Flowers for Algernon is a short story by Daniel Keyes a writer born in Brooklyn, New York. The story is about a mentally challenged man named Charles Gordon, who go under the knife, to make him “smart”. Daniel Keyes has a specific theme through this whole story, which is Mentally challenged people are like us and deserve to be treated the same. Daniel Keyes use three literary elements to show us this theme, Characterization, Mood, and setting. I am going to take you through the story and explain what each does to this story Through this paragraph.
First, we are going to talk about is characterization, a literary element used by Daniel Keyes. Characterization is the description of the characters and how the author made the characters who they are. Charles Gordon is a huge characterization element in the story, He is mentally challenged, with a desperate thrive to be smart. Charlie's friends also have good characterization they are really mean to him and Ignorant and use Charlie. Miss kinnian is also a good characterization element, she is kind and caring to Charlie, very nice, loving and willing to help Charlie. Characterization shows that mentally treated people need to be treated equally.
Okay, so the next thing we are going to talk about is Mood and how it contributes to the Theme. Mood Is how the character feels and how the story vibe is. A example of Mood, is when Charlie Is always being picked on without his knowing. Also, when Charlie Feels like he is so smart that average people are stupid is another example. Last is when Charlie gets ditched by his friends at the bar and then they lie to him. Daniel Keyes used this element a lot in which we felt sorry for Charlie.
Next, We are going to talk about the setting of the story. The setting is where the story takes place and what it does to the story. first, a good example of it is where he is in miss kinnian classroom, everything is fine there and he is learning and having fun. Another example is when he is at the hospital he is getting fought over and being a lab rat. Also at his work he is not welcomed because of what he is and what he became. The setting I think has the most voice in book and it does in real life situations like this.
Last, Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon is a great book with a very good lesson to learn. The theme of Mentally challenged people should be treated be equally, is a great one to learn but this wouldn't have been what it was in the short story if it wasn't for the literary elements used by Daniel Keyes. Characterization is huge, if Charlie wasn't mentally challenged the theme would make no sense, also his friends being mean to him shows how normal people act to mentally challenged people. Mood is a very crucial element as well, He used it to make us feel sorry for Charlie, and what he is going through, like we should. Setting plays a decently big part in the story as well, he is welcomed in some places and not so welcomed in others showing us that some people are very cruel. I learned that no matter how nice you are to mentally challenged people there is going to be mean people to them who will laugh and wont be nice to them, I also learned that they are people just like us and deserve what they want in reason.
