Assertions
(Marxist) Thesis 1: Using the Marxist lens, due to the surgery Charlie is beginning to understand himself and others, affecting his relationships with these people because he has power now that he has knowledge. One example of a relationship that was bettered as a result of Charlie’s operation and his new found understanding of himself and others, is his relationship to Alice. For example, they did grow closer because he understood how he feels about her, but as he achieves more, they begin to drift apart. One example of how they have is when Alice says, “‘I wanted to help you and share with you and now you’ve shut me out of your life.’” (124). To this Charlie thinks about how he has been so absorbed in his own life and hasn’t acknowledged Alice. This proves how the operation has affected Charlie and Ms. Kinnian’s relationship because he used to have a soft side when he wasn’t so intelligent, but now that he is a genius he forgets about others. If this is looked at through a marxist lens then it can be determined that now that Charlie is smart and understands things, he is in power and guides conversations , but he has changed so much so that other people do not understand what he is communicating. Another example of a relationship that has been affected because of Charlie’s new understanding is his relationship with the workers at the bakery. For example, he is now able to understand when people are using him, like Gimpy. As a result of this Gimpy is fired because Charlie has found out that Gimpy has been scamming the bakery by stealing money from them. He does this by using Charlie’s naive ways that he was like pre-surgery. To this Charlie responds, “doing it this way has something to be said for it. It’s over and done with.” (96). Before the surgery Charlie would’ve never thought he was being used, nevermind reporting this is such a mannerly fashion. Not to mention, the fact that he reflects upon the way that he has turned Gimpy in reflects how much Charlie has truly changed. If this is looked at using the Marxist critisist theory, now that Charlie has knowledge he has power over people because his opinions are now valued. He is now able to advocate Gimpy’s wrongdoing, report it, and be trusted enough to have something done about it to ensure there is justice. Before the surgery, Charlie did not have this power because he didn’t have knowledge, so he was not only able to recognize Gimpy using him, or even be trusted enough when he would report it to get him fired. Therefore, using the marxist lens it can be proven that due to the surgery Charlie is beginning to understand himself and others, affecting his relationships with these people because he has power now that he has knowledge.
(Formalist) Thesis 2: Thesis: If the novel is looked at from a Formalist perspective, Charlie is going to lose his knowledge, similarly to what happened to Algernon. Charlie admits to himself that the old Charlie is still there and he knows that there is no way to get rid of him. Charlie states, “Charlie Gordon exists in the past, and the past is real. You can’t put up a new building on a site until you destroy the old one, and the old Charlie can’t be destroyed.” (201). Charlie knows that his old self is still within him and no matter what surgery he goes through he cannot change this. If this is looked at from a formalists’ perspective it can be deduced that this an example of foreshadowing. Charlie recognizes that his old self exists regardless of the surgery that he went through to be different. His admittance to this can be recognized as the foreshadowing that his old self will come back and the opperation will be put in reverse, making Charlie unintelligent again. Another example from the text is when Charlie deduces that “"ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE." (256). Charlie is recognizing now that it is likely that he will lose his intelligence. If this is looked at through a formalist lens then it can be seen that this is an example of foreshadowing Charlie’s loss of intelligence. It is not necessarily proven that he will lose his intelligence just because Algernon did, however, due to this and the formalist lens he most likely will. Therefore, if looked at through a formalist’s perspective Charlie will lose his intelligence.
(Reader Response) Thesis 3: After the operation, Charlie becomes so intelligent, and he surpasses the doctors, professors and scientists. Before the operation, Charlie was an adult that had a below average I.Q. and he was mentally challenged. People say that they can connect this scenario to real life. However, those that say this can’t completely connect to this because they aren’t the ones that are experiencing it. In the novel, Charlie states that people don’t understand what he is going through. One example was on page 287. Dr. Strauss is giving Charlie the ink blot tests again. Charlie can’t make out any pictures and Dr. Strauss says, “All right. I understand” (288). However, Charlie says, “No, you don’t understand because it isn’t happening to you, and no one can understand me” (288). This shows how frustrated Charlie is at everyone because they say that they understand what Charlie is going through, but they don’t. Another example from the book was when Charlie says, “I’m a human being, a person-with parents and memories and a history-and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room!” (161). This quote shows how Charlie is angry that the scientific community is treating him like some type of test animal like Algernon. He wants people to realize that he is also a human being, a person, just like everyone else in that room. However, the people don’t understand this.
(Historical/ Biographical) Thesis 4: The novel Flowers For Algernon is about a man named Charlie Gordon who has been chosen as a subject for an experimental surgery. The reason he is chosen is because he has an unusually low I.Q. Daniel Keyes, the author of this book, wrote it in 1959. One major event in the 1950’s was the first organ transplant. This might have caused Keyes to write this book about a surgery to make a man a genius. In the novel, Charlie says, “And he said I’m doing something great for science…” (12). This quote shows how the advances in medicine and science have helped many people. So, when the first organ transplant was conducted, this led to a whole new chapter in medicine, and from then on, millions of lives have probably been saved. After reading a little about Daniel Keyes, I discovered that he had a B.A. in psychology. The whole novel basically revolves around the human mind and how that one operation changed Charlie Gordon’s life. After the operation, Charlie finally got to experience life through a whole new lense. So, since Daniel Keyes had a bachelor’s degree in psychology, he probably combined his interest in the mind with writing and developed this novel. Another example from the text was when Charlie has to look at the ink blots again, and make a picture from them. Charlie says, “I knew enough about the Rorschach to know that it wasn’t what you saw in the cards that counted, but how you reacted to them” (287). This shows how Charlie is aware of how the mind is supposed to react to the inkblot cards when looking at them. However, even though Charlie knows exactly what he is supposed to do, when he looks at them, he can’t find an image in the inkblots. This shows how Charlie is starting to deteriorate, just like Algernon did.
(Psychological Criticism) Thesis 5: In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the setting is in New York City. Having to do with the psychological criticism, the connection to the setting and the author is very common. The relationship to the author and the setting of this book is his education. Keyes education of literature was in New York as well, this may be ironic but the education and growth of both Charlie and Keyes share in New York.
Throughout the novel the setting takes place in New York. This is the location where the the author Daniel Keyes was born. New York City was the place in which Daniel Keyes had earned his education at Brooklyn College where he received his B.A. Degree in psychology. He soon later earned his license to teach English in the New York City schools. This location demonstrates great significance to the author, because this is the very place that has allowed him to where he is today with all these books published. This place must mean a lot to him not only as his hometown but the place his life has started, just as Charlie’s life as well.
(Formalist) Thesis 2: Thesis: If the novel is looked at from a Formalist perspective, Charlie is going to lose his knowledge, similarly to what happened to Algernon. Charlie admits to himself that the old Charlie is still there and he knows that there is no way to get rid of him. Charlie states, “Charlie Gordon exists in the past, and the past is real. You can’t put up a new building on a site until you destroy the old one, and the old Charlie can’t be destroyed.” (201). Charlie knows that his old self is still within him and no matter what surgery he goes through he cannot change this. If this is looked at from a formalists’ perspective it can be deduced that this an example of foreshadowing. Charlie recognizes that his old self exists regardless of the surgery that he went through to be different. His admittance to this can be recognized as the foreshadowing that his old self will come back and the opperation will be put in reverse, making Charlie unintelligent again. Another example from the text is when Charlie deduces that “"ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE." (256). Charlie is recognizing now that it is likely that he will lose his intelligence. If this is looked at through a formalist lens then it can be seen that this is an example of foreshadowing Charlie’s loss of intelligence. It is not necessarily proven that he will lose his intelligence just because Algernon did, however, due to this and the formalist lens he most likely will. Therefore, if looked at through a formalist’s perspective Charlie will lose his intelligence.
(Reader Response) Thesis 3: After the operation, Charlie becomes so intelligent, and he surpasses the doctors, professors and scientists. Before the operation, Charlie was an adult that had a below average I.Q. and he was mentally challenged. People say that they can connect this scenario to real life. However, those that say this can’t completely connect to this because they aren’t the ones that are experiencing it. In the novel, Charlie states that people don’t understand what he is going through. One example was on page 287. Dr. Strauss is giving Charlie the ink blot tests again. Charlie can’t make out any pictures and Dr. Strauss says, “All right. I understand” (288). However, Charlie says, “No, you don’t understand because it isn’t happening to you, and no one can understand me” (288). This shows how frustrated Charlie is at everyone because they say that they understand what Charlie is going through, but they don’t. Another example from the book was when Charlie says, “I’m a human being, a person-with parents and memories and a history-and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room!” (161). This quote shows how Charlie is angry that the scientific community is treating him like some type of test animal like Algernon. He wants people to realize that he is also a human being, a person, just like everyone else in that room. However, the people don’t understand this.
(Historical/ Biographical) Thesis 4: The novel Flowers For Algernon is about a man named Charlie Gordon who has been chosen as a subject for an experimental surgery. The reason he is chosen is because he has an unusually low I.Q. Daniel Keyes, the author of this book, wrote it in 1959. One major event in the 1950’s was the first organ transplant. This might have caused Keyes to write this book about a surgery to make a man a genius. In the novel, Charlie says, “And he said I’m doing something great for science…” (12). This quote shows how the advances in medicine and science have helped many people. So, when the first organ transplant was conducted, this led to a whole new chapter in medicine, and from then on, millions of lives have probably been saved. After reading a little about Daniel Keyes, I discovered that he had a B.A. in psychology. The whole novel basically revolves around the human mind and how that one operation changed Charlie Gordon’s life. After the operation, Charlie finally got to experience life through a whole new lense. So, since Daniel Keyes had a bachelor’s degree in psychology, he probably combined his interest in the mind with writing and developed this novel. Another example from the text was when Charlie has to look at the ink blots again, and make a picture from them. Charlie says, “I knew enough about the Rorschach to know that it wasn’t what you saw in the cards that counted, but how you reacted to them” (287). This shows how Charlie is aware of how the mind is supposed to react to the inkblot cards when looking at them. However, even though Charlie knows exactly what he is supposed to do, when he looks at them, he can’t find an image in the inkblots. This shows how Charlie is starting to deteriorate, just like Algernon did.
(Psychological Criticism) Thesis 5: In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the setting is in New York City. Having to do with the psychological criticism, the connection to the setting and the author is very common. The relationship to the author and the setting of this book is his education. Keyes education of literature was in New York as well, this may be ironic but the education and growth of both Charlie and Keyes share in New York.
Throughout the novel the setting takes place in New York. This is the location where the the author Daniel Keyes was born. New York City was the place in which Daniel Keyes had earned his education at Brooklyn College where he received his B.A. Degree in psychology. He soon later earned his license to teach English in the New York City schools. This location demonstrates great significance to the author, because this is the very place that has allowed him to where he is today with all these books published. This place must mean a lot to him not only as his hometown but the place his life has started, just as Charlie’s life as well.