Author's Purpose

Posted by rjhmoore at 6:52 PM 0 comments

Flowers For Algernon is a very good book. It explores the minds and soul of a retarded man made genius and returned to mentally unsound again. Mostly it's pretty depressing but interesting in how the story is told. Overall, the plot is clear (stupid man becomes smart man becomes stupid man who "discovers" himself and aides in scientific research), but I'm still wondering why did the author write this? I really have no idea.

I'm pretty positive it's not an autobiography or biography, only a piece of fiction. But did Daniel Keyes (the author) just wake up one morning and decide to write a gripping, controversial book? It is true that the issue of mentally retarded people is often avoided in normal conversation. Maybe Keyes wrote this because of that, to shed some lights on what it's like. Maybe he wanted people to take some action. He shows us how mentally ill persons are treated and it's not a pretty picture. However, writing a novel about the truths surrounding the issue with fictional people ensures that no one is hurt, but many people are deeply moves. Just a thought.