Coming Of Age In Look Me In The Eye

1306 Words6 Pages
Coming of Age and Belonging and Acceptance in John Elder Robison’s Look Me in The Eye and Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller. In John Elder Robison’s Look Me In The Eye and Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon there is a reoccurring theme of belonging and acceptance. In Robison’s Look Me in The Eye, John tells his life story and how he found support through family members, therapists and most importantly his hobbies. John grew up known as the ‘trouble maker’ and was often shunned because his disability Asperger’s’s was not known about by many people at the time. Over time John has learned “what people expect in common social situations. So [he] can act more normal and there’s less chance [he’ll] offend anyone” (11). Charlie from Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon is a middle aged man that is not accepted by society because like John he has a disability. Charlie is not shunned by people but is often the center of their jokes unknowingly. Although Charlie doesn’t’t understand many things that happen to him or are said to him he thinks that people are his friends and that he is accepted by them, but once he completes an operation and becomes an intelligent man he quickly finds out that he was the one everyone was laughing at and becomes frustrated and embarrassed. Despite their many similarities, John and Charlie over come many obstacles in very different ways to be accepted by society. Charlie and John both grow up in different ways and become accepted by many people throughout their journeys because of their changes throughout the novels. Although Charlie’s disability seems to be more severe than Johns they both have many of the same support systems and patterns of thinking, as well as the way they relate to others. Near

More about Coming Of Age In Look Me In The Eye

Open Document