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Edition:	Mariner Books (Paperback)
Author:	Daniel Keyes
Published:	May 2005
Pages:	324
ISBN 10:	0156030306
New:	$4.99 (45)
Used:	$4.72 (38)
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Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel (with Babel-17).

The titular Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence by artificial means. The story is told as a series of progress reports written by Charlie, the first human test subject for the surgery, and touches upon many different ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled.

Although the book has often been "challenged" for removal from libraries in the US and Canada, sometimes successfully, it is regularly taught in schools around the world and has been adapted numerous times for television, theatre, radio and as the Academy Award-winning film, Charly.

Background

The ideas for Flowers for Algernon developed over a period of 14 years and were inspired by numerous different events in Keyes' life, starting in 1945 with Keyes’ personal conflict between his parents pushing him through a pre-medical education and his own desire to write. Keyes felt that his education was driving a wedge between him and his parents and this led him to wonder what would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence. Another key moment came in 1957, while Keyes was teaching English to students with special needs; one student asked him if it would be possible to be put into a regular class if he worked hard and became smart.

Different characters in the book were also based on events and people in Keyes' life. The character of Algernon was inspired by a university dissection class, while the name came from the poet Algernon Swinburne which Keyes thought was an unusual name. Nemur and Strauss, the scientists who develop the intelligence enhancing surgery in the story, were based on professors Keyes met while studying psychoanalysis in graduate school.

In 1958, Keyes was approached by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine to write a story, at which point the different elements of Flowers for Algernon fell into place. On submitting the finished story to Galaxy, however, the editor suggested changing the ending so that Charlie retained his intelligence, married Alice, and lived happily ever after. Keyes refused to make the change and sold the story to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction instead.

Keyes worked on the expanded novel between 1962 and 1965 and first tried to sell it to Doubleday, but they also wanted to change the ending. Again, Keyes refused and gave Doubleday back their advance. Five different publishers rejected the story over the course of a year until it was taken on and published by Harcourt in 1966.

Synopsis

The short story and the novel share many similar plot points but the novel expands significantly on Charlie's developing emotional state as well as his intelligence, his memories of childhood and his relationship with Alice Kinnian. A number of minor details were also changed for the novel, including Charlie's age, his job and the name of his employer.

Short story

In the short story, Charlie Gordon is a 37-year-old man with an IQ of 68 who works as a janitor at Donnegan's Plastic Box Factory. He is selected to undergo an experimental surgical technique to increase his intelligence, since a similar experiment on Algernon, a laboratory mouse, has been quite dramatically successful. The surgery is successful and Charlie's IQ triples.

Charlie falls in love with his former teacher, Miss Kinnian, but as his intelligence increases, he surpasses her intellectually and they become unable to relate to one another. Also, his new intelligence scares his co-workers at the factory; they start a petition to have him fired and when Charlie finds out about it, he quits his job. As Charlie's intelligence peaks, Algernon suddenly declines—losing his increased intelligence and dying shortly afterwards. Charlie discovers that his intelligence increase is also only temporary. Unable to do anything to prevent the change, Charlie reverts to his original mental state in a swift reversal of his original growth. He tries to return to his original life and job at the plastic box factory but cannot stand everyone feeling sorry for him so he decides to move away.

Novel

The novel opens with an epigraph discouraging people from laughing at those who are perplexed or weak of vision. The epigraph is taken from Plato's The Republic, part of which reads: “ Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eye are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye. ”

At the start of the novel, Charlie Gordon is a 32-year-old man with an IQ of 68 who works as a janitor and deliveryman for Donner's Bakery. His uncle got him a job there 17 years previously so that Charlie would not have to be sent to an institution: the Warren State Home. Wanting to improve himself, Charlie attends reading and writing classes at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults; his instructor is Alice Kinnian, a young, attractive woman. Professor Nemur and Doctor Strauss, two Beekman researchers, are looking for a human subject on whom they can test an experimental surgical technique for increasing intelligence. They have already performed the surgery on a mouse named Algernon, leading to a dramatic improvement in his mental performance. Based on Alice's recommendation and his own motivation to learn, Charlie is picked to undergo the surgery.

The procedure is a success and, three months later, Charlie's IQ has reached 185. However, as his intelligence, education and understanding of the world around him increases, his relationships with people deteriorate. His coworkers at the bakery, who used to amuse themselves at his expense, are now scared and resentful of his increased intelligence; he is fired from his job as a result. Charlie also embarks on a troubled romance with Alice. Even though they develop strong feelings for each other, he is prevented from having a physical relationship by the spectre of a younger Charlie whom the older Charlie feels is always watching. Unable to get close to Alice, Charlie starts a purely sexual relationship with Fay Lillman, a vivacious and promiscuous artist.

Charlie discovers a flaw in the theories that led Nemur and Strauss to develop their intelligence-enhancing procedure. Shortly thereafter, Algernon starts behaving erratically, loses his new intelligence, and dies. As Charlie does further research, he determines that he too will inevitably revert to his old condition. He tries to mend the broken relationships with his parents, without success. His mother, who always insisted he could learn normally, now suffers from dementia and does not recognize him; his father long ago broke off contact with the family out of frustration and also does not realize who he is. Charlie is only able to reconnect with his sister, who hated him for his mental disability when they were growing up.

As Charlie regresses intellectually, Fay becomes scared by the change and stops talking to him. However, Charlie finally attains sufficient emotional maturity to have a brief but fulfilling relationship with Alice. Despite regressing back to his former self, he still remembers that he was once a genius and cannot bear everyone feeling sorry for him. Consequently, he decides to go to live at the Warren State Home where nobody knows about the operation. In a final postscript to his writings, he asks that someone put flowers on Algernon's grave.

References

Wikipedia