History Literature / FlowersForAlgernon

* HaveAGayOldTime:
** It might be a bit uncomfortable for modern readers (or at least the politically correct minded) to see the terms 'retarded' and 'moron' so often. At the time of the book's writing, those ''were'' the medical terms for varying degrees of mental disablity.
** Fay remarks that Charlie sure does "act queer" when he gets a few drinks in him.

Written by Daniel Keyes and originally published in ''The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

Adapted into a 1968 [[TheFilmOfTheBook feature film]] called ''Charly'' and starring Cliff Robertson in the title role, for which he won a Best Actor Academy Award. There was also a 2000 MadeForTVMovie adaptation starring Matthew Modine.

* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: Charlie is honestly shocked when his colleagues don't share his genius-level talents, such as reading multiple languages. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense]] to some extent given that his only point of comparison is a point in his life when he ''knew'' he was less intelligent than everyone around him, so it takes him a while to realize he's now surpassing them.

* DumbIsGood: Discussed. Alice tells Charlie that he was a better man when he was retarded--he was more compassionate, warm, and friendly. Charlie, on the other hand, refuses to accept it; he says people only liked him more because being around him made them feel smarter. While it's true that Charlie starts becoming a JerkAss when he gains his intelligence, he [[DiscussedTrope discusses this trope]] by saying that there's nothing wrong with a good person trying to be smarter.

* IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: Charlie is honestly shocked when his colleagues don't share his genius-level talents, such as reading multiple languages.

* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome / TheAlgernonGordonEffect: Named after Charlie's drastic personality change, then [[spoiler:reversion back to his old self.]] Also a well-known TropeCodifier for many works that draw off the story for inspiration.

Written by Creator/DanielKeyes and originally published in ''Magazine/TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

* SocietyMarchesOn: In many areas, large institutions for the intellectually disabled have been phased out in favor of small group homes in the community.

* InheritedIlliteracyTitle: Not the book itself, but TheFilmOfTheBook is called ''Charly''.

* PlatonicCave: Charlie uses a version in which his former self was peering through a keyhole, rather than a cave.

* DramaticIrony: A ** Warren caregiver lectures genius Charlie about the dedication needed to look after the retarded patients, not realizing that Charlie will soon become one of them.

* InVinoVeritas: [[spoiler:super-genius Charlie Gordon reverts back to a barely-functional moron (in the clinical sense) when he gets drunk.]]

* JerkAss: After Charlie exceeds the intelligence of even the scientists who work on him, he repeatedly looks down on those around him for not being at his level of super-intelligence--even criticizing Strauss for not being fluent in as many languages ([[{{Omniglot}} 20!]]) as he is. However, Charlie makes it clear that he's bitter about the way others had treated him when he was retarded, as well as the fact that he finds the intelligence flip ironic.
** He's also called out on it later in the novel, and admits to being one, which makes him somewhat even more of a [[TheWoobie Woobie]] in hindsight.

%%* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Also Fay.
* MeaningfulName: Norma. [[note]]Normal.[[/note]]

** When Charlie takes a tour through the sanitarium that he would have ended up in ([[spoiler:and eventually does]]), he sees two (male) inmates holding each other as lovers. The doctor simply says that, since this is all they have, this is who they turn to for love. (This probably outraged the MoralGuardians even more than any scene with Fay.)

** A couple of entries where Charlie is learning how to use punctuation (first the comma, then other types) have punctuation marks thrown in entirely at random.

* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: Justified. The narrator's use of punctuation improves and then declines in tandem with his augmented intellect.
** Charlie's two entries after Alice teaches him punctuation are overflowing with it. The next one contains a breakthrough as he's finally using punctuation properly.

Written by Daniel Keyes and originally published in ''The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

* DownerEnding: The last fifty-or-so pages are so depressing it's amazing the book doesn't spontaneously combust. [[spoiler:Furthermore, Algernon and Charlie had the same surgery performed on them, and Algernon ended up degenerating and dying. What do you think happened to Charlie? Consider the following: the "d" in "bak yard," the final sentence of the book, trails off into a long, messy line. In many paperback versions, the ending is instead several pages left intentionally blank, suggesting Charlie either died, or has mentally regressed so far that he'd become completely illiterate, essentially leaving him more severely disabled than at the beginning of the book. Either way, the implications are incredibly depressing.]]

Written by Creator/DanielKeyes and originally published in ''Magazine/TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

Written by Daniel Keyes and originally published in ''The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

* AbusiveParents: Charlie's mother. She first refuses to acknowledge that Charlie is mentally disabled, and punishes him for it. When she later gives birth to a daughter, who is of normal intelligence, she blatantly favors her over Charlie, and eventually sends him away to an institution.

Written by Creator/DanielKeyes and originally published in ''Magazine/TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction'' (April 1959 issue). "Flowers for Algernon" is a ScienceFiction ShortStory that tells of a young man named Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68, [[IJustWantToBeNormal but tries hard to learn and become normal]]. In 1966, the story was expanded into a {{Novel}}, and won the UsefulNotes/NebulaAward (tying with ''Literature/Babel17'').

* TookALevelInKindness: Charlie's "friends" at the bakery. At the beginning, they treat him badly and laugh at him because of his disability, but he is too simple to understand. When he becomes intelligent and gets promoted over them, they resent him and get him fired. [[spoiler:When he regresses and is given his old job back, they take pity on him and protect him when another employee mistreats him.]]

* DramaticIrony: A Warren caregiver lectures genius Charlie about the dedication needed to look after the retarded patients, not realizing that Charlie will soon become one of them.
%%* DrJerk: Professor Nemur.

%%* EvilMatriarch: Rose.

%%* MadArtist: Fay.

* PowerTrio:
** Charlie: Self-doubting, rational, and scientifically-minded, emotionally unfulfilled (Superego).
** Fay Lilliman: Overtly sexual, artistic, and whimsical (Id).
** Alice Kinnian: Compassionate, emotionally mature, educated, balances intellect and emotions (Ego).
** Of the three scientists who work on the project, Dr. Nemur is Id (possessed by a drive to further his career without paying much heed to ethics), Dr. Strauss is Superego (calm, cool-headed and reasonably skeptical) and Bert is Ego (realistic, pragmatic, cares about both the project's success and Charlie's feelings).

%%* ScrapbookStory

* SocietyMarchesOn: It might be a bit uncomfortable for modern readers (or at least the politically correct minded) to see the terms 'retarded' and 'moron' so often. At the time of the book's writing, those ''were'' the medical terms for varying degrees of mental disablity.
** Fay remarks that Charlie sure does [[HaveAGayOldTime "act queer"]] when he gets a few drinks in him.
** In many areas, large institutions for the intellectually disabled have been phased out in favor of small group homes in the community.

* SocietyMarchesOn: It might be a bit uncomfortable for modern readers (or at least the politically correct minded) to see the term 'retarded' so often. Back then, that ''was'' the politically correct term for mentally disabled persons.
** HaveAGayOldTime

Charlie gets the surgery and his intelligence quickly blooms. While this is happening, he falls in love with Alice, but soon finds that he cannot relate to her because he is much smarter than she is. As well, he discovers that his friends have not been as trustworthy as he thought they were, and he begins to recall memories from his childhood, finding even more incidences of trickery and ridicule. As a result, he becomes quite jaded and cynical.

* StylisticSuck: Charlie's early entries before he gets the operation are written in AllLowercaseLetters with no punctuation. [[spoiler:This also applies to his last entries after his intelligence regresses.]]
** One of the entries where Charlie is learning how to use punctuation has various punctuation marks thrown in entirely at random.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Charlie can no longer work at the bakery, and [[spoiler:when he regresses, he still remembers a thing or two about humanity]].

* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome / TheAlgernonGordonEffect: Named after Charlie's drastic personality change, then [[spoiler: reversion back to his old self.]] Also a well-known TropeCodifier for many works that draw off the story for inspiration.

* DownerEnding: The last fifty-or-so pages are so depressing it's amazing the book doesn't spontaneously combust. [[spoiler: Furthermore, Algernon and Charlie had the same surgery performed on them, and Algernon ended up degenerating and dying. What do you think happened to Charlie? Consider the following: the "d" in "bak yard," the final sentence of the book, trails off into a long, messy line. In many paperback versions, the ending is instead several pages left intentionally blank, suggesting Charlie either died, or has mentally regressed so far that he'd become completely illiterate, essentially leaving him more severely disabled than at the beginning of the book. Either way, the implications are incredibly depressing.]]

* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler: And eventually loses.]]