Flowers for Algernon

Last Updated: 12 Mar 2023
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Charlie's disability to communicate with people Isolated him as a person and leads to him being left out of society. Charlie's lack of vocabulary and ability to communicate at a high degree due to his mental disability is the cause of many issues that happen to him. Charlie, understanding his own mental capabilities, wants to intellectually grow, "while they [work] they start to talk about things like god or about politics, I want to talk like that" (Keyes 15). Charlie's struggle to articulate ideas with others eaves Charlie vulnerable to social injustice, where Charlie is isolated from society.

Consequently, Charlie becomes mentally stressed because he is not permitted into society. This saddening issue for Charlie leaves him thinking, "If you are smart you can have lots of friends to talk to and you never get lonely by yourself all the time," (Keyes 15) referring to himself because he is alone. His misunderstanding of friendship makes him think that the only way of having friends is by being smart, when he tries to talk smart he is still a reject from society. Charlie is alienated from he rest of society and is being mistreated for the lone reason of not being able to properly communicate with his peers.

Furthermore, Charlie's struggle to comprehend information in relation to its context leaves him sensitive to being mistreated and misused. Charlie neglects the fact that he is being made fun of, but thinks they are laughing with him, as friends. Charlie at work is being used as the punch line of a joke, "Carp [says] hey look where Charlie [has] his [operation], what did they do, put some brains in. Then Frank [says] Charlie, did you open a door the hard way, they make] me laugh, they are my friends and they like me. (Keyes 22) Charlie Is blind of the fact that they are not his friends and they are making fun of him, and taking advantage of his mental disability. As a result, Charlie's disability to comprehend between true or false and right from wrong, Is used against him to take advantage of his Innocent character. Charlie's goal Is to become smart, to be accepted In society, and for this reason Charlie volunteers to be the test subject of an experiment to create a medicine that will Increase the Intelligence of the patient.

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Professor Newer, he scientist In charge of the experiment tries to please Charlie, "he said that means [l am] doing something grate for science and I'll be famous and my name will go down in the books. I don't care so much about being famous. I just want to be smart attempts to impress Charlie with promises of fame and great contributions to science reveal his true motivations, it is Newer who wants his name to go down in the books, not Charlie. For the reason that Charlie cannot make his own decisions properly or understand the severity of the experiment, he is being used for an experiment that is o bring fame and fortune to the scientist.

Charlie's disability to comprehend what is happening clearly, he is being taken advantage of through unethical use of medical experimentation which is a social injustice that happens to Charlie. Moreover, Charlie struggles to interact with society suitably due to his past experiences, which show the injustice that is shown to him at a younger age. Charlie grew up in a strict family where respecting women are a big thing, Charlie experiences a sexual arousal when he sees a women.

For natural reasons Charlie gets an erection where his mom seawards that it happens, "he can't read and write, but he knows enough not to look at a girl that way. I'll beat that filthy mind out of him," (Keyes 112) and she traumatized him to a very high degree. Charlie's mom prevents any sexual thoughts coming to Charlie's mind and scares him from ever thinking of it. Charlie is a victim of malpractice a a very young age for a reason that cannot be punished upon because it is a natural behavior. Evidently, Charlie struggles at an older age to create a strong relationship because of the fear his mom put into him.

However, Charlie after the successful operation falls in love with his teacher. They are very close and start to form a sexual relationship, but Charlie is still petrified by is mothers abuse, "l [know] what she [is] doing, she [is] kissing me, it started, I felt nausea. I turned away, she said, I [cannot] do this anymore, and left. " (Keyes 113) Alice is not accepting the past events causing Charlie's reaction and is being unfair. Charlie's past events and memories force him to interact with society differently from others, where he is not being treated unjustly in a relationship.

Charlie's mistreatment due to his immunization and comprehension disability causes him to struggle interacting with society. Firstly, Charlie's weakness in communication unjustly isolates him from society where he is lonely and struggles to make friends. Secondly, Charlie's incapacity of understanding general conversation makes him vulnerable to be victimized and used as others please. Finally, Charlie fears of forming a sexual relationship because of his traumatized past. Even being able to live both the intellectual and mentally disabled life Charlie still faces the difficulties of social injustice.

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Flowers for Algernon. (2017, Nov 22). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/flowers-for-algernon-2/

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