52 Fridays – 2; Flowers For Algernon

For week two of my 52 in 2013 project I chose to read Flowers For Algernon. In one word the book is spectacular. It’s sad, moving, enlightening and really it’s just so damn human I can hardly stand it. I cried through the last ten to fifteen pages and didn’t even try to hide it. When Jason asked why I couldn’t explain it. The main character, Charlie, clearly shows everything about the human condition and it’s revealing to see myself, my friends, my family and everyone else in my life so clearly reflected.

The story centers around a mentally challenged man in his early 30s. His IQ is in the 60s area and he lives alone while working for a local bakery that’s owned by a family friend. He is approached by his teacher, Alice, who instructs a mentally retarded adults class, about being part of “an operashun” to “help (him) get smart”- and operation that has already been “proven to work” in the mouse Alegernon, Charlie’s lab-animal counterpart. What follows is the “progris riports” of Charlie as he survives the surgery, with his IQ soaring into high 180s range. He faces the challenges of becoming intellectually superior to everyone in his life while struggling with the immaturity of his emotional state. He becomes selfish and hard to tolerate straining the relationships of what he used to cherish as friendships. The humanity of his story is overwhelming.

It surprised me to know that it was originally published in 1959 (over 50 years ago!). The author, Daniel Keyes, was so insightful, guys, seriously. As we reach an age where medically and scientifically we are on the cusp of being able to synthetically create life we need to start evaluating not only our intellectual and emotional maturity of ourselves individually, but also as a nation and species. Are we ready to handle the awesome power that comes with the ability to negate retardation, increase our IQs limitlessly, and become the gods of our world taking on the responsibility of creating our own life forms?

This book causes you to take a good, hard, long look at where we are and what our next steps should be. I highly recommend this one and won’t stop singing its praises any time soon!