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Rose Gordon (Charlie’s mother)
A young, attractive woman who lives in Charlie’s apartment building. Fay represents the exact opposite of the scientific establishment that “creates” Charlie: she’s casual, anti-intellectual, and intuitive. Although Charlie never feels love for Fay, he’s highly attracted to her, not least because she’s a welcome alternative to his academic pursuits. Fay recedes from view toward the end of the novel—when Charlie begins to lose his intelligence, she shuns him.
Fay Lillman Quotes in Flowers for Algernon
The Flowers for Algernon quotes below are all either spoken by Fay Lillman or refer to Fay Lillman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Progress Report 14 Quotes
Then, with a violent effort of the will, I was back on the couch with her, aware of her body and my own urgency and potency, and I saw the face against the window, hungrily watching. And I thought to myself, go ahead, you poor bastard—watch. I don't give a damn any more. And his eyes went wide as he watched.
Related Characters:
Charlie Gordon (speaker), Fay Lillman
Related Symbols:
Charlie’s Hallucinations (younger Charlie)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
210
Explanation and Analysis:
As Charlie becomes more intelligent and self-aware, he begins to hallucinate a young boy--the childhood version of Charlie himself. This young version of Charlie "watches" Charlie almost constantly, but especially when Charlie is engaging in behavior that he couldn't have managed when he was mentally disabled. In this scene, Charlie is about to have sexual intercourse with Fay Lillman, his neighbor. Although Charlie feels "young Charlie" watching him, he decides that he doesn't care--he continues having sex, daring his young self to do anything about it.
The presence of "young Charlie" in Charlie's mind suggests that he's still haunted by his past--the years during which he was humiliated and teased for his disability. As Charlie becomes more mature and experienced, he comes to resent young Charlie--he hates that there was ever a time in his life when he had a low IQ and feared his own sexuality. Here, Charlie seems to make peace with his troubled past (he no longer cares), and yet he also clearly hates his former self.
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Fay Lillman Quotes in Flowers for Algernon
The Flowers for Algernon quotes below are all either spoken by Fay Lillman or refer to Fay Lillman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Progress Report 14 Quotes
Then, with a violent effort of the will, I was back on the couch with her, aware of her body and my own urgency and potency, and I saw the face against the window, hungrily watching. And I thought to myself, go ahead, you poor bastard—watch. I don't give a damn any more. And his eyes went wide as he watched.
Related Characters:
Charlie Gordon (speaker), Fay Lillman
Related Symbols:
Charlie’s Hallucinations (younger Charlie)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
210
Explanation and Analysis:
As Charlie becomes more intelligent and self-aware, he begins to hallucinate a young boy--the childhood version of Charlie himself. This young version of Charlie "watches" Charlie almost constantly, but especially when Charlie is engaging in behavior that he couldn't have managed when he was mentally disabled. In this scene, Charlie is about to have sexual intercourse with Fay Lillman, his neighbor. Although Charlie feels "young Charlie" watching him, he decides that he doesn't care--he continues having sex, daring his young self to do anything about it.
The presence of "young Charlie" in Charlie's mind suggests that he's still haunted by his past--the years during which he was humiliated and teased for his disability. As Charlie becomes more mature and experienced, he comes to resent young Charlie--he hates that there was ever a time in his life when he had a low IQ and feared his own sexuality. Here, Charlie seems to make peace with his troubled past (he no longer cares), and yet he also clearly hates his former self.
