Mental Retardation In Flowers For Algernon

Today the general public should recognize that no matter what the circumstance, all are created to be equal. However in the minds of a large part of society, that is not the case. Race used to be that aspect that segregated two groups of individuals. That problem is no longer withstanding, and whatever little is still present is not widely known. There is a situation that withstands today that does set two groups of people apart, and this is widely known in society. Mental illness is not something that can be chosen or changed. Instead of helping the mentally ill conform into society people today make sure that everyone knows that they are “different from us”. Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” stresses the intense ridicule society
Medically, mental retardation is based on intellect and low functions in society. Socially, however, mental retardation is not even close to defined as that. One of the major ways the general public mocks the mentally disabled is through the use of offensive and belittling nicknames. Society has adapted new meanings to the term retarded, and has strictly linked that term to abusive, insulting means. Mentally retarded individuals have highly recognizable facial features as well, and this only adds to the ridicule. Terms such as retard, moron, idiot, etc. are bad enough but when derogatory words concerning their facial features come about it makes matters a whole lot worse. Mongoloid is another one of the many terms that society created to describe these distinct features. The name derived from the similarities of persons afflicted with Down’s syndrome and the facial features of Mongolian citizens. Labels placed on the mentally disabled are just as hurtful as racial slurs were, and still are
Gordon believes that at his job he has many friends, some of those being Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy. Charlie Gordon begins to write progress reports to show his progress before and after his intelligence-enhancing surgery. After getting the surgery Gordon states “Im glad Im going back to werk because I miss my job at the bakery and all my frends and all the fun we have” (Keyes, March 20 ¶ 2). Little does he know that they are not really fun times and his “friends” look to him for entertainment purposes only. Gordon continues to explain all the “fun times” he has with his coworkers, and key details such as the new word they all use to describe a mess up on the job, they call it a “Charlie Gordon” (Keyes, March 21 ¶ 6). At one point Carp, Reilly, and Gimpy take Charlie to a party and get him drunk until a point where he dances with a girl who gives him certain feelings he never felt before (Keyes, April 10 ¶ 3-23). As the intelligence-enhancing drugs begin to kick in Gordon gets an intense wake up call. He starts to realize that all the times that Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy shared with him were on strict entertainment bases. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. Now I know what they mean when they say “to pull a Charlie