Flowers for Algernon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the short story and novel. For the film, see Charly. For the album, see FLOWERS for ALGERNON (album).
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| 1989 hardback edition cover | |
| Author | Daniel Keyes |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction, Novella & Novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt |
| Released | April 1959 (original novella) & March 1966 (full novel) |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-15-131510-8 (first edition, hardback) |
Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction story written by Daniel Keyes. It was originally published as a novelette in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, winning a Hugo award for Best Short Fiction in 1960. It was later extended into a full-length novel under the same title, which won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, in 1966.
The book is often found on required reading lists in North American public schools and major universities throughout the world.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The story of Flowers for Algernon centers on Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged janitor (37 years old in the original novella, 32 years old in the full novel), who volunteers to take part in an experimental intelligence-enhancing treatment. His progress parallels that of Algernon, a laboratory mouse who had been "enhanced" earlier. The story is told from Charlie's point of view and written as a journal, or progris riport, as he initially spells it, which he keeps as part of the experiment. Succeeding entries trace Charlie's ever-increasing comprehension and intelligence in the aftermath of the treatment, as he passes through "normalcy", and then reaches super-genius level. He becomes more intelligent than the doctors who invented the procedure.
He discovers both the advantages of intelligence and awareness, including his sexual-emotional relationship with his former teacher, Alice Kinnian; and the disadvantages, as he discovers that the people he thought were his friends had only viewed him as 'entertainment', and now resent his superior abilities. His courtship of Alice becomes turbulent and finally withers into misery when she too comes to resent his superior intellect, which lowers her self-esteem.
Yet, all else seems to be well, until Algernon's enhanced intelligence begins to fade rapidly. As Charlie himself confirms, the neural enhancement is only temporary, and he too is doomed to revert to his original mental state. Some say that Algernon's death is supposed to imply that the treatment will also eventually kill Charlie, but his own notes on the subject, dubbed the Algernon-Gordon Effect, say nothing of his impending death. He records his struggles to find a way to stop the decay until he realizes the futility of it all. The title's mention of flowers is a reference to Charlie's last request that "please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard...".
[edit] Major themes
The story is told from Charlie's point of view, and as Charlie's mental state shifts, it is reflected in his writings. He becomes depressed, for example, when he realizes that his cognition will decay away when he can no longer understand his own proof.
Various allegorical points are made throughout the book that involve several forms of alienation, acceptance and themes that allude to ignorance being a form of bliss. Intelligence turns out to be a double-edged sword for Charlie and he cannot help realizing that everything he previously believed was not as it seemed. The condescending attitudes of his 'friends' and co-workers register once he gains awareness. He discovers that his initial adolescent crush for Alice actually has the potential to be something more. He learns of the insecurities of other scientists when they realize that their experiment has turned him into someone whose IQ surpasses their own. The novel touches upon aspects of the human condition such as ambition, innocence, jealousy, pettiness, and emotional development. It uses the trappings of a science fiction premise to relate various notions of consciousness and awareness.
[edit] Literary significance and criticism
In January 1970, the school board of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, as well as Calgary, Alberta, Canada, banned the novel-length expansion of Flowers from the local grade-nine curriculum and the school library, after a parent complained that it was "filthy and immoral". The president of the BC Teachers' Federation criticized the action. Flowers was part of the BC Department of Education list of approved books for grade nine and was recommended by the BC Secondary Association of Teachers of English. A month later, the board reconsidered and returned the book to the library; they did not, however, lift its ban from the curriculum. [Mind War: Book Censorship in English Canada, p. 37; Not in Our Schools! p. 9] While the full novel does contain material about the character's personal life (that is, flashbacks of experiences of puberty that may be objectionable to some people), the original short story does not. It is on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number 47.[1]
[edit] Awards and nominations
The novel (in its original form) won a Hugo award for Best Short Fiction in 1960. It was later extended into a full-length novel under the same title which won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A list of the numerous adaptations of the story can be found here [2].
- a radio play for BBC Radio 4 starring Tom Courtenay as Charlie
- a 1961 tele-play starring Cliff Robertson, on CBS's The U.S. Steel Hour.
- a 1968 movie entitled Charly, also starring Cliff Robertson. Robertson won the Best Actor Oscar for the title role.
- a 1979 London musical starring Michael Crawford
- a 2000 TV movie starring Matthew Modine
- a 2002 11-episode drama series for Japanese television, starring Yusuke Santamaria
- a 2006 Japanese musical starring Kenji Urai
[edit] Trivia
- Former football great Carlester Crumpler, Sr. named his son, Atlanta Falcons tight end Algernon Crumpler after Flowers for Algernon, citing it as his favorite book of all time.[citation needed]
[edit] Allusions/references to other works
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.
- There is a recurring allusion to the story of Adam and Eve[citation needed], from the Christian Bible(Genesis). In the story, Charlie repeatedly feels "naked" when he realizes that his friends are not really his friends, and he realizes that there is a price to knowledge. This is comparable to Eve when she eats the fruit.
- In a slightly different interpretation of "Cultural references", the book itself includes a passage of Plato's The Republic. Quite applicable for the novel, it talks of how the mind's eye is, like its biological counterpart, cannot see when used to darkness and then put into light. Neither can it see in the opposite situation. It is similar to Plato's allegory of the cave.
[edit] Allusions/references from other works
Explicit:
- Japanese rock singer Kyosuke Himuro's solo debut album is named Flowers for Algernon.
- Flowers for Algernon's title is also mentioned in a Nujabes rap song named "Feather".
- In episode 14 of season 5 (Smile Time) of the TV series Angel, Charles Gunn's memory implant is failing, and the doctor's diagnosis is "Acute Flowers For Algernon Syndrome".
- In Marvel Comics' Spider-Man's Tangled Web #5-6 (Flowers for Rhino), the notably unintelligent supervillain Rhino undergoes an experiment to increase his intelligence in order to impress the girlfriend of his boss. While initially this improves his life, his exponentially increasing intelligence means he quickly becomes bored of her, and everything else (in one scene he goes to see Hamlet, and starts making notes on how to improve it), before realising his now-superhuman intellect has separated him from humanity. On the point of suicide, he instead devises a way of reversing the machine, asking the doctor "Could you make me a little dumber, just to be on the safe side?"
- The book is also referenced in the Newsradio episodes Arcade and Flowers for Matthew. In Arcade, Lisa thinks she's getting dumber because Beth is faster at solving the jumble. Dave jokes, "Well we knew this day would come Algernon." Lisa, after a moment's pause, rattles off, "Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes inspired the 1968 film Charly for which Cliff Robertson won an Oscar for best actor I should have known that faster." Dave responds, "No, you shouldn't have known it at all," at which point Lisa wisely decides to retake the SAT's. The main plot of Flowers for Matthew is loosely based on that of the book. Matthew's intelligence is supposedly increased by a smart drink invented by Joe. However, the smart Matthew soon realizes that the drink had no effect, and his newfound intelligence was manifested by his own gullibility in believing that the drink would work. Once he makes this realization Matthew begins regressing to his old self.
- In the 2005 video game Destroy All Humans!, if the player scans a Majestic Psi-Mutant, a possible thought is "Algernon... smarter... than.. Charlie..."
- In an episode of the comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug titled "Flowers for Trinitron", the temporary loss of cable television service causes a sedentary young man to blossom into a creative genius, until his TV starts working again.
- In the episode "MACHINES DÉSIRANTES" of the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, one of the Tachikomas, after gaining self-awareness, states that it has an interest in reading books and is shown to be reading Flowers for Algernon at the time.
- In the SNES RPG, Breath of Fire II, when flowers bloom in a certain part of the world, a super-powerful optional boss named Algernon can be found and fought.
- The book is referenced in an episode of Friends: when Joey and Chandler contemplate moving back from the large luxurious apartment to the small dingy apartment, Joey sees no problem with this. Chandler asks him incredulously, "Haven't you ever read Flowers for Algernon?!"
- On "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", a reference was made to a fictional book called "A Strap-On for Algernon."
Implicit:
- An episode of The Simpsons, entitled "HOMЯ", is apparently a loose parody of Flowers for Algernon; Homer is given an operation to remove a crayon from his brain, resulting in increased intelligence. He proceeds to lose his friends, and consequently requests that the crayon be re-inserted. Not unlike Charlie, he cannot understand a note he wrote to Lisa while intelligent. Indeed, even the misspelling of the main character's name alludes to the spelling of the title "Charly" in the 1968 movie.
- A Curious Feeling, the 1979 debut solo album by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, is based on a concept inspired by the novel.[citation needed]
