Anyone Can Have Friends

Flowers for Algernon is a story about a thirty seven year old man that has optimism.  A lab wants to experiment with Charlie to help him improve his learning.  They are testing how fast his brain can work.  He has to work through mazes racing a mouse named Algernon and see who wins.  His teacher Ms. Kinnian believes he can be intelligent.  Charlie wants more then anything to be smart.  He thinks that if he is smart he will have more friends.

We think that everyone can have friends no matter who they are.  It does not matter if you are smart or not.  It really just matters if you have a good personality.  Charlie works at a bread shop were he gets bullied.  He doesn't really catch onto it, he just laughs with them.  Charlie has optimism so he has to work harder then everyone else.  He has to work hard to learn but he wants to be smart.  Charlie gets frustrated very easily with the tests they have him do in the experiment.  We think Charlie has challenges but he can overcome them if he wants to.  

If anyone sets their mind to something and they are determined they can do anything.  Everyone has challenges.  Some are harder then others.  They can be with family or with school.  Pretty much with anything.  You can’t really categorize people in groups.  Everybody is equal, we all have strengths and weaknesses.  Charlie has challenges that are different then someone else but that doesn’t make him any different.  He is a person who faces many things a day.  Just like anyone else.  

Everyone has something in their life that is hard for them and that is just how life is.  Anyone can overcome a challenge and be what they want.  They are in control of their lives and they can make their own decisions.

All in all, Charlie is a kid who doesn’t let anything set him back. He is really determined to learn and he is fortunate to get to be in this experiment.  There are always challenges in the way but you have to face them and bring them down.

Jorge Pantaleon, Amelia Hopkins, Hayley Magie