In the book "Flowers for Algernon," Alice didn't want to get involved with Charlie because she was concerned about the ethical implications of forming a romantic relationship with someone who had undergone an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. She also didn't want to take advantage of Charlie's vulnerability and confused emotions.
there are 4 subplots: Subplot #1: Charlie's relationship with Algernon Subplot #2: Charlie's relationship with Mrs.Kinnian/Alice Subplot #3: Charlie's relationship with coworkers Subplot #4: Charlie's relationship with his doctors
Charlie send's Alice away because he loved her and he was too ashamed and embarassed for her to see him in his retarted, regressing state of intelligence again.
Meaning full relationships with his friends at his bakery, Alice, Straus, Nemur, and Fay.
Charly's teacher is Alice Kinnian (played in the 1968 movie Charly by Claire Bloom).
Charlie Gordon, the handicapped man given the experiment. Alice, the teacher who recommends him. Dr. Straus and Dr. Nemur, the two scientists most directly involved in the experiment. Ernie and Flynn, two of the bakery employees where Charlie had worked. Algernon, the rat that had the same experiment as Charlie. Kinnian, charlies sexual partner
In "Flowers for Algernon," the development of characters like Charlie Gordon is driven by his intellectual enhancement through the experiment. As Charlie's intelligence grows, his personality changes, showing a complex journey of self-discovery, emotional growth, and evolving relationships with other characters. The contrasting behaviors of characters like Charlie, Alice, and Dr. Strauss further highlight the impact of intellect on human relationships and understanding.
"When algernon bites charlie because this shows that algernon is changing and soon charlie will be to!!" is a climax but another one is when he is at the diner and the mentally challenged boy who works there drops the dishes and everyone laughs at him. At first Charlie does also, but then notices he is slow, and relizes how much people make fun of people just like Charlie, and Charlie decides he wants to do something to improve the human mind and help people like who he once was.
Sad and sweet. He had fallen in love with his teacher, but for reasons of his stunted emotional growth could not properly pursue the relationship, or when having it, consumate it. Near the end, as his IQ was dropping, he was able to consumate it, though. It was rather bittersweet, as both of them knew that he would soon be retarded again.
It was published by Harcourt in 1966. It had been passed up by Doubleday, as they didn't want it unless it had a happy ending where Charlie kept his intelligence and married Alice! As the book has sold five million copies, all around the world, and been in continuous print for the past 44 years, spawning a movie, two TV shows, several musicals and plays and a couple of songs, that was probably a poor decision on their part! Yet another movie adaptation, starring Will Smith, should be out sometime this year.
If you know the plot of the story, you known that Charlie Gordon had been mentally retarded and then received an amazing experimental surgery which gave him not just normal intelligence but that of a genius. He had never learned any of the social graces however, so while his intellect was high, he was not certain how to express himself romantically. He fell in love with Alice, one of his teachers at the night school he had been attending, but their relationship was awkward: Alice knew about the surgery, and she could also see that Charlie had no idea how to have a "normal" relationship. Worse yet, his intelligence kept increasing, and soon he was far ahead of Alice, the woman he previously admired and looked up to. I am not going to spoil the ending, in case you haven't read it, but let's just say their relationship was doomed from the start, even if they both cared about each other.
Alice is asked what type of flower she is. She proudly declares she is not a flower, and so the flowers assume she is a weed. What flower wants a weed in its bed? So they kick her out.
Alice's Posies