Daniel Keyes was a creative literary writer who wrote the novel Flowers for Algernon, which is an award winning novel. The outstanding outcome of the story is what made Keyes famous. He was intelligent and had a creative imagination which lead him write such an inspirational book. “Keyes revealed himself to be endlessly fascinated by the complexity of the human mind” (“Daniel”). Throughout his life he received several awards. Keyes continued to write all the way to his death bed. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, two themes are alienation/loneliness and atonement/forgiveness.
Daniel Keyes was born on August 9, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Ukrainian immigrants named Betty Keyes and Willie Keyes. His parents wanted him to major in a medical profession, but Keyes had a different plan for his life. After finishing high school, Keyes joined the Maritime service when he was only seventeen years old. He became a ships purser and worked on oil tankers (“Daniel Keyes Biography”). Keyes attended Brooklyn College and studied English. He graduated with a bachelors degree in psychology in 1950. Keyes worked for the Marvel Science Fiction Magazine Company. As he was working at the magazine company in New York, he was working on becoming a writer. He later began a fashion photography business. Keyes lost interest in this profession and decided to start teaching. Keyes got a license from a school in New York to teach English. He started teaching at the high school he had just left ten years ago. Keyes also took night time classes while working at the high school.
When Keyes published his first book, he was an English teacher at the high school in Brooklyn. His first book was Flowers for Algernon. Once he wrote the book his reputation was made and he became known throughout the world. The book was first published as a science fiction short story. The book was first published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1959. The book received a Hugo Award in 1960. After receiving the Hugo Award, the story was made into a television play called The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon. The play was shown on CBS Playhouse on February 22, 1961. The television play made Keyes career take off. After the television play, Keyes made his book into a novel. Once the book was made into a novel it stared going viral. There were millions of copies being sold across the country. The novel won the Nebula Award for science fiction and fantasy. “Mr. Keyes said that the story came from episodes in his own life, all preserved in what he described as the cellar of his mind” (Langer). Keyes had an encounter when he was teaching a disabled student. The student asked him if he would put him in a regulars class if he did well in the skills class. “Mr. Keyes said that he witnessed the dramatic progress of a learning-disabled student who then regressed when he was removed from lessons” (Langer). When the student re attended the school he could no longer read. He had lost all of his progress. The devastating story about the student is what guided the ideas of his book.
The book was also made into a movie called Charly. Cliff Robertson played Charlie in the movie. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor who played the character Charlie. Through the television show and movie, Keyes and his book became more known. He later received a masters degree in American literature in 1961. After receiving his masters degree, he started teaching in Detroit at Wayne State University and after at Ohio University. He was appointed to the director of the creative writing center. Keyes wrote on the weekends and taught on the week days. Keyes received an award from the college he attended in 1988 called the “ Distinguished Alumnus Medal of Honor.”
Keyes got married in 1961 to Aurea Georgina Vazquez. He had three children with Aurea Georgina Vazquez (“Flowers for Algernon” 45). His daughters were Leslie Keyes and Hillary Keyes. Him and his wife were married for sixty years. His wife died in 2013. After his wife’s death, Keyes retired from teaching at Ohio University. When he retired, he completed a book that became popular in Japan. Keyes did not stop writing until his death. Keyes died at the age of eighty six. He died from complications from pneumonia. When he died, he was a resident of Boca Ratón, Florida. He died on June 15, 2014 at his home in southern Florida.
Flowers for Algernon was written in the 1960s durning the Civil Rights Movement. A main part of the book is about how Charlie is treated throughout his life. Even though the civil rights movement was about the treatment of native Americans, its main purpose was to make sure everyone was treated equally. The civil rights bill is what put a stop to the racial divide in the United States. Racial discrimination stopped in the year of 1966. Also, durning the year of 1962 the presidents panel discussed the rights of the mentally disabled people. “By the 1970s, the term “ retardation” was replaced with “developmental disability,” and specific provisions for the protection of the mentally handicapped from violence and discrimination became law” (“Flowers for Algernon” 54). Flowers for Algernon shows the events that were happening durning the civil rights movement throughout the story. They were shown though actions of the characters in the book. The main character in the story, Charlie is a mentally disabled person who is treated terribly by several people throughout his life. He is physically, mentally, and verbally abused throughout the story. The people he worked with at the bakery abused him verbally by treating him less than a human. The scientists that were in charge of the experiment also treating him with little to no respect. His parents distanced themselves away from him. His mother tried to limit his contact with his sister ,because she thought he would sexual assault her.
Flowers for Algernon has been challenged and banned in several cities. It was challenged in Orlerlin, Glenrock, and Plant City. It was also banned in Emporium, Glen Rose, and Aledo Middle School. The book was ranked forty seven on ALA’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books in 1990 – 2000 (Munley). The book was challenged and banned because of its sexual content. People want the book to be taken off the library shelves and to stop being sold around the world. The book only has certain paragraphs and sentences that show this content. The parts of the story that discusses Charlie’s relationships with Alice and Fay are the main parts where the sexual content is shown. The “bad” content is also shown in an event that happened in Charlie’s early life.
In Flowers for Algernon, the theme alienation and loneliness is shown through the main character, Charlie. Throughout the story, Charlie wants to understand himself and form relationships with people around him. He has a strong desire to have friends who like him for who he truly is. “For a moment I brush against someone and sense the connection” (“Flowers for Algernon” 51). Charlie wants to have a connection with someone and get out of the permeant state of loneliness that he feels trapped in. All through Charlie’s life he has been pushed and shoved into relationships but has never made one on his own. “Charlie writes that he wants to be smart ‘so I can have lots of friends who like me” (“Flowers for Algernon” 51). Charlie’s main reason for doing the experiment is so that he can become smart and discover himself. Charlie believes that once he becomes smart he can make friends and everything will change.
The story also has a theme of atonement and forgiveness. The theme is shown through events and Charlie’s feelings. Charlie wants to forgive and forgot all the people who have hurt him in the past. Once the experiment is over, he wants to move on and fix all the relationships that were destroyed once the experiment begins to work. He wants to find his family and tell them that he forgives them for what they did to him. He wants to form a relationship with them and get to know them. His main goal is to talk to his mother and make amends with her. “Unless I forgive her, I will have nothing” (“Flowers for Algernon” 52). He also wants to show them how smart he is now and tell them all about what he did to excel his learning disabilities.
The story was written in first person point of view to help the reader better connect with Charlie and get to know his personality. The story was written through progress reports written by Charlie. He wrote the reports before, throughout, and after the experiment. The reports start off with several misspelled words and don’t make much sense. As the story goes on, the reports began to become easier to understand and read. He starts making less spelling errors and less subject agreement mistakes. After the experiment, Charlie’s IQ had been three times higher than before the experiment.
In Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon, he brings to light the importance of personal connections. He clearly valued personal connections more than he valued intelligence. Keyes once said, “I’ve learned that intelligence alone doesn’t mean a darn thing,” … “It only leads to violence and pain” (qtd in Langer). Keyes was outstandingly deserving of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award of Science Fiction Writers that he won for Flowers for Algernon. Keyes legacy still continues today through his first and most popular book, Flowers for Algernon