Tuesday, February 12, 2013

What is Charlie's main internal conflict throughout the story in "Flowers for Algernon"?

Charlie struggles so much with a need to be accepted and to be "normal".  He spent his childhood being abused by his mother because he was different and she couldn't face it.  As an adult, he hates that he is not equal to his "friends" and peers.  He wants the surgery because he wants to:

to be smart like other pepul so I can have lots of friends who like me.

Like all humans, he just wants to be a part of a group.  However, when he is "smart" enough to understand what his peers are really like, Charlie starts to understand that being accepted isn't necessarily a positive goal.  Why desire to be accepted by people who aren't humane in their treatment of others?  However, he still desires to be "like others" and tries desparately to research and discover the flaw in the operation.  It is only when he realizes that there is no fix that he must face up to his internal problem.  It is then that Charlie overcomes his conflict and accepts himself and understands that other people will and this is enough.  He also learns from his own internal conflict to be accepting of other people who might be:

not so smart like you once thot they were.

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