its ideological and aesthetic content. Proof of this is the novel “Flowers for Algernon”, in which the writer, using the example of the tragic fate of the protagonist, reveals the complex and sometimes contradictory relationships between society and an individual, while emphasizing the need for a humane attitude towards her.
Daniel Keyes is a well-known author of fantasy stories and novels, and almost everyone knows him as the author of the science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon. Initially, it was a short story that was published in one of the science fiction magazines back in 1959. Later, the author finalized his story, adding it to a full-fledged novel.
Subsequently, the plot of this novel was used to create several films and theatrical performances. In addition, the plot of the novel "Flowers for Algernon" overlaps significantly with the plot of the film "The Lawnmower Man".
The plot and history of the creation of the science fiction novel "Colors for Algernon"
The history of the science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon began in 1945, when Keys' parents insisted that he take courses for future medical students. It was then that the writer himself first thought about increasing intelligence. However, the main events that influenced the creation of the novel "Flowers for Algernon" occurred already in 1957 - then the writer taught English at a school where children with intellectual disabilities were taught, while one of his students was interested in whether he could study in a regular school. school if he studies hard and gets smarter.
In 1958, the writer finished work on the story "Flowers for Algernon." He first approached Galaxy Science Fiction, but the editor there wanted to change the ending of the story. He insisted that at the end of the story, the main character stay smart and marry Alice Kinnian. However, Keys insisted on his version of the end of the story, much darker. As a result, the story was published in the journal Fantasy & Science Fiction.
The writer began to refine the story in 1962, while he completed work on a full-fledged novel already in 1965.
As probably all fans of science fiction know, the main character of the novel "Flowers for Algernon" is Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded janitor. He agrees to take part in the experiment, hoping that as a result of this experiment, his intelligence will increase significantly.
The experiment is being carried out by Dr. Strauss and Nemur - they have developed a surgical method with which you can increase intelligence. The first experiment was carried out on a mouse named Algernon. After that, they decided to perform a similar operation on Charlie, who had long wanted to become smarter.
The whole story is built as reports that Charlie writes about his condition, while as the intellect develops, not only the spelling and punctuation errors in these reports disappear, but the style also becomes much more complicated.
Having become smarter, Charlie realizes that those whom he previously considered friends are constantly laughing at him, making cruel jokes that he used to perceive as normal.
After a while, Algernon's intelligence begins to decline rapidly, and then the mouse dies altogether. The studies that Charlie himself was able to conduct showed that a rapid decline in intelligence is inevitable, respectively, sooner or later Charlie's intelligence will drop to its previous level. Until the very end, he tries to fight it, but nothing comes of it.
Review of the science fiction novel "Flowers for Algernon"
It is said that people whose intelligence is very low, like crazy people, are happy, because they know nothing about reality, they live in their own worlds, where there is no place for reality. On the other hand, each person creates for himself his own world, his own illusions, which no one likes to destroy.
At the very beginning of the book, the protagonist is convinced that smart people have many friends, that they are never alone. Later, he, along with readers, realizes that this is far from being the case. Moreover, the author himself repeatedly mentions Adam and Eve - they ate the fruits from the Tree of Knowledge, because of which they lost their paradise, but they just wanted to know the Truth, that is, to become smarter.
As you read Flowers for Algernon, the reader is asked the question: is it better to be stupid and have many friends, or be a genius who cannot get along with any person?
As you read the book, you also come to the realization that, perhaps, being too smart is not very good. So, the main character at the very beginning of the novel and at the very end was a very kind, calm, albeit stupid person. But after increasing intelligence, he lost his faith in people, which killed his kindness, even humanity. As a result, genius Charlie appears to readers as a selfish, embittered, intolerant man who almost constantly thinks about how he wants to punch someone. If you compare Genius Charlie and Charlie the Fool, then it seems that it was Charlie the Fool who was the Man.
Charlie's diary entries are written very believably. Moreover, when reading the notes of Charlie the Fool, an irresistible desire arises to get to know him - he is seen as an incredibly bright, clean and kind person who sincerely loves the people around him.
It is also worth noting that, despite the fact that the novel was originally conceived as a short story, and only after its publication grew into a full-fledged novel, there are no voids in the plot - it is solid.
The novel "Flowers for Algernon" is very sad and realistic. And it cannot be attributed exclusively to science fiction, since to a much greater extent it is a psychological novel that reveals human psychology, showing without embellishment all the weaknesses of people, revealing complexes that suddenly arise. And this novel, among other things, makes readers think about the extent to which it is possible to interfere in the affairs of nature, where is the very line that cannot be crossed.
The work "Flowers for Algernon" can be attributed to a science fiction drama. However, the element of fantasy there is small and secondary, and the dramatic component is in the foreground.
The presentation of the content in the novel comes from the perspective of a 32-year-old man named Charlie Gordon, who is mentally retarded. He had a unique chance: to undergo a brain operation that will allow him to raise his intellect to a normal level, before him this operation was performed by a mouse named Algernon, whose intellectual abilities have increased significantly. Charlie keeps a diary in which he writes down his impressions, and the very first entries begin from the preoperative state, they are distinguished by complete illiteracy and a lack of understanding of the essence of what is happening around. Charlie really wants to become smart, learn to communicate normally with people. The operation is successful, and the protagonist's intelligence begins to grow at an incredible pace. Grammar becomes perfect, and thoughts become deeper from record to record. In a few months, Gordon becomes a brilliant scientist, whose intellect rises above the people he wanted to be like before the operation. However, in the mechanism of changing brain activity, a mistake was made that made the reverse regression of mental abilities irreversible. Charlie is aware of this but can't help it, losing his genius every day and falling into amnesia. Over time, the style of his reports becomes poorer, he again forgets punctuation, grammar, and becomes the same person that he was before the operation.
The novel is quite easy to digest, and, at first glance, nothing but this sad story can be seen in it. But is it? In fact, here you can fish out a lot of philosophical ideas that immediately rush to the eye trained in a deep analysis of literature. The philosophical message of the work can be divided into several levels.
First, it is necessary to highlight some irrationalistic notes. As his rationality grows, Charlie begins to become more and more alienated from people. He is constantly told that during his mental retardation he was good-natured, smiling, had many friends. But he perfectly understands what was the price of this “friendship”. If a person who is always smiling is a degenerate, then, of course, he will constantly be in the company of other people. But what is the price of such sociality? It consists in the fact that Charlie attracted people to him only because he was an eternal whipping boy and a clown, was an easy target for the constant mockery of others. In fact, this “sociality” is still the same alienation, only not realized by a mentally retarded person. Becoming reasonable, Charlie realized it and the alienation of everything just became more immediate. A person removes alienation in joint mental and practical activity, but the peculiarity of modern society is such that neither a one-sided fool, nor a brilliant scientist can engage in it simply because they do not correspond to the average level of one-sided development of other people.
Stupidity is sincere and understandable. Genius is complex, inaccessible, and therefore terrible. Stupidity attracts. Genius is repulsive. The first is directed at the happy ignorance of the loving idiot. The second - to the infinity of knowledge in the horror of loneliness. Make a choice!
Another irrationalist message is more true. In the novel, the lagging of Charlie's sensual content from the rational one is constantly noticed. Intelligence can be increased by locking yourself in the library behind books. But the sensual side of a person can develop only in the constant practice of communicating with people. The operation sharply accelerated the growth of intellectual abilities, but the skills of interpersonal relations remained at the level of the child's development, and no operation could force their growth. Charlie constantly suffers from this, and this is especially evident in his experience with women, in how he cannot build normal relationships with them at first. “Pure” reason in itself is not capable of much without the development of other aspects of a person. Intellectual one-sidedness is not as harmful as sensual one-sidedness, when a person is stupid, but subtly understands the vicissitudes of interpersonal relations, but, nevertheless, it also leads to sad results and the destruction of a person.
A person who has a mind, but is deprived of the ability to love and be loved, is doomed to an intellectual and moral catastrophe, and perhaps even to a serious mental illness. In addition, I argue that the brain closed on itself is not capable of giving others anything, only pain and violence. When I was weak-minded, I had many friends. Now I don't have them. Oh, I know a lot of people, but they are just acquaintances, and among them there is almost no person who would mean anything to me or who is interested in me.
But, one way or another, behind all the above irrationalistic motives, rationalistic ideas pass through the entire novel as a main line. Although in a sense Charlie became a stranger to people, but at the same time he became closer to them. If before his closeness to others was similar to the closeness of a monkey in a zoo to his visitors, then after the operation everyone began to treat him as a person, and not a toy for a laughing stock. Albeit to a controversial person, not always the most pleasant for others, but still a person. By his scientific activity, he did a much greater service for mankind than by amusing crowds of onlookers.
Nemours makes the same mistake as people who make fun of an underdeveloped person, without realizing that he is experiencing the same feelings as they are. He does not realize that long before I met him, I was already a person.
Although Charlie considered himself unreasonable as a complete person, but this was not so. Yes, even then he had his own experiences, feelings, awareness of some things. But in a person, the determining side is his mind, and only with full-fledged intellectual activity, with sufficient reflection and socialization, a person becomes a full-fledged personality. And Charlie's socialization itself really began only after gaining reasonableness. The intellect, as it were, began to pull the rest of Charlie's personality with it, and although they needed independent development, it was the mind that gave impetus to this development, which clearly shows its defining role in a person. Emotionality is also rigidly tied to the development of the intellect; in the case of Charlie, the mind, as it were, filled an empty vessel of sensory experiences. The deeper consciousness reflects the world, the more diverse its emotional experience.
It is also worth paying attention to the ridicule of religiosity. If Charlie the idiot knew neither science nor art, but was sure of the existence of God, then Charlie the genius, on the contrary, considered religious problems too insignificant and meaningless, and all his attention was focused on scientific problems. An interesting scene in the bakery, where a woman convinced Gordon that by ceasing to be mentally retarded, he violated his divine destiny, which is written in his fate. Religiosity always puts shackles on a person that does not allow him to rise above his current level of development, metaphysically denies the need for self-improvement.
In conclusion, we can say that this novel, which shows the rise and fall of the human spirit, makes us think about how great the role of the mind in a person, how much the level of his intellectual development transforms a person and radically changes relationships with people. The rationalistic orientation of this work becomes clear in its philosophical analysis, but at the same time, the author well shows the limitations of “pure” rationalism and makes it clear that the other aspects of a person are relatively independent and cannot be reduced to just one rational activity.
Maximilian Sergeev
One of the most popular works of our time. If you look at various polls in VK on the topic “What is your favorite book?”, then on average every third or fifth person names exactly her. The work is included in the compulsory reading program for American schools, but has spread throughout the world, and in Russia it occupies no less places of honor, even if it has not yet been included in the school curriculum. What is the secret of this captivating book, written more than half a century ago, in 1959?
As I began to read it, I involuntarily thought about To Kill a Mockingbird" Harper Lee (by the way, written in 1960, almost the same age as " Flowers”), recognized by many statisticians and magazines as the most significant book in America, touching the souls of the entire globe, but not making a special impression on me. I was afraid to face the same because " To Kill a Mockingbird' has somewhat lost its relevance. The problem of racism in the United States, although not completely eliminated, but equality of rights won there, and everything else remains at the level of human morality, not legislation. Yes, perhaps, nationalism and racism are unlikely to ever disappear from humanity, because there is something in the very nature of people that rejects “strangers”, and only spiritually high or, at least, educated individuals can overcome this. But where can we find a society that would consist of such people?
In addition, the struggle for equal rights in the States as a whole is completed, and does not have the sharpness that it was when it was written " To Kill a Mockingbird”, the writing style was extremely simple. The narration was conducted on behalf of a little girl, which determined the general manner. All this together did not allow me to feel the depth of the book. And so, " Flowers for Algernon».
They have not lost their relevance at all. The plot, the meaning and the overall message affect exactly what is still very far from an exhaustive presentation. First of all, this is the immorality of scientific knowledge. Many science fiction writers, both ours, like S. Pavlov, and the same American ones, like K. Vonnegut, wrote that science is evil, if not in plain text, then with conclusions that can be drawn in the finals of their works. To what extent can the research and curiosity of scientists go without violating human morality and without invading where it is already indecent to study something, and creating something new is criminal. Enough examples with the atomic bomb or human cloning. In Asia, for example, the idea of a human robot who acquires the ability to feel and love is popular, which is often reflected in films and TV shows. Is it humane to program someone for feelings, to invade consciousness? There are many questions. " Flowers for Algernon” tells about an experiment, which consists in making an intelligent person out of a feeble-minded person, thanks to a surgical operation. As usual, the goal seems high and noble, the result is worthy, but still something goes wrong. This something lies in the fact that knowledge ceases to be an absolute and a measure of happiness and well-being. Even becoming a genius from a person with the lowest IQ, the main character does not feel satisfied, and his loneliness and restlessness become a real personal tragedy. And this is the second beautiful thought of the book: the mind is not only without morality, but also without feelings, such as respect, trust, love and understanding - nothing, about which there is a phrase that reason without feelings is not worth a penny.
But I was captivated by a completely different idea of \u200b\u200bthis book. It seems to me that not all readers notice it, not everyone pays attention to it. A lot of people talk about flowers"almost like the fate of the mouse Algernon, about which, in fact, there are ten paragraphs in the book and it will be typed. The death of a mouse, with all my love for animals, is not written in a sentimental way, but somehow predetermined and natural, which causes agreement with this, as with deliverance, and not tears. It seemed to me that I found a different background in the author's text. Keyes tells us not only about the gravity of the mind and its development. Moreover, I still sum up after thinking about the book that the mind is wonderful, and it is possible and necessary to develop your mind, you will not become unhappy from this. It's just about something else, that a person's emotional understanding does not depend on the level of intelligence, and most people, whether they are stupid or smart, do not try to understand others. They are interested in understanding objects, sciences, the essence of phenomena, they are trying to understand the mystery of the universe or God, but no one cares about understanding a person nearby and working on it. At the same time, everyone wants to be understood by others.
Charlie Gordon - the main character, being weak-minded, considered those around him his friends, not realizing that they were laughing at him, and when he grew wiser, he found enemies in the person of those people, not only because he realized that they were mocking him, but also because ceased to be a laughingstock and deprived people of the opportunity to rise at his expense. The professors who worked on the experiment centered on him, Charlie, began to dislike him as soon as he surpassed them in intelligence. He took away their sense of superiority. In essence, the mind was a joy to him, but a cause of envy and hatred for others.
I had thought about the question of the main motivation of people before, but here somehow it all took shape in a solid and convincing picture. Z. Freud argued that the engine of everything in people is the sexual instinct, but Adler objected that in fact the primary desire in people is the desire for power. And I have always agreed with him more than with Freud. What is power? This is not only a title or position, but superiority, the ability to suppress another and dispose of it at your discretion. At the same time, both strength, intelligence, and beauty, of course, which awakens the sexual instinct, act, yes, but for what purpose? Take possession and own, gain power.
But, what I noticed from personal experience, and it is also shown in " flowers is that the most difficult thing for people is to admit their stupidity. It is much easier to admit their ugliness, their physical weakness or poverty, but no one has ever sincerely and honestly admitted in my lifetime that he is more stupid than someone else. As if stupidity isn't as obvious as fat thighs, a hump, or an empty wallet. There were two acquaintances in my life who liked to pour phrases like "I'm stupid", most often the bold admission "I'm stupid" acted as an unwillingness to correct or admit mistakes. Not being able to explain some things, not always being able to understand someone or something, they preferred to close the topic or even the conversation with a humble “yes, I know, I'm stupid”. But, interestingly, while allegedly admitting their inadequacy in knowledge, these acquaintances were the most irreconcilable fighters against advice from outside. They never listened to someone else's opinion and preferred to break off friendship in the event that they tried to explain or advise something. But wouldn't a person who admits that he is a fool want to get help from more intelligent people? Therefore, I always consider such confessions hypocritical. Behind them lies the usual "shut up and don't be smart, I myself know how to do it." Why is the realization that knowledge is not enough so painfully perceived by people? What does someone else know and understand? Unfortunately, the answer to this in " flowers No, but I really want everyone who reads this book to find in it a desire to understand people and soberly assess their capabilities. If a weak person sees a strong man lifting huge weights, he will not run up and pull them unsuccessfully, saying that he is no weaker. Why, then, this strong man, most often, when faced with a well-read and experienced person, will try with all his might to show that the other, smart one is just an upstart and half-wit, and he, the strong man, knows everything just as well. There are exceptions, of course, but most people are. And yet, what else to expect from stupidity, as misunderstanding? And this, as for me, is the true tragedy revealed in " Flowers for Algernon”, the tragedy of all people in general, who always want to see someone worse than themselves, they somehow become calmer from this. That's why Charlie Gordon became angry and unhappy, because he began to understand everyone, and he was surrounded by stupid misunderstanding.
The work is meaningful and deep, but, as I noted above, not everyone will read everything in it, not everyone will notice all the underlying problems. And I would very much like that after " Colors”In public, they shared their impressions not about the mouse, but about how much it is necessary to hear better, understand others, and be able to sympathize with them. Yes, the analogy between an animal and an imbecile is appropriate in the book, it is not new or original, but it does not eliminate the troubles of cruelty and arrogance towards such creatures.
In conclusion, I would say that I am satisfied with the book and glad that I read it. It is written in the same "simple" American style. There is some characteristic brevity in the construction of the texts of American classics of the second half of the 20th century, the accessibility of presentation and the shortness of sentences (long ones are rare) look like a kind of visiting card of the spirit of the United States, hasty, progressive and democratic, where everything is to the point and without unnecessary lyrics. It seemed to me that in flowers”also traces the influence on Daniel Keyes W. Faulkner, mentioned in the work, as one of the authors read by Charlie Gordon. Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" has the same outline as in " flowers”, the novel begins with a narration from the point of view of an imbecile, but if Faulkner divides everything into presentation from different persons (idiot, smarter, even smarter), then Keyes combined it all into one person.
In the finale, I must admit, I was expecting something similar to the 2014 film Lucy, but it was not like that. However, the end was still logical and justified. And therefore I can definitely evaluate - it's worth reading! As for the elevation to the rank of favorite books - no, it deserves to be read once and thoroughly thought over, but the hand will not reach out to re-read at least a second time. This is a text that looks through the first time, and in a direct, linear presentation there is no subtlety to savor and find fresh thoughts, make discoveries. From the first time, with sufficient care, everything can be removed from this book.
On the cover of the book it is written: "Flowers for Algeron - one of the most human novels." This statement most fully reflects this work.
The question of whether a person with disabilities or mental illness can be considered a person is controversial and relevant. How can one consider a person who is not fully aware of not only himself, but also the world around him?
However, who told you that this person does not feel, does not experience and is not aware enough to not feel the ridicule of society over him ...
"My name is Charlie Gordon and I work at the Donner's Bakery where Mr. Donner pays me $11 a week and gives me bread or a feather whenever I want. I'm 32 years old and my birthday is in a month."
Thus begins the diary of a mentally retarded thirty-two-year-old man, Charlie Gordon, who dreams of becoming smart, making new friends and making his family happy that he finally lived up to their expectations.
During the course of the novel, the protagonist encounters difficulties and obstacles on the way to his goal, and acquiring intelligence and becoming a genius, he sees the cruel realities of the world around him: the mockery of his "friends", the arrogance of scientists who are ordinary people, the cruel attitude in his own family .. All this destroys the world of a person who has climbed out of the cave of "happy ignorance" and plunged into reality. Throughout his short and conscious existence, Charlie is trying to answer the question "who am I?": the one who was or the one who is now. The answer for him becomes a bitter, but inevitable truth, with which it remains only to come to terms.
Also, Charlie Gordon has the only friend, the mouse Elgeron. who understands him best: also changed by the operation, but just as alone. Together with Charlie, they run through the labyrinths of reality, and come to the same finish...
I can summarize my opinion about this book as follows:
1. The design of the book is good: convenient font and format, beautiful, fabulous cover by Daniel Keyes "Flowers for Algeron"
3. How to read - the novel is written in an easy and accessible language; however, at the very beginning it is difficult to perceive because of errors in the spelling of words.
4. How I read the novel - despite the easy execution, the novel went hard for me: I constantly put it off, because I was very sorry for the main character and disgusted society ...
