Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Week 4 Post: Courtney Hanneman
I personally liked Flowers for Algernon more than Of mice and Men, Because it had more drama and parts in the book that brought me in to want to continue reading it. Of Mice and Men didn't really make me want to read more because it didn't have any really interesting parts in it like Flowers For Algernon did. What both novel's say about intelligence is that even though someone might not be as smart as you doesnt mean they are dumb or can never be smart. In lennie's case he knew how to stand up for himself; like when he beat up curley, and charlie became smart due to the operation and got to see how people treated him before the operation and how those people weren't as smart as what he thought they were when he was retarded. Both novel's show that society's expectations are high, that everyone believes that every single person should be a certain way and act a certain way and if they dont then something's wrong with them. But that's not true becasue everyone is different even if we dont think so. In both novel's there were characters that were picked on which were Lennie(from Of Mice and Men) and Charlie(from Flowers For Algernon). both of these characters were vulnerable and got takin advantage of.
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Hi Courtney!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that I preferred Flowers for Algernon over Of Mice and Men. Looking back on my reading of the book, it seemed like the entire expanse of time covered in Of Mice and Men was simply a blip in Lennie and George’s life. It’s ending had more to be desired in my opinion, since it abruptly cut off after Lennie’s death, with no indication of what George would do or where he would go. In contrast, Flowers for Algernon examined Charlie through first person, and focused greatly on the psychological aspects of leaping from a mental handicap to intellectual genius, which I find much more interesting.
I also agree with your analysis of society’s expectations of intelligence. It does have exceptionally high standards, for even those considered at a normal state of mind. I believe most of this influence comes from the discovery of protégé, the government’s skewed perception of adequate intelligence in comparison to other countries, and the prevalent force of the media.
I have to disagree because I thought the book, Flowers for Algernon where very repetitive and I personally liked, Of Mice and Men better. Lennie wasn’t able to stand up for himself when Curley was beating him up, it took George to tell him to give it to him for Lennie to finally hit Curley back. I do agree though that Charlie did become smarter after the operation and he was able to see how others were treating him. It’s interesting I guess I never thought of it your way with society’s standards being high in both the books because that is so true. No one was willing to accept Charlie because he was so retarded and everyone just took advantage of him. I won’t say that people took advantage of Lennie, but still people treated him different because he wasn’t able to comprehend what was being said half the time.
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