Flowers for Algernon
...Disasters are pretty much what happens to the main character, Charlie. The book being about a handicapped man and a mouse going through the struggles of changes in themselves and how others act towards them and being put in difficult, embarrassing situations, exercises our empathy. Empathy is very present in the book "Flowers for Algernon"; not only do readers of the book feel empathetic towards Charlie, but various other characters in the book do as well. In my opionion, Algernon is a great example of someone to feel sorry for. He is the one who is tested, challenged and forced to do things that would be very frustrating for anyone, and he doesn't have a say in it. When Charlie takes him from the testing labs and keeps him in his appartment, Charlie thinks that he is doing Algernon a favour, but really this probably only confuses Algernon more. Becoming disoriented can be very scary for not only humans but especially animals. Animals obviously don't have the ability to put their thoughts and feelings into words so they can't express any confusion they may be experiencing. The quotes below that I chose from "Flowers for Algernon", I thought really showcased how Charlie feels and how naive he is throughout the story. After reading this novel, Charlie seems to me like a kid that is bullied and nobody really cares about how he feels, when really by the middle of the book, Charlie has gained knowledge and is now quite aware of why people treated him the way they did. That really made me wonder what goes through the heads of victims of bullying and how they must feel in the worst of situations...
"all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb and my mom always tolld me to try and lern just like Miss Kinnian tells me but its very hard to be smart and even when I lern something in Miss Kinnians class at the school I ferget alot." - Charlie
"I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. Now I know what they mean wen they say 'to pull a Charlie Gordon.' I'm ashamed." - Charlie
