FLOWERS FOR ALGERNONDaniel Keyes

ABOUT DANIEL KEYES

Daniel Keyes was born in New York in 1927. Keyes joined the U.S. Maritime Service, and

then continued his education at Brooklyn College (now City University of New York).

He earned a bachelor of the arts in psychology. (This is important!)

ABOUT DANIEL KEYES

Keyes got a job as a fiction editor, and later left editing to enter the fashion photography business.

Keyes earned a license to teach English and began teaching in New York.

Keyes also earned his master of the arts degree in English and American Literature.

ABOUT DANIEL KEYES

Keyes joined the faculty of Ohio University in 1966. He was appointed Professor of English and Creative Writing.

In 2000, he was honored with Professor Emeritus status.

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

Keyes first published Flowers for Algernon in 1966, and it has never gone out of print since its release.

The novel has since been adapted into a film “CHARLY” and a musical “Charlie and Algernon.”

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

Flowers for Algernon was released in two forms: a short story and a novel.

There are differences in the two works, though the overall plot remains the same.

Some things that are changed: Charlie’s age (he is five years younger in the

novel) Charlie’s employer (bakery vs. box factory) Charlie remembers things from his childhood.

CHARACTERS

CHARLIE GORDON

Protagonist and author of the progress reports that compose the novel.

Charlie is 32 years old (37 in the short story). Charlie is mentally retarded, but wants to be

smart. Charlie works at Donner’s Bakery as a janitor

and delivery boy. Charlie is friendly, but people take advantage

of his lack of intelligence.

ALICE KINNIAN

Charlie’s teacher at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults.

Alice recommends Charlie for the experimental procedure that will increase his intelligence.

Alice and Charlie become involved in a romantic relationship for a brief time.

PROFESSOR HAROLD NEMUR

The scientist in charge of the experiment that increases Charlie’s intelligence.

Nemur treats Charlie like a lab animal. Nemur cares primarily about his reputation,

and is quite arrogant.

DR. STRAUSS

The neurologist and psychiatrist that works with Professor Nemur on the experiment.

Dr. Strauss conducts therapy sessions with Charlie following the experiment.

He is very concerned about Charlie’s emotional development following the surgery.

BURT SELDEN

Burt Selden is a graduate assistant working with Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss.

He performs tests on Charlie and Algernon. He introduces Charlie to some of the

students at Beekman College.

ALGERNON

A small white lab mouse that is the first successful test subject to receive a significant intelligence increase through surgery.

FAY LILLMAN

Charlie’s neighbor and a romantic interest for brief time in the novel.

Fay is an artist and the exact opposite of Charlie – she is disorganized and lives a very chaotic life.

ROSE GORDON

Charlie’s mother. Rose is obsessive over Charlie’s intelligence,

often insisting that there is no problem with Charlie – he just doesn’t try.

Once her daughter, Norma, is born, she begins to neglect and abuse Charlie, even to the point of threatening to kill him.

She despises Charlie for being mentally retarded.

MATT GORDON

Charlie’s father who he has not seen in a long time.

Charlie’s father tried to stand up against Rose and support Charlie, but in the end, he abandoned the family.

He took Charlie to his uncle, Herman. Matt started a barber shop after leaving his

wife, something he wanted to do for a very long time.

NORMA GORDON

Charlie’s sister. When Charlie is young, she is mean to

Charlie because he is treated differently – for instance, he is allowed to get bad grades and she is not.

As an adult, she sympathizes with Charlie and feels bad for the way she treated him.

UNCLE HERMAN

Charlie’s uncle who took care of him after Rose forced him out of her home.

Herman protects Charlie, and set him up with a job at Donner’s Bakery, a business owned by his friend.

At the beginning of the novel, Uncle Herman has been dead for years.

MR. DONNER

The owner of Donner’s Bakery, the business where Charlie works.

Mr. Donner agreed to hire Charlie and take care of him once Herman died so that Charlie would not have to go to Warren State Home, an assisted living facility.

FRANK REILLY AND JOE CARP

Two employees at Donner’s Bakery who often pick on Charlie.

They often play tricks on Charlie and make jokes about him that he does not understand.

Despite their cruelty, they stand up for Charlie when others attempt to pick on him.

GIMPY

Gimpy is a baker at Donner’s Bakery who secretly steals from Mr. Donner.

He got his nickname, Gimpy, because of his limp.

His relationship is much like Frank and Joe’s. He stands up for Charlie, but gets aggravated when Charlie catches him stealing from Mr. Donner.

FANNY BIRDEN

Fanny is the only employee at Donner’s Bakery who is consistently nice to Charlie.

She does not like to see Frank, Joe, and Gimpy pick on Charlie due to his disability.

When Charlie shows signs of newfound intelligence, Fanny becomes suspicious, and thinks he has made a deal with the devil.

DR. GUARINO

Dr. Guarino is a “quack” doctor whom Charlie sees as a child.

Dr. Guarino promised Charlie’s mother, Rose, that he could make Charlie more intelligent, but in reality it is all a sham.

He ends up swindling Rose into spending a great deal of the family’s money to have Charlie strapped down to a noise-making machine.

HILDA

Hilda is the nurse on duty when Charlie is first recovering from his operation.

Hilda believes that Charlie is defying God’s will by trying to gain intelligence unnaturally.

She is promptly dismissed from Charlie’s care, and replaced with another nurse.

MINNIE

Minnie is a female mouse that Fay Lillman purchases as a companion for Algernon.

MEYER KLAUS

Meyer is a new employee at Donner’s Bakery when Charlie returns to work after losing his intelligence.

Meyer is cruel and picks on Charlie, and ends up getting fired after causing too much trouble.

SCIENCE FICTION

THE SCIENCE FICTION GENRE

Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon is an example of the genre “science fiction” or “sci-fi” for short.

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least non-supernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities.

Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas".

Source: Wikipedia.org