r/scifi • u/justagenieinabottle • 3d ago
I just read Flowers for Algernon and I need to talk about it... Spoiler
10/10 book, loved it so much. If you haven't read it, do so and prepare to cry. Now onto my brain dump full of spoilers, you have been warned!!
While reading the book, I questioned many things, as anyone who read it probably did. It might not be the main message of the book, but I want to share a conclusion that really made it click for me. This is a bit different than a regular book review as it is more of a introspective theory (?) about how the book is tied to all of us in real life. And in the end I wrote about some other thoughts that stuck with me and some questions I have about all of this.
When Charlie’s intelligence started to decline, and he became aware of it, I thought to myself, “If it were me, I’d probably kill myself.” But I wouldn’t. Because I don’t. I realized that what happens to Charlie isn’t really all that different from what we experience. Yes, this is a fictional book, and Charlie is changing at a much faster rate than any of us, but I think we’re much closer to him than we realize. For instance, even though we might realistically think about the possibility of losing our memory when we’re 80, we continue living our lives every day. We don’t live our lives based on the thought, “One day I’ll become stupid and might lose my memories.”
As Charlie feels his intelligence decline, he wonders, “What will happen to me?” But actually, nothing will happen to him. The Charlie who wonders “What will happen to me?” will not exist once the change takes place, as the consciousness that experiences the world will be gone. The book tells us something of this sort, but what I’m trying to say is: there aren’t two Charlies, old and new, as described. At all these IQ levels—60, 70, 95, 140, 170—the mind inside Charlie’s body is actually experiencing the world as different people. Since IQ is a numerical concept, it makes it easier to explain the issue in this way, but similarly, when we learn something, or when we’re in love or stressed, our brain chemistry changes, affecting our existence in the world at that moment.
There’s a quote from a famous philosopher that perfectly captures what I’m trying to say: “You can’t step into the same river twice.” Everything changes at every moment. As the river flows, the water you find there each day will be different from the day before. For all of us, as time passes, the river flows and changes. The only difference is that Charlie’s river flows faster and differently. In fact, every morning when we wake up, a new individual is born with the change in consciousness, and the old individual fades away. With each new piece of knowledge we learn, new connections are made in our brain, and we become a different person compared to just a few seconds ago. Here is an example that makes this concept easier for me to grasp: most of us would say we’re a different person compared to five years ago. Since this change didn’t happen overnight, it means it’s happening little by little every day. The fact that we don’t notice this day by day doesn’t invalidate the reality that it’s happening in the background.
The only truth we have is that very moment. In summary, nothing will happen to Charlie. As his intelligence declines, Charlie will wake up every day as a different version of himself. For example, Charlie No: 4587, like a version update. Even though the previous version isn’t deleted, it’s no longer active. And with his current intelligence and capacity, he will stand in front of the world with his full being. Not in a more incomplete way than the previous day. Whole, but different. The only thing he possesses is that moment—the same as it is for us. The fact that he’s different from his previous self doesn’t make him a less complete person.
Other thoughts I had:
~ One of the things I love is that everyone in Charlie’s family is in such a tragic situation. It’s impossible to hate any of them; it’s a tough situation for all of them.
~ The book made me really reflect on myself. I’ve realized I’m less empathetic than I thought and I will try to improve myself and my understanding of people who are different then I am.
Questions I don’t know the answers to:
~ Can Charlie consent to what is being done to him, in his state of not being able to understand what will happen to him?
~ How responsible are the people who made him smarter for his suffering? Do we have the right to take someone from darkness to what we think is light, knowing they could be harmed? This made me think of Frankenstein as it raises similar ethical concerns in me.
~ Is a smarter person superior? If so, does that make have more value as a person? What exactly is intelligence? Could the reason we consider someone who excels in mathematics to be smarter than someone who feels emotions intensely be because society currently values one over the other?
I would love to read anyone else's opinion if you read it too! I know this post is a bit much but I had to get it out just to sort through my own feelings about it haha.
