How Mentally Disabled Charlie is Dehumanized in Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon
Keyes uses epistorly to convey the passage of time and display the development of Charlie before and after the surgery, and the moral implications he has to overcome. Before and right after the surgery, Charlie believes that he had friends, as can be seen in this quote "All my frends" (pg 17) and is further conveyed through "All the fun we have" (pg 17). Although after the surgery we can further see that Charlie is starting to understand that they are not truly his friends but people that just want to laugh at him "I know what they mean...to pull a Charlie Gordon "(progress report 9, pg 33).
Through the use of the epistolary we can clearly see the change in attitude from before to after the surgery, and how Charlie has become conscious that his friends aren't really his friends, that they just want to make fun of him and call him names because he is mentally diabled/intellectually challenged. This can be further emphasised by the bakery workers putting a petition up to see if Charlie should be fired. Keyes uses epistolary throughout the novel to convey the passage of time, to show the development of Charlie's consciousness from before and after the surgery. Keyes conveys dehumanisation of Charlie Gordon through the use of circus language and hubris. Throughout the novel Nemur is shown to be dehumanising Charlie Gordon by making him feel as though he is nothing more than a "guinea pig" (pg 111). Just something to gauche at and use for a scientific experiment with no sympathy or regard for how Charlie feels. The use of circus language can be seen when Doc Nemur and Charlie are being introduced at the science awards.
"Laideezzz and gentulmennnnn" (pg 120) and "Mouse and a moron" (pg 120), by the choice to use circus language it emphasises that Charlie is seen more as a circus animal than an human being being ridiculed. The use of hubris is evident through Nemur, that he found a way to give mentally disabled people another chance at a new life. This is clear when Nemur wanted to be classified as "The Einstein of psychology" (pg 118). This displays that Nemur is more focused on the social hierarchy/ his social appearance than the mental health of Charlie. Therefore emphasising the dehumanisation of Charlie Gordon by Nemur through the use of circus language and hubris. The text uses intertextuality to convey the effects of tampering with nature, this can be seen through the use of 'Adam and Eve'. Keyes uses intertextuality to show the similarities between text and how they relate to one another. On page 83 we can see the use of the story 'Adam and Eve', by the specific use of this text it is conveying that when Charlie saw the opportunity to become smarter, he took it just like how Adam and Eve took and ate the apple from the forbidden tree and how if they didn't, would their life had been better not having to worry about everything or was it more enjoyable because they had challenges to overcome and face by themselves.
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Would Charlie have been happier if he didn't take the opportunity? Or is he happier now? I believe that Charlie shouldn't have taken the opportunity because before the operation Charlie was happy and content with how he was living his life, but afterwards he saw what the world was really like. He saw that his friends were just using him to laugh/gauch at or to make fun of but he didn't know this beforehand. Was he happier then, or was he happier after knowing the truth on why they hung around and talked to Charlie.
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