Flowers for Algernon Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Charlie Gordon

A 32-year-old bakery janitor with an IQ of 68 who volunteers to become the first human test subject for an intelligence-boosting surgery. Genius costs him his job, his 'friends,' and his mother's memory; regression costs him everything else, and he ends by asking for flowers on a mouse's grave.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart; Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect; Part 4: Flowers on the Grave
Themes:: The treatment of the mentally disabled; Intelligence versus emotion; The ethics of using people as experiments; The past shaping the present; Dignity over pity

Algernon

The white mouse who received the surgery first and raced Charlie through mazes. His erratic decline and death foreshadow Charlie's fate exactly.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart; Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect
Themes:: The ethics of using people as experiments; Dignity over pity

Alice Kinnian

Charlie's teacher at the Beekman Center, who recommended him for the experiment and stays loyal through both his rise and fall. Their love fails twice—first because his genius alienates her, later because his regression does.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart; Part 4: Flowers on the Grave
Themes:: Intelligence versus emotion; The past shaping the present; Dignity over pity

Professor Nemur

The lead researcher who sees Charlie as a laboratory subject and career stepping-stone rather than a person. Charlie's central objection to him: 'I'm a person.'

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart; Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect
Themes:: Intelligence versus emotion; The ethics of using people as experiments

Dr. Strauss

The psychiatrist on the team, more empathetic toward Charlie but still bound by the experiment's protocol. Charlie ends his ties with him as regression sets in.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect

Rose Gordon

Charlie's mother, ashamed of his disability, who dragged him to quack cures and once threatened him with a knife. When he visits her as an adult, dementia lets her recognize him only briefly.

Appears in:: Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect
Themes:: The past shaping the present

Matt Gordon

Charlie's father, who once took him to the barber shop but broke from the family. As an adult Charlie visits his Bronx barbershop; Matt does not recognize him at all.

Appears in:: Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect
Themes:: The past shaping the present

Norma Gordon

Charlie's sister, who resented and refused him as a child, though she once defended him against teasing kids. She reconciles with him as an adult while caring for Rose.

Appears in:: Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 3: The Algernon-Gordon Effect
Themes:: The past shaping the present

Fay Lillman

Charlie's unconventional artist neighbor in Manhattan, whose affair eases his loneliness at his peak. She flees when his regression turns erratic and frightening.

Appears in:: Part 2: Genius and Its Bills; Part 4: Flowers on the Grave
Themes:: Intelligence versus emotion

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Joe Carp and Frank Reilly

Bakery co-workers who amuse themselves at Charlie's expense—the source of 'pulled a Charlie Gordon.' After his regression they protect him from strangers, and their pity is what finally drives him away.

Appears in:: Part 2: Genius and Its Bills

Burt

The tester who administers Charlie's Rorschach inkblots and runs the maze races against Algernon. He's the one who tells Charlie he beat the mouse for the first time.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Man Who Wanted to Be Smart

How they are connected

Key relationships

Algernon Charlie Gordon
The white mouse who received the surgery first and raced Charlie through mazes.
Alice Kinnian Charlie Gordon
Charlie's teacher at the Beekman Center, who recommended him for the experiment and stays loyal through both his rise and fall.
Professor Nemur Charlie Gordon
The lead researcher who sees Charlie as a laboratory subject and career stepping-stone rather than a person.
Dr. Strauss Charlie Gordon
The psychiatrist on the team, more empathetic toward Charlie but still bound by the experiment's protocol.
Rose Gordon Charlie Gordon
Charlie's mother, ashamed of his disability, who dragged him to quack cures and once threatened him with a knife.
Matt Gordon Charlie Gordon
Charlie's father, who once took him to the barber shop but broke from the family.
Norma Gordon Charlie Gordon
Charlie's sister, who resented and refused him as a child, though she once defended him against teasing kids.
Norma Gordon Rose Gordon
She reconciles with him as an adult while caring for Rose.
Fay Lillman Charlie Gordon
Charlie's unconventional artist neighbor in Manhattan, whose affair eases his loneliness at his peak.
Joe Carp and Frank Reilly Charlie Gordon
Bakery co-workers who amuse themselves at Charlie's expense—the source of 'pulled a Charlie Gordon.
Burt Charlie Gordon
The tester who administers Charlie's Rorschach inkblots and runs the maze races against Algernon.
Burt Algernon
The tester who administers Charlie's Rorschach inkblots and runs the maze races against Algernon.

Go deeper

Flowers for Algernon themes & symbols

The treatment of the mentally disabled · Intelligence versus emotion · The ethics of using people as experiments · The past shaping the present

Themes explained

Read the full Flowers for Algernon summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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