Bibliotherapy with Context: Interpreting the Symptoms of Disability in ‘Flowers for Algernon’.

Many works of literature depict human psychological conditions, including mental disorders. Becoming familiar with these depictions can help real patients, health care providers, and members of the society by providing a unique understanding of real-world experiences of psychological conditions. Often literary writings, such as the short story, Flowers for Algernon, are presented as a true depiction of the struggles of a person with mental disability, and used as important text for bibliotherapy for young adult readers. Moreover, there is a corresponding growing interest in analyzing the depiction of disabilities and medical conditions in art. Taking this view, this paper examines Flowers for Algernon as an attempt to establish if this literary work is really fictional science and should be treated as such, or is there any merit in reading it as a literary but scientific record of the real struggles of a fictitious person. Such analysis helps to underscore the need to establish context before presenting works of literature in bibliotherapy, so that readers can identify fictional elements and have realistic expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]