Flowers for Algernon
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charlie's mom
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Aaron
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Jan 30, 2015 06:57AM
why did charlie's mom hate him so much,and try to kill him?
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She wasn't terribly bright herself, and in that time and place, he was a major embarrassment to her. She blamed him for her life not being what she wanted it to be.It's been over ten years since I last read this book, so I can't really provide you with quotes or details, but she was an angry, bitter woman.
She seemed to gain all her self-worth from status. She dictated to Charlie's father what kind of job would come across better to the neighbours, and even in her senility was obsessed with their opinions, even though they were long gone. Charlie's inability to excel like other children caused her a great deal of shame, and she was paranoid this reduced her sense of status, she wanted to 'fix' him in order to show that he could be a high-achiever, so that these achievements would be an indicator of good virtue on her part. She was so frustrated at the permanency of his condition that she thought it better to send him away, than to have him around the house, where (in her mind) the neighbours would constantly be gossiping daily about "the poor Gordon boy".
She was a woman of the times. Her existence as a woman was to care for and further her family. If a woman was unable to do so, it was purely her fault and no one else's. She also was of a time where there were not adequate facilities or diagnoses being made for those with disorder. He would not have had a chance back then no matter what.
I know there were reasons for her abuse of Charlie but I still hate her. Which is what was intended, I believe.
I think part of the mother being the baddie from his childhood was created so that he could have a profound sexual awakening.
Krista wrote: "I think part of the mother being the baddie from his childhood was created so that he could have a profound sexual awakening."Sounds kind of Freudian. Would you mind elaborating?
By making the mother the baddie, Keyes was able to make all of her gender bad in Charlie's eyes. He is simple and gives people a chance/sees the good in them. His mother represented her gender to him and wished for him to be separate from said gender. It wasn't until he started to think for himself that he was able to mature to the point of questioning her authority. It all goes on from there. She had to be the baddie in order for him to really see the good.
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