Author: Daniel Keyes
Synopsis
The story revolves around Charlie - a man with unusually low IQ. His only wish is to be smart since he thinks he will be better if he were. Several doctors offered him that chance by making him the first human to take a risky operation to increase one’s intelligence. The operation was successful on a mouse named Algernon. Charlie accepted the opportunity and the operation was more successful than expected. Charlie became a genius. He became more intelligent than his friends and the bakery where he worked, his teacher, and even the doctors who operated him. However, instead of having more friends, he became feared and was more ostracized than before. Things got worse when Algernon signed symptoms of madness and degradation. Charlie restudied the theories that based his operation and came out with a frightening result that the basic theory was flawed. He wrote a thesis based on this finding. The theory basically foretells what would happen to the object of the operation. His thesis is named after himself and Algernon. Charlie, well aware that his conclusion cannot possibly be mistaken, watched in agony as Algernon died and set to prepare for his “future” – a degraded version of himself. He visited his father who didn’t recognize him any longer, his senile mother who always hated him for being not as intelligent as other kids, his sister whom his mother was so proud off but end up with nothing but a difficult task of taking care of their mother. He also prepared his future home. He came to the place where people with exceptionally low IQ were treated. He watched the patients there and he knew he would be one of them. He knew because he has calculated his theory himself and he was too intelligent to have miscalculated his own theory.
Review
When I read the first page, I was discouraged. The story is written in the form of Charlie’s journal. And what’s worse, the journal is written with Charlie’s level of intelligence of that time. Therefore, the first pages were written using erroneous grammar and spelling. I thought I wouldn’t last the first chapter. However, I was wrong. I couldn’t stop reading the book.
By using Charlie’s words, Keyes is able to let us feel Charlie’s feelings. Before the operation, he would regard how nice his “friends” were. How, they make jokes and how they laugh together. However, we get to understand that they are not jokes. His “friends” were bullying him because he was so dim he didn’t understand that he was the victim. When Charlie began to understand the situation, he became angry at them. Ironically, the doctor called anger and repudiation as initial signs of the operation’s success. And as Charlie grew more intelligent, it is obvious that his personality became worse. He became self centered and wondered why other people can’t keep up with his thinking.
The book successfully questions the meaning of intelligence - whether it brings us the happiness we expect. We get to ponder what blessing really is – to not know what is happening around you and be happy or to know exactly what is going to be and be completely helpless to change the result.
The story is original, mesmerizing, wonderful, and definitely unforgettable. Two thumbs up!
