Flowers For Algernon Banning Essay

Did you know that Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes recently joined the eighth-grade curriculum after decades of banning? Challenging books has become a popular act; although one may not see the reason to do so in several of those books, there are hidden things that a simple eye cannot understand. In order to understand the meaning of banning and challenging books, one must identify the differences. Challenging is the act of expressing a point of view or simply a critic, usually with the goal to remove a book; while banning means the complete removal of the texts challenged. These removal methods happen mostly with good intentions, as to protect weaker audiences from offensive content. For instance Flowers for Algernon received banning all

His inspiration for writing the book arose from a previous discussion with his parents, about dropping out from med-school, in order to achieve his dream of becoming an author; to which his parents did not agree. Keyes strong arguments toward this book and against his parents claimed that his “education [was] driving a wedge between [him] and the people [he] loved” (Keyes, Interview). The intrigues of the book’s topic began with a single question: “What would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence?” (Keyes 1999, 16). Subsequently, ideas took off from there, using his medical school professors taking roles on the book as Professor Strauss and Nemur. Keyes had created a splendid story, even though before the publishing, Galaxy Magazine- his editor- asked him to change the ending so that Charlie remained intelligent and married Alice- Charlie’s former teacher- to which Keyes did not agree. Later selling the story to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and winning the Nebula Award in