The movie “ Flowers for Algernon” was released in February 2000. The movie is based on a short written by Charlie Gordon who acts as the main character. Charlie is 32 years old who has an IQ of 68.
In the movie, Charlie who is the main character and the main narrator is the subject of the movie through his mental retardation and the urge to improve his mental status. He attends special classes that are aimed at improving his reading and writing skills to make him smarter. To help him achieve this feat, teacher Alice Kinnian offers her night lessons. He however does not improve his writing and reading skills.
This calls for Alice to seek help from Dr. Anna Straus and Richard Nemur who has been working on improving the intelligence of mice in a laboratory. The laboratory experiment by the two Doctors have been successful on improving intelligence on the Algernon (the mice) and are now willing to test this on a human being. After conducting a survey of various patients, Charlie is chosen to undergo the process. Charlie is put on a race to compete with Algernon. While Algernon runs on the maze, Charlie is required to trace his way on a drawn maze using a magic rod. After several tries, Charlie emerges the loser but he is determined to continue with the experiment. Before deciding on the operation, he is also tested on his interpretation skills. He is given an inkblot test and cannot be able to understand a thing about it. He fails the test since he cannot understand what the Doctor is looking for. He does not understand what he is supposed to see as well as the directions.
Another character in this movie is Burt Seden. He is a graduate student working on his thesis. He assists the doctors in conducting the experiment and oversees the experimentation and testing of the Algernon and Charlie.
This paper will be about the psychological disorder known as mental retardation. From the experiments being conducted, it is clear that Charlie is suffering from mental retardation. This is because his mental level is way below that of his workmates; he is often misused at work since he cannot reason as the rest of his collogues. When the other employees call him to perform a task, he does it without questioning. At times, he hurts himself in the process. During the experimentation, he answers questions without giving a critical view of the same. When he is introduced to the maze, he calls it “amazed” and doesn’t seem to understand the difference between the “maze” and “amazed”. His actions during this movie are evidence of his mental retardation.
According to Psych Central Staff (2013) mental retardation is a below average intelligence functioning in an individual. The below average intelligence functioning is usually accompanied by low adaptive functioning in some critical areas of human living. Some of the critical areas of human skill that are affected by mental retardation includes home living skills, social skills, self-care skills, self direction, academic skills, work skills, safety skills, interpretational skills, work skills and leisure skills. When a person is mentally retarded, he or she will experience low functioning in at least two of the named human skills.
In the case of Charlie, mental retardation is exhibited in low functioning in more than two of these human skills. Before the experiment, he has been attending extra classes to learn how to write and read and despite the teachers extra input, he is still not learning as first as he should. NYU Child Study Centre (2012) cited slow learning as a major symptom of mental retardation.
Charlie also has low social, work, living skills. When he is at work, he does not know how to relate with his employees without being hurt. He does not know how to react to challenges and assignments others want him to perform without hurting himself. This ends up hurting him when other people are laughing at him. Despite this, he seems not to understand that the people are laughing at his stupidity. At the Donnars Bakery, all the other workers seem to understand his naivety and retardation and tries to make fun of it. When he tries to lift a basin with his legs while carrying four heavy bags on the shoulders, all the other employees are not willing to help him and he ends up falling. When he falls, all the employees laugh at him and when he is asked whether he is ok, he tells them he is ok. This also shows that he does not have safety skills. a symptom Psych Central Staff (2013) indicates as being a major symptom that diagnosis mental retardation.
The mental IQ of Charlie is 68. According to Psych central Staff (2013), a person with an IQ of less than 70 is considered as being mentally retarded. This is used as the main indicator and symptom of retardation.
References
NYU Child Study Center, (2013). Mental Retardation: Signs & Symptoms. 1.
Retrieved on 13th june 2013 from http://www.aboutourkids.org/families
Psych Central staff, (2012). Mental Retardation Symptoms. Psych Central, 1.
Retrieved on 13th june 2013 from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/mental-retardation- symptoms/
