Humanity In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

Being able to make a decision for oneself and acting upon it, despite overwhelming obstacles is an important quality when defining humanity. This quality allows humans to share how they feel and take a stand on certain situations. In the story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, a mentally stunted individual named Charlie proves his humanity when he makes his own decision and acts on it, even with overwhelming peer pressure. As Charlie is eating his dinner in a local restaurant one day, he notices a young dishwasher that is mentally stunted just like he was, not so long ago. This dishwasher drops some dishes, and the other customers, noticing this, make fun of him and use his situation to have some fun on their behalf. Charlie, believing …show more content…
But for God’s sake… he’s still a human being!” (65 Keyes). Charlie could have laughed along with everyone else, neglecting his opinion, therefore refusing to stand up for them. Instead, having his opinion, he stood by it and acted upon it, therefore defining his humanity. Just as Charlie proved his humanity, Frederick Douglass also proved his humanity by forming his own opinion and taking action for it. Douglass grew up on a slave plantation and as he grew “[he] came to see the evil around him clearly “(3 anonymous). He was surrounded by those who had been constantly whipped, beaten, or attacked by the slave masters. Douglass grew up believing that slavery is wrong. Years went by and “From the depths of desperation came determination” (5 anonymous). After years of being treated like an animal, Douglass had finally had enough and was determined to resist. He later recalled this event by saying “Determined to resist, [I] grabbed the [slave master] by the throat and tumbled in a heap” (6 anonymous). After years of growing up a slave and seeing for himself how unfair and hard the life of slaves are in comparison to Americans, he was determined to be free and took action be rebelling and running away several