Quotes- Madi Stevens 9-2

Quotes from Flowers for Algernon

"Somehow, getting drunk had momentarily broken down the conscious barriers that kept the old Charlie Gordon hidden deep in my mind." page 136

      This quote has a deep meaning behind it. Charlie is loving being intelligent and feeling smart all the time but, sometimes he looks back on how he was in the past. He was drinking alcohol to get drunk so he can forget about his old self and focus on his new self. The intelligent Charlie Gordon, not the mentally disabled Charlie Gordon.

"Fay was clear, but Alice was wrapped in mist." page 132

     Charlie is  wanting to forget about Alice. He's trying not to call her anymore so he won't get hung  up on her again so in his mind, he is becoming more distant from Alice. Charlie is trying to live in the present right now so he is keeping his mind on Fay whom is with him right now.

"In spite of the operation Charlie was still with me." page 137

    So even though Charlie got the operation and is very intelligent now, the old Charlie is still with him. Charlie sometimes will act like he never got the operation, like when he was drunk with Fay on the previous page. I think what Charlie was trying to say was that having the operation or not, the old Charlie will always be a part of him.

"And I can't be alone anymore." page 140

    Charlie is wanting to contact with the board of directors at the Welberg Foundation to see if he can do some independent work on the project but he wants to talk to Alice first. Charlie talked to Alice about how he feels and what he thinks about when 'Charlie is watching him'.

"Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men." page 139

    When Charlie is saying this I think he was talking about his old self. To be  feeble minded means to be mentally slow. When Charlie was mentally retarded at the beginning of the book all he wanted and kept saying was to be intelligent like the other men he knows.