"Flowers for Algernon" Character Sketch

My first impression of Charlie was a slow, happy man who loved life. Yet, he wanted something more. He wanted to be smart. He wanted to finally impress his hard-hearted mother who never loved him for who he was, a "moron." I can learn much from Charlie, such as to be happy with my life and the the things I am able to do, because even though at first Charlie was not able to write well or have a regular job or go to college, he never once complained. Also, towards the end of the book Joe and Frank realized that their previous actions of mocking Charlie were wrong, so when Charlie was getting ridiculed and beat up by Meyer Klaus, they stood up for Charlie, telling Klaus that he should leave Charlie alone. Charlie's kind heart shines through, especially when he believes that Klaus should not be fired "and have to find another job because he had a wife and kid. And besides how sad I was when I had to get fired from the bakery and go away" (308). His willingness to forgive people for their mistakes and to be kind to everybody regardless of what they had done to him makes Charlie a role model for everyone.

"Flowers for Algernon" Experiences or Memories

In Flowers for Algernon, mentally retarded Charlie becomes more and more intelligent, realizing that people did not treat him like a human before his operation and also, they made fun of him. My stepmom's friend has a younger brother Michael who has a similar condition to what Charlie had. He cannot speak well and take care of himself without assistance. People sometimes give him strange looks but he sees the good in everyone and is optimistic like Charlie, who says he will "have lots of frends where [he] [goes]" (311). Even though they both have fairly low I.Q.'s, they have open and warm hearts, making everyone smile and enjoying their lives to the fullest.

"Flowers for Algernon" Acrostic

Flowers for Algernon (Spoiler Alert!!)

Caring and kind-hearted, the "retarded" Charlie thinks highly of everyone, even though he does not realize that people use him to make themselves look smarter. For instance, Charlie considers Joe and Frank his good friends, yet they pick on him in an attempt to appear smarter. Except for being constantly picked on, Charlie is very fortunate, for he lives in a good home instead of having to live at the Warren Institution and he also has a stable job at a local New York bakery.

Hurt by what his mother did to him as a child, "intelligent" Charlie periodically remembers moments in his childhood, most of them where his mother is beating him for being mentally challenged, kids at his school are beating him, or his sister is getting him in trouble. When he goes to make amends with his mother and sister all is going well until his mentally unstable mother brings out a kitchen knife. His sister apologizes for the rude things she had done as a child, though after Rose (Charlie's mother) brought out the kitchen knife Charlie leaves with tears in his eyes.

Algernon was the only thing that could relate to Charlie, going through similar ordeals of fits of rage followed by laziness and tiredness followed by the loss of motor skills and intelligence. Also, they were both guinea pigs who were experimented with, the doctors priding themselves on calling them their "creations," and treating them like "[they] were the main attraction of the evening, and when [they] settled, the chairman began his introduction. [Charlie] half expected to hear him boom out: Laideezzz and gentulmennnnnn. Step right this way and see the side show! An act never before seen in the scientific world! A mouse and a moron turned into geniuses before your very eyes!" Finally, many people felt sorry for Charlie as he started to mentally deteriorate, saying that they "understood", yet Charlie knew that the only person who understood what he was going through was a mouse.

Rude and self-centered is what the intelligent Charlie had become, primarily focusing on work, work, work. When he first began to "date" Fay, he would drink and go dancing with her. After awhile, he slowly became a hermit, ignoring her and rejecting her invitations to dance. Also, when Alice took care of him while he was becoming retarded again, he did not appreciate the things she had done for him, such as cleaning the house and paying his rent and instead griped and told her to get out of his apartment.

Little by little, Charlie lost his memory and his intelligence. What was painful to him is that he knew he was becoming mentally and physically slower, trying to fight it as much as possible. Although he did not succeed in fighting the declination, when he went back to being mentally retarded he knew that he was a help for the science world, even though he did not quite remember what he did.

In a matter of months, Charlie became a genius who spoke twenty languages and read countless articles and books. More importantly, he learned how the world looked at mentally challenged people and how they looked at him. He realized people were not as nice as they had previously seemed to be, for he realized that Joe and Frank were not his friends, they just made fun of his stupidity.

Elated that he had met someone as frank and independent as Fay, her different approach to life changed Charlie for the better. He learned to not have as many "lines" in his house and more importantly, he learned how to have a really good time. Though dancing was not what he enjoyed, Fay and Charlie would drink and laugh and regularly visit each other. Before Fay, Charlie primarily studied all the time but after he met her, she put some spice into his life.

Acrostic

House, is more than a man in a T.V show. He is an author of The Gun Seller.

"This can't be a *Ucking American, telling me what's wrong with this country."(121)

Gun Seller, a novel like no other. It is extremely tasteful while being tasteless.

"But Hark! My pulse like a soft drum beats my approach, tells thee I come."(299)

The Red Badge of Courage

When I first met Henry I thought he was selfish, and then I find out about him and how he changed his beliefs. He reminds me of a little kid that likes the heroic stories and then matures really quickly and understands the real meaning of courage. “His self-pride was now entirely restored” shows that he has shown his manhood in the book.

The Red Badge of Courage

M any times Henry finds his manhood and thinks of himself as a hero. He thinks of himself of a hero to men and the women will like him.

A n example of Henry having courage is him turning around to come back and fight. That shows that Henry really understood the meaning of courage.

N ot only is Henry courageous but he is also brave.

H enry struggles with his manhood. After he participates in the war, he regains his manhood.

O ften Henry thinks too much about himself. That effects his manhood.

O ver time Henry learns the real meaning to important traits. He learns what courage is and what manhood means.

D uring the Civil War Henry learns what it means to be a man. He learns that a hero is not just about popularity. He learns that it is about doing the right thing.

The Red Badge of Courage

I think that Henry was coward. Stephen Crane is trying to show the reader to have courage or be brave. Henry believes that courage is not very important trait for a human being. He believes it is just in romantic stories. Later in the story he realizes that courage is very important. He realizes that it is not about other people’s opinions. He realizes the meaning of courage around chapter 5. When he was getting ready for battle “He suddenly lost concern for himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate”. Another theme is self-infliction. Henry convinced himself many times in the book to do things that were against his will.