*“Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you.”* \- Daniel Keyes, *Flowers for Algernon*
Charlie Gordon was born with an unusually low IQ and has been chosen to be the test subject for an experimental surgery that is meant to dramatically increase his intelligence, given that it has shown promise when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.
Slowly, we get to see Charlie change to a man of remarkable intelligence, even outpacing the doctors who conceptualized his treatment and performed the surgery. We also get to see how Charlie Gordon came to be the man we met at the beginning of the story.
After some time passes, Algernon shows signs of regressed intelligence and increased aggression when put back in the maze.
It might be that I’m a soft touch. It probably matters more that my brother was born with a genetic condition and was in Special Education throughout his schooling. However, I would never classify my brother as mentally challenged in the same way Charlie was. This story touched me in ways I had no way of expecting. I’d even seen the film adaptation before, so I knew the general plot and I remembered the ending.
Stephen King wrote or said in an interview that the best villains aren’t the evil supervillains that the story often centres around. More often than not, the best villains are a realistic combination of mean and stupid. And, for reasons that I can not understand, people viewed Charlie as an opportunity to vent their frustrations at life with someone of lesser intelligence and malignant cruelty. It made me angry and so, so frustrated with humanity.
The person Charlie became wasn’t terribly likable, which was telegraphed during his intellectual ascent. That’s fine, it makes sense. It’s a lot easier for people to feel superior and to be jerks when they think they have the right because their brain processes data quicker than that of others.
With awareness of autism and other types of neurodivergence on the rise, I think it is imperative for *Algernon* to not be lost in the sands of time. I don’t mean to imply that people with autism or neurodivergence are somehow lesser or incapable compared to those without said conditions. That isn’t what I think at all. I just think this book can create tremendous amounts of empathy and compassion in the reader for people who historically have been mocked and ridiculed for no reason other than a lack of consequences.
It feels like a successor to the tragedy *Of Mice And Men* to me.
Leave flowers for Lenny and Algernon.
Mods, if this type of post isn’t allowed, I understand.
Thank you for your time and reading, please let me know what you think.
by Bird_Commodore18