Who Is Charlie Gordon Smarter In Flowers For Algernon

When comparing “Flowers for Algernon” and the real world, pressure to be “normal” or “perfect” on the mentally and physically disabled causes many negative effects such as depression, low self-esteem, and even abortion. Charlie Gordon is a below average minded man who very desperately wants to be intelligent. Charlie Gordon Has been made to feel, because of his low intelligence, that he needs to be “smarter”, some of which may be a result of childhood experiences. Charlie shows his desperation when he states, “I want to be smart.”(1). He also shows his desire to be smart when he says “After the operashun I'm gonna try to be smart. Im gonna try awful hard” (3) and “I don't care if it hurts” (2). In the story Charlie clearly states that he wants to be smart. Someone has trained his mind to feel inferior. This is sad because mentally disabled children should be cherished and loved, not taught to feel invaluable. Charlie has these feelings, but what could have caused them? Luckily, we are given a small piece of Charlie’s childhood when he writes this about his father “My mother said he died but Cousin Miltie said …show more content…
They believe that their children will work best and improve under pressure, like Rabison Shumba says in his article The Benefits of Pressure “Under pressure, diamonds and gold are purified.” This is wrong, children are not minerals, they should not be hidden deep down under pressure like stones under the soil! Children should be embraced, loved and taught to learn through love, not pressure! It is very important that Rabison Shumba also stated “Pressure has its own advantages. It is important to note that there are people who crumble when pressure comes.” We must keep in mind that not everyone can perform well under pressure, and disabled children tend not to. Over all, pressure is a thing all people experience, we must learn to rise above it and not succumb to