“Suddenly, it was important to know if I could be like other men, if I could ever ask a woman to share a life with me. Having intelligence and knowledge wasn’t enough. I wanted this, too. The sense of release and looseness was strong now with the feeling that it was possible. The excitement that came over me when I kissed her again communicated itself, and I was sure I could be normal with her. She was different from Alice. She was the kind of woman who had been around.”

An excerpt from Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Read this book if you haven’t already. It’s one of my all time favorites.

Imagine if you had the possibility to become more than you are. Would you take the risk–would you gamble with life for the possibilty of normalcy? That’s the decision that Charlie Gorden–a retarded adult–is faced with.

He has the chance to increase his intelligence. If the operation suceeds, will he be able to enter common society? How will his days change when he moves from child-like ignorance to adult-cynicism? Lastly but most importantly, will the metamorphasis improve his life or make it all the more worse?