Between the two novels, Of Mice and Men and Flowers For Algernon, Flowers For Algernon was definitely the better book. The novel was a lot more exciting than Of Mice and Men; it always kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next. The characters in the book had much more, and much deeper emotions than the characters in Of Mice and Men. The author made the book more exciting by taking risks throughout the whole book, opposed to just taking risks and creating suspense at the end. I liked the plot of the story a lot better; it brought more surprises instead of constantly seeing the same pattern of events until the very end.
The two mentally handicapped, and main characters of the book, Charlie and Lennie had a lot in common, at least before Charlie had the operation done. They both strive hard to fit in and be "normal." They are very kind and are willing to do whatever it takes to please everyone around them. Both authors convey, the less intelligence you have, the more ignorant and happy you are. At the time period the novels were written, society seemed to think mentally handicapped people did not really have feelings, and that they were immune to humiliation, making it okay for them to tease and laugh at them.
I completely agree with you, I felt like "Flowers for Algeron" was the better book. It did keep me guessing and that's really the thing that made me want to keep reading. In the book "Of Mice and Men" the characters didn't really have that many deep feelings as opposed to in Flowers you got every feeling that Charlie felt through out his entire surgical journey. I also agree that Charlie and Lennie did have a lot in common before Charlie's surgery apart from Charlie's intense strive, want, and need to be and feel normal. With Lennie you never really saw that same eagerness to be normal. Of course Lennie felt bad about hurting things after he did but after he just wanted to be like everyone else but took no steps to even get close to becoming like everyone else. Also I agree with what you said about people thinking mentally handicap people don't have feelings, and I still believe that some people still feel that way unfortunately.
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