When Charlie first meets Bert he is polite and courteous. Then when confronted by Bert during the Rorschach test, his inability to conceptualize shows, and he says that he can only see an inkblot. Then later on in the play Charlie says that ‘I like to draw pictures but I wont make up lies’. This line contributes to Charlie’s image of being noble and that he was brought up to be honest, and that he tries to make the best of what he has.
As the play progresses, Charlie’s personality becomes different; from a caring, noble man to someone who is spiteful, protective of himself and selfish. The implementation of language illustrates this change effectively. This change occurs because of his inability to communicate with the world around him due to his increasing intelligence. He feels like a misfit because initially he was too inane to fit in, and after the experiments effects have reached their peaks, he was too intelligent to socialize. His increased IQ is shown when he is talking to Ms. Kinnian in the café bar, as he tries to explain something so complicated that Ms. Kinnian is unable to follow. This inability to communicate sparks anger in Charlie, ‘I was almost angered’, as did the realization that the world is not what it seemed like before. ‘No one I’ve ever known is what he appears to be on the surface’. The effect of this line emphasizes how Charlie has changed from being a simple-minded person, to one who feels anger and regret. When Charlie says ‘Before, when they laughed at me, they despised me for my ignorance, now, they hate me for my knowledge. What in God’s name do they want of me?’, it sums up his emotions and what he feels.
Joe and Frank’s characters are demonstrated through the use of language in the play. Their speech constructs the characters and also affects how the character personalities come across to the audience. Their use of slang and improper tenses shows that they do not have particularly a high intelligence. “I don’t think he had no operation’. This implies that although they are superior to Charlie initially, the way they speak constructs their personality as an ordinary person. Joe and Frank’s personalities are constructed and conveyed the most effectively through their speech and the use of language.
Progress reports play a large part in the structure of the play. They show how Charlie changes, and because it is a recurrent structure, you can use it to compare previous and current reactions. This is shown by how Charlie’s style of speech changes from simplistic and childlike, to that of a genius with sophisticated ideas, and then back again. The obvious contrast between “The operashun dint hurt” and “No guarantee of permanence” makes it easy to show Charlie’s change in character. The use of progress reports provides an added method of giving the audience insight into Charlie’s character.
Ethics play a large part in the play. They encourage the thought of how society treats people with low intelligence. The way that society treats people different from themselves is shown clearly by the event which happened in the coffee shop, when the young mentally handicapped man in the shop drops the plates. The immediate reaction of the customers is one of spite and jeering. “Good catch! Nice one! Well, he didn’t work here long’. This shows that the initial reaction of most people towards those who are of different intelligence is one that makes them feel lonely. These people are used most commonly for a cheap laugh, and Charlie realizes this, and then is struck with what he did. “…My God” The factory workers are a prime example of how society tolerates individuals with low intelligence. For example, before, when Charlie had a low IQ, they treat him as his superiors, and used him as the source of cheap laughs. When Charlie’s intelligence increases, they grow insecure and frightened. When Charlie gives his suggestion that the machines in the factory could be arranged in a different way, this makes Joe, Frank and other factory workers feel less superior to him. This is mainly because since factory workers are not very high on societies scale, there are few that they can feel superior to. One of these few people is Charlie, and when he becomes more intelligent then them, they feel that they have no one to look down on anymore, and feel scared. When Joe says “What’d they do Charlie? Put some brains in?”, it clearly shows the superiority which they feel over Charlie. Throughout the play, the theme of societies treatment of people with low intelligence is conveyed through the language of the characters.
The medical issues embraced by the play, is that whether the two doctors were ethically correct in operating on Charlie, because of his inability to give his full consent. Charlie was not smart enough initially to fully understand the operation, which could be understood as the doctors taking advantage of his ignorance. His blatant misunderstanding of how the doctors said that the experiment might not be permanent is shown by his reaction immediately after the operation. “But you said I’d be smart”. This implies that he does not fully understand the operation, and thus, shows his inability to give his full consent. The theme of medical issues confronted in the play are conveyed through the use of language and provide an added concept to the play.
In the radio play ‘Flowers for Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes and adapted by Bert Coules, the language and structure of the play used by the playwright conveys the characters and themes through a variety of ways. Intentional grammatical errors in speech shows the depth of Charlie’s character and it also highlights the change of his intelligence. The progress reports which Coules uses also help the audience to notice the change which happens to Charlie. The main themes of the play are how the medical and ethical issues of increasing intelligence are confronted, and how society treats people with high or low intelligence. Through the dialogue of the characters, we are given a clear and vivid impression of each character’ traits. The effective use of language and structure conveys the characters to a point where it feels that we know them intimately, and that makes the themes so vivid. Bert Coules has made the play ‘Flowers for Algernon’ an improvement, a play in which we can all relate to.
