Flowers for Algernon
A Short Story by Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and
subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story,
written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for
Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and
was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel(with
Babel-17).
 Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to
increase his intelligence by artificial means. The story is told as a
series of progress reports written by Charlie, the first human test
subject for the surgery, and touches upon many different ethical
and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally
disabled.
 Although the book has often been challenged for removal from
libraries in the US and Canada, sometimes successfully, it is
regularly taught in schools around the world and has been
adapted numerous times for television, theatre, radio and as the
Academy Award winning film Charly.
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Background Information
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The ideas for Flowers for Algernon developed over a period of 14 years and were
inspired by numerous events in Keyes's life, starting in 1945 with Keyes's personal
conflict with his parents who were pushing him through a pre-medical education in
spite of his own desire to pursue a writing career. Keyes felt that his education was
driving a wedge between him and his parents and this led him to wonder what would
happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence. Another important
moment came in 1957, while Keyes was teaching English to students with special
needs; one student asked him if it would be possible to be put into a regular class if
he worked hard and became smart.
Different characters in the book were also based on events and people in Keyes's
life. The character of Algernon was inspired by a university dissection class, while
the name came from that of the poet Algernon Charles Swunburne. Nemur and
Strauss, the scientists who develop the intelligence enhancing surgery in the story,
were based on professors Keyes met while studying psychoanalysis in graduate
school.
In 1958, Keyes was approached by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine to write a story,
at which point the different elements of Flowers for Algernon fell into place. On
submitting the finished story to Galaxy, however, the editor suggested changing the
ending so that Charlie retained his intelligence, married Alice, and lived happily ever
after. Keyes refused to make the change and sold the story to The Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction instead.
Keyes worked on the expanded novel between 1962 and 1965 and first tried to sell it
to Doubleday, but they also wanted to change the ending. Again, Keyes refused and
gave Doubleday back their advance. Five different publishers rejected the story over
the course of a year until it was taken on and published by Harcourt in 1966.
Idea Behind the Story
Charlie Gordon is a man with low mental
ability. A kind teacher recommends that he
undergo an operation that has already
tripled the intelligence of a white mouse.
Charlie’s doctors ask Charlie to write
progress reports that would show the
changes in his intelligence.
Preview
The story is told through a series of journal entries written by the story's
protagonist, Charlie Gordon, a man with an IQ of 68 (average IQ is
100)who works a menial job. He is selected to undergo an experimental
surgical technique to increase his intelligence. The technique has already
been successfully tested on Algernon, a laboratory mouse. The surgery on
Charlie is also a success and his IQ triples.
 Charlie falls in love with his former teacher, Miss Kinnian, but as his
intelligence increases, he surpasses her intellectually and they become
unable to relate to each other. Also, his new intelligence scares his coworkers at his job; they start a petition to have him fired and, when
Charlie finds out about it, he quits.
 As Charlie's intelligence peaks, Algernon suddenly declines — losing his
increased intelligence and dying shortly afterward. Charlie discovers that
his intelligence increase is also only temporary. Unable to do anything to
prevent the change, Charlie ultimately reverts to his original mental state
in a swift reversal of his original growth. He tries to return to his original
life and job but cannot stand everyone feeling sorry for him so he decides
to move away. His last wish before he leaves is that someone put flowers
on Algernon's grave.
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Synopsis
Important themes in Flowers for Algernon
include:
1) The treatment of the mentally disabled
2) The conflict between intellect and emotion or
happiness
3) How events in the past can influence a person
later in life.
Themes
Both the novel and the short story are written in
an epistolary style (literary device that is
constructed in the form of a series of letters or
journal entries), collecting together Charlie's
personal "progress reports" from a few days
before the operation until his final regression.
 Initially, the reports are full of spelling errors and
awkwardly constructed sentences.
 Following the operation, however, the first signs
of Charlie's increased intelligence are his
improved accuracy in spelling, grammar, and
punctuation, and his word choice.
 Charlie's regression is conveyed by the loss of
these skills.
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Style
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Charlie Gordon is the novel's main character. He is a 32-year-old janitor employed at a bakery. At the
beginning of the novel, Charlie has a very low IQ but attends remedial night classes for reading and writing
at Beekman School for Retarded Adults, part of Beekman University in New York. He attends the classes
because he has always had a desire to learn. Though he is of limited intelligence, Charlie is a hard-working,
honest man. He lives on his own and feels that he has true friends at the bakery. Unfortunately, he is
gullible and is frequently the butt of jokes by his co-workers. Charlie agrees to participate in an
intelligence-enhancing experiment and undergoes an operation. The procedure dramatically increases
Charlie's intelligence, tripling his IQ. As a result, he experiences a tremendous change in his intellectual
ability. At the same time his emotional and personal life are also radically transformed, causing him much
mental pain and anguish. Unfortunately, the procedure's effect is not permanent, and Charlie eventually
regresses to his original state of mind.
Rose Gordon is Charlie's mother. For the first few years of Charlie's life, she desperately wants to see her
son as normal and steadfastly defends him. She takes Charlie to numerous doctors in an attempt to
improve his mental ability. However, when Norma, Charlie's sister, is born, Rose's position reverses; she
begins to distrust and to even dislike her son. She eventually forces her husband to remove Charlie from
their home and remand him to the care of the Warren Home.
Matt Gordon is Charlie's father. Matt is more realistic than Rose about Charlie's abilities and is more
comfortable with Charlie as he is. In the beginning of the novel Matt is a salesman of barber shop supplies.
He eventually leaves Rose and Norma and opens his own barber shop. He does not recognize Charlie when
Charlie returns to visit him.
Norma Gordon is Charlie's younger sister. Other children tease her about Charlie; as a result, she
develops a strong dislike of him. When Charlie visits his mother and sister late in the experiment, Norma is
shocked, stating that Rose informed her that Charlie had died years ago at the Warren Home. Norma tells
Charlie that she would welcome his return to the family.
Main Characters
Algernon is a mouse that earlier underwent the same operation as Charlie.
Algernon becomes an expert at running highly complex mazes. Charlie
competes with Algernon in maze races. As the experiment progresses,
Algernon's demeanor becomes unpredictable and aggressive. This signals a
problem with the experiment. Eventually, Algernon's abilities radically regress,
and he dies. Charlie comes to love the mouse and buries Algernon in his
backyard, often placing flowers on the mouse's grave.
 Mr. Donner is Charlie's boss and the owner of Donner's Bakery. He hires
Charlie at the request of Charlie's Uncle Herman, promising that as long as he
lives Charlie will have a job. Donner believes in Charlie, but eventually
dismisses him at the request of his other employees.
 Gimpy, Joe Carp, and Frank Reilly are Charlie's co-workers at the bakery.
Initially, these men delight in playing pranks on and making fun of Charlie.
They resent the more intelligent Charlie when he returns to his job after the
operation and eventually get Charlie fired. However, at the end of the novel,
when Charlie's intellectual level has dramatically receded and he returns to the
bakery, they defend and vow to protect him.
 Dr. Guarino is a doctor who Charlie is taken to at his mother's insistence.
Guarino claims he can enhance Charlie's intelligence with a procedure that
involves strapping Charlie to a table and subjecting him to a visual/auditory
stimulus device. Charlie later comes to view Guarino as a charlatan (person
who makes elaborate, or fraudulent claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or
fraud).
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Main Characters
Uncle Herman is Charlie’s uncle who is overweight and a house painter. He is
responsible for getting Charlie discharged from the Warren Home and for
getting him the job at Donner's Bakery.
 Hilda is Charlie's first nurse after his operation. She suggests that perhaps the
operation should not have been performed because it was tampering with
God's will.
 Miss Alice Kinnian is Charlie's teacher at Beekman School for Retarded
Adults, where Charlie attends remedial night classes in reading and writing.
She develops a close personal relationship with Charlie and eventually falls in
love with him. Miss Kinnian enjoys their relationship in the initial stages of
Charlie's intellectual rising, but feels alienated when his intelligence surpasses
her own. Though they become estranged, she returns to take care of Charlie
when his intelligence eventually declines.
 Fay Lillman is Charlie's artistic neighbor at his second apartment in Times
Square. She is a painter, and Charlie finds her attractive. They engage in a
whirlwind romance predicated on nightly drinking and dancing in local clubs.
As Charlie's time runs out, he tires of the routine and spends less and less time
with her. Charlie attempts to reconnect with Fay when his intelligence begins to
recede, but she is frightened of him.
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Main Characters
Bertha Nemur is Professor Nemur's overbearing wife. She has
played a large role in her husband's career and is responsible for
procuring the funding for the experiment from the Welberg
Foundation.
 Professor Harold Nemur is a psychology professor at Beekman
University and is the senior scientist in the experiment. Nemur is
somewhat insecure personally and professionally, and he enjoys
taking credit for Charlie's enhanced intelligence. He usually treats
Charlie more as a test subject than an individual human being.
 Burt Selden is a graduate student majoring in psychology at
Beekman University. He administers various tests to Charlie
throughout the experiment. Selden seems to genuinely care
about Charlie as an individual.
 Dr. Jay Strauss is a psychiatrist and neurosurgeon at Beekman
University. He is a colleague of Professor Nemur and is co-director
of the experiment. He performs the operation on Charlie and also
psychoanalyzes Charlie throughout the experiment.
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Main Characters
VOCABULARY
Flowers for Algernon
Adj
 Completely stupid or
unreasonable
 The man’s mullet was
absurd.

Absurd
Adj
 tending to think deeply about your own
thoughts, feelings, or behavior
 The eighth grader sat alone and was very
deep and introspective.

Introspective
Adj
 In the correct or most
suitable relationship to it
in size, amount,
importance
 The mans head was not
proportional to his body.

Proportional
Noun
 an unpleasant woman who always argues
and disagrees with people
 The mean old woman down the street was
a shrew.

Shrew
Noun
 an illness which consists of a set of
physical or mental problems
 Stockholm Syndrome is when a person
who is kidnapped shows loyalty to the
kidnapper.

Syndrome
Adj
 not having much
experience of how
complicated life is
 The country bumpkin
showed his naiveté when
he went to the big city.

Naïveté
Noun
 the act of returning to an earlier condition
that is worse or less developed
 The boy regressed when his little sister
was born.

Regression
Noun
 limiting one’s interests or activities to one
particular subject
 The doctor’s specialization was feet.

Specialization
Adj
 clear enough to be easily seen or noticed
 There is no tangible evidence of Casey’s
guilt.

Tangible
Noun
 Idea or guess about something that has
yet to be proven
 The idea that Sasquatch is real is only a
hypothesis.

Hypothesis
Verb
 to damage something
or make it not as good
as it should be
 The illness had
impaired his ability to
think and concentrate.

Impair
Noun
 someone who uses
every opportunity to
gain power, money, or
unfair advantages
 The dishonest kid was
an opportunist.

Opportunist
Noun
 a feeling that you get from one of your
five senses, especially the sense of touch
 One sign of a heart attack is a tingling
sensation in the left arm.

Sensation
Noun
 A set of numbers which represent facts or
measurements
 Statistics show that 50% of new
businesses fail in their first year.

Statistic
Adj
 showing no intelligence or
having no useful purpose
 The kid’s vacuous expression
showed he wasn’t very
bright.

Vacuous