Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Flowers for Algernon, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ignorance, Intelligence, and Happiness
Intelligence vs. Wisdom and Morality
Pride, Hubris, and the Tragic Hero
Cruelty and Bullying
Love and Sexuality
Summary
Analysis
March 8. Charlie is going to begin his surgery tomorrow, and he’s very nervous. Nemur has instructed him to tell his coworkers that he’s sick—they send him a chocolate cake and tell him to feel better soon. Miss Kinnian visits Charlie and gives him some magazines to read. Burt brings Charlie flowers from the people in the psychology laboratory that’s running Charlie’s experiment.
The first information we get about Charlie’s coworkers is that they seem to care about him—they send him a cake to wish him well.
Themes
Charlie imagines becoming smart and pleasing Miss Kinnian. He thinks about going to visit his family, and finally being smart, just like his sister. Professor Nemur tells Charlie that if the experiment is a success, Charlie will be world-famous. Scientists will give other people Charlie’s operation, and everyone in the world will be brilliant.
Charlie is made aware of the global implications of his surgery: he understands very well that his intelligence will make him famous and popular. This seems to be one of the key reasons why Charlie wants the surgery: he wants the respect of his peers, and wants more “friends.”
Themes
