Jennifer McMenemy, Senior Marketing Executive
I’ll be honest; the first time I read Flowers for Algernon I hated it. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t an uncommon reaction in my 8th grade high school English class. Of course I’d heard about medical testing, of course I knew that all approved drugs were at some point in time tested on humans (and animals) but Charlie’s story soundly broke my heart. Frankly, it was far too much for me to take at age thirteen.
Years later I re-read Flowers for Algernon when I was working as a crew member on a stage production of the book. I still believed I hated the book. Even after nearly a decade the story had left that strong of an impression on me. However, this time I realised something shocking — I didn’t hate the book at all, I loved it. I still found myself compelled and heartbroken by the tragedy of Charlie’s story, but I finally understood why this was such an ‘important book’ that gets taught in schools. Why this story is one that gets passed down from classroom to classroom.
Flowers for Algernon is the story of Charlie Gordon a simple soul and humble floor sweeper at a bakery who is the unwitting butt of everyone’s jokes. Despite everything Charlie is a mostly happy guy. Then he undergoes an experiment in human intelligence which turns him into a genius. Filled with longing, this is the story of a man who never quite fits into society, whose world view is altered by being both far too clever and not quite clever enough. Flowers for Algernon asks some big questions: What is happiness? Can we be happy when we don’t understand the world? Is it our own intelligence which keeps us from finding happiness? Love? Acceptance?
Told in a series of diary entries and progress reports, you can’t help but be riveted by Charlie’s journey and you’ll find yourself never looking at a lab mouse again without thinking of Algernon.
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