Duck and Cover

Spazmo wrote:Algernon is a reference to Flowers for Algernon. That one is filed under 'N' for No shit, Sherlock.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The novel’s action begins in Charlie’s thirty-second year in
Donner’s Bakery, New York, where he works. Charlie narrates
his experience through ‘progress reports,’ which he has to submit
to the research team from Beckman College. Charlie is a retarded
adult, and he has agreed to submit himself to experimental surgery
in order to improve his intelligence. The reports reveal Charlie’s
experiences in the bakery to which the owner, his uncle’s friend,
has brought him from the Warren State Home for retarded people.
Charlie becomes a part of the bakery, and considers the people
there as his friends. Yet, he is dissatisfied and wants to be ‘smart.’
So, he joins a special school for retarded people at Beckman
College. After this, his teacher, Alice Kinnian, recommends him
to a research team at Beckman psychology department. The team
is in search of a retarded volunteer, for the experimental surgery
to increase intelligence.

Charlie then undergoes weeks of testing and competing with a
white mouse, Algernon at completing mazes. He is depressed
when the mouse beats him every time. The operation takes place
and Charlie is disappointed at not ‘getting smart’ immediately.
However, he is assured that he will progress gradually, but
steadily. Over a period of time, Charlie finds himself being able to
read more, win some mazes and master complex processes at the
bakery. The other workers resent him. He is disillusioned with
many of them. He has to spend a lot of time reading and being
tested at the Beckman lab. By now, he knows that Algernon has
also had surgery similar to his, which accounts for his
intelligence. Charlie surges ahead in gathering knowledge and
mastering languages. He begins to see his supportive teacher
Alice, as an attractive young woman. They become close and he
tries to make love to her. On several occasions, he finds he has a
violent physical reaction when he is making love to her and
therefore has to stop. He can’t understand why this happens.
Around the same time, Charlie’s repressed memories of his home,
surface. Disturbing scenes, like, his mother pushing him to study
or others when he is being pushed aside in favor of his younger
sister, flash through his memory. Charlie is upset, but he finds his
newfound intellectual ability thrilling and works hard.

He finds that he and Algernon are to be taken to Chicago for a
convention, at which Nemur will present the findings of the team.
Once there, Algernon and Charlie are the prime ‘exhibits,’
objects, and humiliating remarks are made in his hearing. He also
discovers that the researchers have not given sufficient time to
verify their experimental findings before performing the
experiment on him. Charlie releases Algernon, and runs away
with him to New York. He hides here for some time and rents a
house. He understands that his time is short and decides to check
the same experiments, in order to trace the reasons for its failure.

Charlie gets permission from the sponsors, to work independently
on this subject at Beckman. His relationship with Nemur becomes
tense and hostile. He can’t overcome his problems with Alice and
gets involved with Fay, an unconventional artist living next door.
With her, he can defeat his inhibitions. But as his work gets more
demanding, their relationship becomes strained and finally breaks.
In the meantime, Algernon’s condition gets worse, and he dies.
Charlie knows this indicates his own approaching end, and
therefore he seeks out his parents. His father is alone in the
Browse. Charlie meets him but can’t bear to reveal who he is, for
fear of disappointment. His meeting with his mother and sister is
anticlimactic, as the mother is old and senile, and his sister is
having a bad time coping with the responsibility alone. He is
satisfied that he can tell them of his achievements. He makes his
peace with them and leaves. He confronts Nemur at a party and
charges him of being insensitive. Charlie is also charged of
selfishness and arrogance, which he admits is the truth. He
accepts that the retarded Charlie is an important and enduring part
of him. He and Alice get together but only find fulfillment for a
short time. As Charlie’s mind gets worse, he forces her to leave
him. He works at the bakery, and when his condition becomes
very bad, he moves to the Warren Home.