Mom

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." -Abraham Lincoln

I take it as the highest compliment whenever someone tells me I am like her.

 I never doubted her love for me and I'm so grateful to have grown up with her as my guide. 

I don't think I could quite put into words how much I look up to and love my "angel" of a mom! 

Happy {late} Mother's Day!!!

Review #16: "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

Favorite Quotes:

"Burt took a white mouse out of the cage and showd him to me. Burt said thats Algernon and he can do this amazed very good." -page 7

"I dint know they had majers in collidge. I thot it was onley in the army." -page 20

"This morning Gimpy hes the head baker and he has a bad foot and he limps he used my name when he shouted at Ernie because Ernie losst a birthday cake. He said Ernie for godsake you trying to be a Charlie Gordon. I dont know why he said that. I never lost any packiges." -page 23

"What bothers me is that I can't put into words the way I feel." -page 80

"They would always find excuses to slip away, afraid to reveal the narrowness of their knowledge." -page 98

"Nothing in our minds is ever really gone." -page 195

"Watching Algernon squirm under those tiny bands this afternoon, I felt them around my own arms and legs. I started to gag and choke, and I had to get out of the lab for fresh air. I've got to stop identifying with him." -page 232

"I wept as I put a bunch of wild flowers on the grave." -page 258

About the Main Character:

Charlie Gordon works at a bakery where the other employees make fun of him, but because of his retardation he doesn't notice. His parents sent him away at a young age because he couldn't be normal. He takes classes for handicapped adults where he works hard to read and write. He stands out simply for his strong desire to learn. As a result of the recommendation of his teacher, Charlies has been selected to be the first human in a trial operation to increase his intelligence. After the operation, Charlie's life changes dramatically. He just can't decide if it was for the better or not.

Another Character to Note:

It's hard to pick only one supporting character to mention because so many of them are well developed. Charlie's mother, Rose, is interesting because of her drastic change of emotion towards her son once she realized he would never be like the other children his age. Alice, his teacher turned love interest, is engaging because she cared for Charlie deeply before his operation and that affection only grew. Alice represents the balance between intelligence and emotion that Charlie struggles to find throughout the novel. Professor Nemur is curious because he highlights faults in Charlie that he also contains, such as arrogance. He views Charlie as an experiment, not a person, which makes him very unlikeable. 

Plot Breakdown:

I feel like I've been giving too much away in these little breakdowns so I'm going to try and switch up this week :)

Charlie Gordon is chosen to undergo experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. Algernon is the mouse that they've seen the most success with in their trials. Charlie experiences a huge influx of genius and, as a result, his life is completely altered. He begins to see what his life was really like...full of ridicule he didn't understand and struggles because of his handicap. 

Emotions become difficult as he becomes cold with the increase in knowledge. Keyes creates a lot of intrigue with Charlie's skewed sexual perspective as a result of mistreatment as a child and a lifetime of ignorance on the subject. The way his emotional disconnect plays into his new life is riveting and heart-breaking all at the same time. 

What I loved most about this novel was the insight Keyes gives on how Charlie feels about the way people treated him before he had the operation. There are those who misused him because he didn't know any better. While Charlie is infuriated and hurt by the realization of that mistreatment, he seems to be equally as hurt about the condescending pity that he was shown. Even though the pity was not intended in the way the hateful acts were, they belittled Charlie just the same. 

All he ever wanted is for people to see him as a person.

Something Interesting to Note:

One of my favorite aspects of this novel was the way Keyes changed the usage and grammar to coincide with Charlie's progress. The book is written in the form of progress reports from Charlie's perspective. At first he has no grammatical tools other than a period at the end of his sentences. His early reports are full of fragments and run-ons and words written as they sound rather than their correct spelling. There is obvious confusion on very basic subejcts, but Keyes also includes a warmth and obvious kindness in the early Charlie Gordon that makes him very likeable. 

As the transformation occurs, Charlie's grammar and usage develop with the level of his intelligence. But as he progresses, the warmth leaves his writing and is replaced by objectivity and directness. 

This affected speech makes the operation and Charlie's change more tangible to the reader. 

Keyes is extremely effective with this tool!

Should you read Flowers for Algernon before you die?

Simply because of the eye-opening effect it had on me, I would say yes! My instincts tell me to feel sorry for someone who is handicapped like Charlie. I automatically feel like I need to do anything and everything I can to make their life easier. I remember sitting in an airport cafeteria once waiting for a flight. While I sat their I noticed that the middle-aged custodial attendant working was limping and seemed to have other mental handicaps as well. My heart strings were immediately tugged. When he dropped some of his cleaner and went to reach for it and his broom fell over, I instantly jumped up to help him. But he wouldn't let me. I went back to the table with my feelings a little hurt and a touch embarrassed. I didn't get it then, but I do now. That man didn't need my pity; he simply needed me to treat him like a person who was capable of doing his job without my help.

 Charlie Gordon helped me learn that lesson.

the hits + the misses

the hits

rewatching "Gilmore Girls" from the beginning....hawaiian grilled cheese sandwiches....essie "play date" nail polish....trager's sideways grin and headshake when he thinks something I said was funny, but he doesn't really want me to know he thinks I'm hilarious {even though he totally does!}....lunch at Ann's house....ice cream flavored snow cones....sweet mint gum.....new mascara....reading for hours and not realizing how much time has passed....guacomole....rachel portman pandora....finding colorful walls all around my hometown just like Ginger Parrish's IG guide said I would {love that thing!}....thank you cards from the tutors I work with that made me cry and cry....getting the rental house we were hoping we would in Idaho....The Theory of Everything movie....falling asleep to the rain...my cute dad winning his 5th state championship

the misses

tornados, tornados, tornados....the excruciatingly slow period I'm coming up on at work {the days drag on and on}....not working out consistently for the last two weeks {struggle bus}....the homework that seems to be dating my husband....the friendly fleas on the family dog....never getting up quite early enough to put my make-up on anywhere but the car {again, struggle bus}....the glow-in-the-dark status I've reached with my skin tone....humidity....Trager leaving town for work

camping at turner falls

When Trager and I were registering for our wedding we decided we needed a tent and camping chairs. Looking back now, this seems sort of odd because neither of us were big campers. I guess it was wishful thinking that one day we would have to be outdoorsy! We've used them a few times over the years and this past weekend was one of them. We'd never been to Turner Falls in Davis, OK so we didn't really know what we were in for but it seriously could not have been more fun! There are rivers and pools everywhere and lots of hiking trails. It was the first day of the summer season so when we first got there the woman who gave us our car tag told us to walk down to the falls before we set up camp since it might get more crowded as the day went on. It wasn't a very far off the road and it was so worth seeing! The water was a pretty teal color and was so clear. It was a little too cold for swimming, even though that didn't stop the 63 teenage boys who were literally swimming everywhere.

 

^^^This is me testing the water...and this is also me deciding there was no way we were swimming even though we brought out suits! Way too cold! ^^^

 ^^^Cutest prisoner I've ever seen^^

 

On our way back to the car from walking to the falls, we stopped at this old castle that was up in the trees off  the walking trail. Turns out we ended up crashing a birthday party at the same, but there were so many levels to the castle they didn't seem to mind. It was the summer home of a professor that worked at the University of Oklahoma back in the 1930s. It's made of super steep, narrow stairways and lots of little rooms that really just look like dungeons. {Kind of creepy for a "summer home!"}

 It was really neat to walk around such an old and unique structure in the middle of all the overgrown trees! After that we headed deeper into the park to pick our campsite. We wanted something by the river, but everywhere close to the main offices {bathrooms} were occupied so we ended up in the heart of the park next to a tiny bend of the river. Since it's been so rainy this spring everything was green and blooming. It was really, really lovely!

 ^^^We were definitely cozy with our blow up mattress and quilt!^^^

 ^^^Am I the only one who could eat hobo dinners weekly and never get sick of them? These were especially yummy...recipe to come later this week!^^^

After we gathered firewood for about an hour Trager got our fire going and started working on dinner. While we were waiting for it to cook we listened to music on my bluetooth speaker {thanks Ty and Papa D!} and talked about all sorts of subjects. It was dark before it really got quiet at our camp. Almost as soon as we stopped talking I started to hear something behind me. As I turned around to check out the noise I swear I saw the top of a little kid's head burrowing into our food sack and about jumped out of my chair!!! {Because we should all be terrified of hungry 7 year olds, am I right?} After further investigation, it turned out to be the fattest raccoon alive feasting on the marshmallows we brought for s'mores. Trager ran him off and threw the last of the mallow he was munching on towards the trees across the path from our site.
I guess the chunky little guy still got his feast because the marshmallow was completely gone in the morning!!
  

^^^When we were driving up to our campsite we kept noticing the fields and fields of wild flowers. It was actually pretty sweet because Trager kept pointing out when we saw a new color! 

That guy is my favorite ever. 

After we gathered firewood and Trager started to build the flames, I had to go pick a few. They really brightened up our little spot!^^^

^^^What a nice view to wake up to!^^^

I think my favorite part of camping this time had to be slowing down long enough to take in the magnificent views! Life is busy and hectic; the doing and going demand all attention at all times. It was nice to take a weekend with my man and make a wild flower bouquet and fall asleep to the sound of a river flowing rather than the passing cars. 

We both agree that we're going to have to hit pause like this a little more often this summer!