I believe that power plays a pretty big role in this book. All of Charlie’s life he has been taken advantage of and no one has ever let him be himself without picking on him in some way. In the beginning of the book, when Charlie goes to see professor Nemur, Nemur has all the power because he is the one that created the procedure to make Charlie smarter and he is the one that finally decides to pick Charlie to do the first human experiment. As Charlie is going through his young age, when he was retarded, his parents and sometimes his sister held all the power. Even though his sister didn’t really know at the time, she was the main reason that Charlie’s parents sent him away because they wanted Norma to have a normal life. When Charlie is at the bakery working, Frank and the others held all the power. After Charlie’s surgery, even though they didn’t know anything about it, it was they guys that got to decide if Charlie got to stay and work or not. It’s not until Charlie has the surgery and a couple months pass that he realizes how he is being taken advantage of. In a way, I believe that’s part of the reason he decides to go to New York City instead of taking his plane ticket home. He wanted the chance to go out and not have someone else tell him what to do for a change. Also, he decides he wants to be part of the research and he goes to the foundation himself to ask to help, without anybody else’s opinion.
Hi Colleen, I agree completely with what you are saying about power in Flowers for Algernon and how it goes to different people throughout the book. I understand what you meant by his parents making the decision to send Charlie away because of Norma and how Norma never really knew why he was sent away because she was so young. I do not think it helped Norma’s life though because when Charlie met her and his mom again, Norma felt really bad and probably wishing she could have made their parents decision different. As Charlie became smarter, I think his power increased and as he became smarter than anyone else, his power was diminishing due to the fact no one could keep up with his knowledge. I guess in a sense power can be good or bad, which was explained throughout most of the book. Thanks for posting about power because it is very well described in the book and it can be discussed about in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that power was the main source in Flowers For Alergrnon. The book went through power in many different perspectives and types. His parents had the power when he was young, then his teachers, the profs, and eventually Charlie. Once he got power in his own life I don't think that he enjoyed having it. He wasn't himself and he wasn't really happy. He treated everyone very differently and being smart wasn't what he thought it was going to be. Even the old Charlie had power over him when he was with Alice. I think the fact that he was so smart that it just got to him. He looked down on everyone who wasn't as good as him. I think he went to New York to be on his own and just get away from everyone because he wasn't happy. He needed time for him self and to just think about everything.
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