Chia Kai Xin 08S416 Progress Report 1

OMG. It's Saturday and I'm still the first posting the lit review... I was thinking that I would be the last student posting. Never mind, I shall start...

After reading Flowers of Algernon, I was amazed. The book was beautifully written.With Charlie seeing the world in another perspective when he was a retard and when he was a genius was so contrasting. When he had low IQ, everybody was his friend, even those who laughed at him. He felt well-loved, as he thinks that everyone in the bakery actually cared for him. When he became a genius, he became cynical, suspicious of the world. He became lonely, frustrated and the world around him becomes selfish and power hungry.

I pondered about the whole text after reading it. Was intelligence a curse or a blessing to Charlie
? It's true that intelligence enabled Charlie to understand the world, things like Economics, Mathematical concepts, and even see through human emotions and truths in the world. But there's still a bittersweet feeling at the last part of the story. It was bitter because he lost his intelligence, which initially may seem quite a pity. Couldn't he just continue being a genius writing mathematical concepts, questioning things in economics? Personally, I feel that clarity of the world has isolated him. It was also sweet as intelligence was just like a burden to Charlie. He became worried about all the complexities of life, not trusting anybody anymore, isolating himself, being selfish and frustrated in not revealing his past. Is Charlie better off working in the bakery, laughing at himself with others, or making research in the lab alone? I feel that the writer has conveyed the message that intelligence could take away precious things in life, like friends, trust and smiles. I think life may be just like that. You gain some, you will lose some. We just can't get the best out of both worlds.

In the text, it's so well written that we can clearly see the difference in Charlie's emotional and intellectual growth. When his mind was growing more intellectually, his emotional growth could not catch up with his intellectual growth. This caused him to become unable to control his emotions, being confused at time, about people, about women, and even his own emotions.

This is more or less my initial reactions to the book. Hopefully, the contents of my review have enough depth. I've never taken literature before you see. Thanks for reading.

Kai Xin =]