Flowers for Algernon (Book)
Storyboard Text
- Exposition
- You really pulled a Charlie Gordon!
- I have such nice friends
- Rising Action
- Rising Action
- Charlie Gordon works as a janitor at a plastics factory. He was born with non-specific developmental and intellectual disabilities, which causes him to have an IQ of 68. He goes to a school for adults with disabilities in Miss Kinnian's class and is working very hard to become smart. He thinks the factory workers are his friends, even though they make him the butt of the joke, even going so far as to say, "You pulled a Charlie Gordon!" anytime anyone messes up. Charlie doesn't fully understand what this.means.
- Climax
- Charlie is selected by a group of scientists to be the human test subject for an experimental surgery that will (allegedly) increase his intelligence. The doctors perform several tests on him to assess his mental baseline, including running mazes against a mouse named Algernon who had the surgery performed on him and the inkblot test.
- Falling Action
- Charlie gets the surgery and his intelligence starts increasing slowly over time. He eventually manages to beat Algernon in the race, and he starts becoming more aware of social cues. He also starts getting a lot more aggressive and develops a short temper.
- Resolution
- One day, Charlie is eating lunch at a restaurant and he sees a dishwasher drop a load of dishes on the floor. People watching make jokes at his expense. Charlie realizes that the boy has similar disabilities to Charlie before the surgery, so he starts yelling at the people making fun of the boy to leave him alone. After this, Charlie decides to use his newfound intellect and start working with the academy to help provide the surgery to everyone like "the old Charlie" and help them.
- Algernon the mouse dies. It's revealed that Algernon's previous test results and autopsy indicated that he had lost his intelligence. Charlie is very upset about this for two reasons. Firstly, he had become quite close with Algernon, since no one else had experienced the surgery. Secondly, Charlie is concerned that if Algernon regressed, he could too. He starts throwing himself into his work and deteriorating mentally.
- Charlie regresses back to his pre-surgery levels of intelligence, despite working to find a cure. He leaves New York for a place where no one knew about the surgery since he can't go back to his old life knowing he was once smart. In his last diary entry, he asks Miss Kinnian to continue putting flowers on Algernon's grave as often as she remembers. He leaves the diary in his apartment for Miss Kinnian to find.
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