The novel has never gone out of print, has been made into multiple film and stage adaptations, and has been adopted by many required reading lists. '.Keyes has found a challenge in his material and has composed a gripping narrative.This guide references the 1994 Harvest (Harcourt) version of the novel. a literary achievement as unique as the subject itself.' a brilliant and fascinating tour de force. 'A tale that is convincing, suspenseful and touching.' 'This novel should be on your 'must read list.' Going to be read for a long time to come.' Rose was also abusive towards Charlie when he started having sexual thoughts, resulting in his inability to have sex with Alice. Rose always wanted Charlie to be smarter, which is why he has a high motivation to learn. Cox also suggests that Keyes uses Freudian analysis when Charlie's motivation from unconscious desires is traceable to his childhood experiences involving sex. Charlie's journals dramatize his changes and the obstacles that he must deal with. The novel's power comes from the use of the first-person viewpoint. Understanding Contemporary American Science Fictionįlowers for Algernon is 'unique in the science fiction pantheon' and has a double-edged theme involving 'the unthinking brutality with which society treats the mentally retarded and the terrible isolation of soaring intellect.' In addition, Keyes 'revitalized the myth of Frankenstein by introducing a fresh narrative perspective' and uniting 'Mary Shelley's nameless creature and the crazed scientist into the single figure of Charlie.' Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science FictionĪldiss prefers the original short story rather than the novel because the 'moving story lost something of its power when expanded to novel length.'

Scholes believes Keyes 'has fleshed out his idea with great skill' as well. The novel is 'beautifully problematic' and its power comes from the fact that the results of the surgery are only temporary. 'An excerpt from Structural Fabulation: An Essay on Fiction of the Future'įlowers for Algernon is 'minimal SF that, unlike some works of science fiction, establishes only one discontinuity between its world and our own.' This discontinuity is the experiment that raises Charlie's intelligence. Keyes 'has taken the obvious, treated it in a most obvious fashion, and succeeded in creating a tale that is convincing, suspenseful, and touching-all in modest degree, but it is enough.' In all, the novel is 'proof of Mr.

Comparison of the Novel and the Short Storyįlowers for Algernon 'deals with moral, social, psychological, theological, or philosophical problems imagined as resulting from inventions, discoveries, or scientific hypotheses.' It is a 'work of quality science fiction' that 'offers compassionate insight into the situation of the mentally retarded,' but also is 'marred by a cliche dialogue or a too predictable description.'

Flowers for algernon 1966