Comparative Essay Example: Bicentennial Man and Flowers For Algernon

When thinking about the different variety of books and literature we have read throughout the semester, none got me thinking more than the book Bicentennial Man due to its very deep and complicated take on what it means to be both humans, and how Humans treat those who are similar and those who are different. There was no other book I wanted to compare a concept like this to than one of my favorite books I have ever read: Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes. Both books do a great job of explaining both the pros and cons of being human and in my opinion both do a spectacular job. In this essay, I want to dive into not only the similarities of the characters' desires but also the similarities in how the two books explain the values and desires to be human, even if that means negative results for the future. Both Charlie and Andrew share more similarities than maybe ever known.

To start off, the desires of both Andrew and Charlie are eerily similar. To begin, Charlie and Andrew both seek out potentially life-altering surgeries to “become more human” in some way or another. In Charlie’s case, the desire comes from wanting to simply be more able to comprehend the world around him as he has a mental disability, Andrew on the other hand wants to simply be human and understand how it feels to be one and not live his life as a robot. What I think is remarkable about these two different scenarios is how similar yet so different they are. While Andrew is looking to become a human after starting his life as a robot, Charlie is born into the world as a human yet is barely treated as such due to him having a mental disability which people abuse and mistreat him for having. For example, Charlie’s want for change can be seen as a motive to feel self-worth and self-accomplishment as seen in this quote, “I am afraid. Not of life, or death, or nothingness, but of wasting it as if I had never been.” In a way, Charlie is almost asking for freedom just like Andrew. Not freedom to be human but freedom to feel in control and live up to his own personal dreams and desires. We see this similarly in a quote from Bicenntenial man when it reads, “It has been said in this courtroom that only a human being can be free. It seems to me that only someone who wishes for freedom can be free. I wish for freedom.” Both characters express a deep desire to become a better version of themselves in some way or another, and as a result, they both look to extreme ways to accomplish said goals.

The next topic between the two books I want to dive more into is definitely the negative consequences of successfully becoming their desired goal. What I find so amazing about both of these books is that the main character actually succeeds in their aspirations by getting the surgeries needed in order for them to become what they both dreamed of becoming. But as they both find out, the privileges given to them with becoming more human come with their serious ‘human’ disadvantages. As we see in Bicentennial man the following quote is seen, “It was odd how that last deed caught the imagination of the world. All that Andrew had done before had not swayed them. But he had finally accepted even death to be human, and the sacrifice was too great to be rejected.” I personally love how he describes the sacrifices of being human as ‘great’ because it embodies both Andrew and Charlie’s true want and needs to become someone they are not. In their minds, it’s not about living or dying, instead, it's about living or dying the exact way they want to. We see a similar comparative quote about life and death from Charlie post-surgery, “Although we know the end of the maze holds death and it is something I have not always known--not long ago the adolescent in me thought death could happen only to other people, I see now that the path I choose through that maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one of many ways--and knowing the paths I have followed and the ones left to take will help me understand what I am becoming.” What amazes me about both of these characters is their ability to focus on the more important topics in life and how both of them just want to maximize their time living instead of fearing about everything else. Although Charlie isn’t able to think like this until after his surgery, his perspective of life is truly put into focus once he is able to finally grasp the world from his new perspective.

The last topic and similarity I feel is important to highlight has to be the selflessness and purity of the two characters and their similarities in terms of how people perceive them for wanting change in their lives. To start with Flowers for Algernon, this quote embodies the simplicity of the two’s needs but also highlights how none of Charlie's intentions come from a place of greed or fame. It says, “And he said that means I'm doing something grate for science and I'll be famus and my name will go down in the books. I don't care so much about being famus. I just want to be smart like other people so I can have lots of friends who like me.” This quote fully embodies Charlie as a whole throughout the novel as he simply is a kid at heart and his greatest desire of all is to be liked by other humans and his way of doing that is to become more like them. On the flip side, Andrew is warned about the way people will respond as they are far from the intentions of Andrew, "It may seem cruel, but they won't. Or if they do, it will be remembered against you. People will say you did it only for yourself. It will be said it was part of a campaign to robotize human beings or to humanify robots; in either case evil and vicious. You have never been part of a political hate campaign, Mr. Martin; but I tell you that you would be the object of vilification of a kind neither you nor I would credit, and there would be people to believe it all. Mr. Martin, let your life be." Andrew and Charlie want not only to improve on their current selves, but when you boil it down they just want to win the affection of their peers (Little miss for Andrew and all of his co-workers and friends for Charlie) because in their current state they don't receive nearly the respect they both crave. What may be simple wants for everyday people are extremely highly wanted and valued by these two.

In Conclusion, both Flowers for Algernon and Bicentennial Man show how two completely different stories can share such similar motives and desires. Both of the characters want what most people don’t think twice about in their daily life and it really puts being human into perspective. But it’s not even just being human, it’s being able to share experiences with others that drive both of these characters to become something they are not. Other human connections are shown to be the driving motivator and the thoughts of death and other consequences of being human are simply less important to them as long as they can live like the rest of the world. Overall, being human and being able to have friends, relationships (both romantically and non-romantically), and just fitting into society can be accredited to these two characters doing whatever it takes t just be able to be accepted by the rest of humanity.