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Quote by Daniel Keyes

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Flowers for Algernon

This novel follows the journey of Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged man who undergoes an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. The narrative intertwines his personal growth with the development of his relationship with a mouse named Algernon, providing a profound look into the complexities of human nature and societal perceptions. more

Author

Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes, born on August 9, 1927, was a renowned American author known for his profound psychological insights and exploration of human nature. His most famous work, 'Flowers for Algernon,' tells the story of a man with intellectual disability who undergoes an operation to increase his intelligence, delving deeply into the complexities of human emotions and morality. Keyes' writing has had a significant impact on contemporary literature, offering both readers and the fields of psychology and sociology valuable insights. more

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“...there was one thing she would think about when she was high, one thing she would feel: that she was transparent, not invisible, but transparent. But this was the thing: she wasn’t see- through, she wasn’t transparent to light like glass or air, she was transparent to the dark. She said that’s what heroin did, it brought her down to the seafloor, the floor of an ocean trench. Relieved of the need to see, relieved of the need to breathe, she belonged to the darkness completely. It possessed her, moved through her unresisted, as though she herself were made of nothing more than water and darkness, as though she herself were nothing more than a place, a place where the current turned on itself a little and moved on...I said that was it, the big question she carried around in her, the question whether despair was the only way out, whether the only thing she could really make was her escape. That makes sense, she said, just as she said whenever she didn’t agree with my interpretation. But . . . there’s a frustration . . . I want to be clear, perfectly clear. You want to be free to stop hiding things. God, if that’s true, she said with sudden coldness, then all of this is just a load of shit. I knew then that I had overstepped and had ruined something, that I had spooked her and she would make her escape into an anodyne or trivial association. To my surprise, however, she countered and pushed ahead. You are wrong. It’s not that I want to stop hiding. It’s not that I want to come out and say the thing I have to say. Don’t you see? I want there to be nothing. Nothing to hide, and no place to put it. No things, no places. Do you see what I am saying? Can you understand that? Jesus, how could you?”

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