Ignorance In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

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It is often debated whether ignorance is bliss. Is being unconscious of one's surroundings truly happiness? In the novel entitled Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, ignorance is Charlie’s peace. Not realizing that ignorance is his happiness, Charlie decides to undergo a procedure to make him knowledgeable. As Charlie’s intelligence progresses, his relationships begin to deteriorate with the ones he cares for most. Furthermore, as Charlie’s brain begins to process memories, he starts to become anxious in sexual situations. Finally, because his blindfold disappears, he sees the truth behind all of his encounters, which ends up being too much for Charlie to withstand. He does not have the capacity to understand the sorrow that would come with …show more content…
Before the operation, Charlie considers his colleagues, Frank and Joe, his friends. When Charlie starts to acquire knowledge, he realizes that “People at the bakery are changing. Not only ignoring [him]. [Charlie] can feel the hostility” (Keyes 66). His friends are no longer talking to him and feel threatened. Charlie’s bond with the men he has been working with for seventeen years is deteriorating due to his intelligence. Consequently, he is fired for making his colleagues feel inferior. Because of that, Charlie feels “[His] intelligence has driven a wedge between [him] and all the people [he] knew and loved, driven [him] out of the bakery. Now, [Charlie feels] more alone than ever before” (Keyes 108). The new knowledge distances Charlie from his friends and leaves him feeling lonesome. Without the surgery, Charlie would still have the relationships with his friends at the bakery. Furthermore, Charlie’s relationship with his former teacher, Alice Kinnian, takes a turn for the worse when Charlie’s intelligence increases further. The pair begins to no longer connect, and conversations become strained. Charlie realizes that “[He is] just as far away from Alice with an I.Q. of 185 as [he] was when [he] had and I.Q. of 70” (Keyes 126). With an I.Q. of 70, Charlie could not develop relationships with others, and with an I.Q. of 185 he is in the same position. The intelligence did not …show more content…
After Charlie’s procedure, he experiences vivid flashbacks of his treatment from his mother, Rose. He remembers being hit for having sexual thoughts. Rose’s actions dictate the way Charlie would react to sexual situations in his conscious adulthood. In one of Charlie’s flashbacks, he remembers Rose stating to his father, “[Charlie cannot] learn to read and write, but he knows enough to look at a girl that way. I’ll beat that filth out of his mind” (Keyes 112). Having any sexual encounter was condemned in Charlie’s household; therefore, when Charlie is able to process the hostility towards sexual interactions, he began to develop anxiety. When Charlie is with Alice his anxiety showed through. In Charlie’s progress report he writes, “And before I knew what she was doing, she was kissing me, holding me closer than anyone had ever held me before. But at the moment I should have come closest of all, it started: the buzzing, the chill, and the nausea” (Keyes 113). Any sexual interaction would plunge Charlie into anxiety, and leave him feeling ill. Because of this, he did not have a normal love life like he wanted. The anxiety would even enter into his subconscious mind when he is sleeping. Charlie wakes up after having a nightmare, and he writes, “The more she touches me, the more frightened I become because I know I must never touch a girl. Then, as her body rubs up against mine, I
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