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Flowers for Algernon (the Novel) |
Charly (the film) |
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There are subtle differences between the short story and the novel. Charlie's age goes down 5 years from the short story to the novel, and he works in a bakery instead of the plastic box factory in the short story. The tricks his "friends" from the bakery play on him vary a bit, but the same point comes across--they only invite him for their own enjoyment. Along with these and other subtle differences are major variations that are added to the novel in its length. A few additions include Charlie's memories of his family and past, his sexual relationships with Alice and Fay, and his trips to see his family and the Warren State Home for the mentally retarded.
In the novel, Charlie's increased intelligence allows him to remember incidents of his childhood. He remembers being beaten up by older boys at school over a dirty valentine a friend wrote for him to a girl; he remembers seeing Dr. Guarino and actually trusting the phony because he treated him with respect; he remembers his mother wanting to send him away because he is holding Norma back from having a normal life. These memories, and others, enable Charlie to understand why he is unable to have sexual relationships and why he was so motivated to be smart. The memories also allow the reader to understand Charlie is a more personal way, and feel more sympathy towards him for the situation he is and was in.
In addition, once Charlie is able to understand that Fay and Alice are not Rose or Norma, he is able to have relationships with them. The sexual side of Charlie is unique to the novel; the short story only focuses on non-sexual emotions. While both works suggest that he is only a child emotionally, the novel shows his sexual progression. First, Charlie has a wet dream after dancing with Ellen at the bar. He then begins to have desires to be with Alice. Whenever he gets close to Alice, the old Charlie reappears, keeping Charlie distracted as well as bringing back bad memories of Rose beating him for having an erection while looking at his sister. It is not until Fay that he successfully ignores the old Charlie and makes love to her. Charlie eventually is able to have sex with Alice, right before he sends her away for pitying his regression. At the end of the story, Charlie becomes a peeping Tom by looking at the woman across the street in the bathtub. Throughout the novel, Charlie goes through the typical stages of sexual development, which proves very important to his emotional development as well.
In the second half of the novel, Charlie decides to go see his father and mother before his regression is complete. He wants them to see him as being normal rather than the retarded boy they remember. When he goes to Matt's barbershop, he does not get up the courage to tell him that he is his son. However, a more important event takes place when Charlie goes to visit Rose. Rose remembers him and is very proud of his accomplishments. When Norma comes home she is also excited, but Rose's memory regresses while Charlie is visiting, resulting in her threatening Charlie with a huge knife for hugging Norma. Due to her failing memory, Rose goes back and forth between the new Charlie and the old Charlie. This saddens Charlie because Norma is finally able to realize why they sent him away so many years ago.
Charlie also visits the Warren State Home, the place Uncle Herman had saved him from when Rose kicked him out of the house. Nemur and Strauss have told him that if he should regress to a state worse than his original, they would send him to Warren. During his visit, he feels sympathetic towards the boys there, but also dreads being one of them again because there is no hope there at all.
It is the major differences and events in the novel that make it perhaps more powerful than the short story. While the original "Flowers for Algernon" is striking in its delivery of a retarded man gaining the insight of the world and then losing it again in a matter of months, the novel gives readers more background information and a greater chance to be emotionally connected to Charlie. By seeing his struggles and his desire to love and be love, the reader is able to relate to Charlie in a way that they could not in the short story. The abandonment of the first person narrative in the novel, the times where Charlie is an outsider viewing his memories, supports and strengthens the novel's powerfulness and its message of naivete is bliss and the desire for equality.
