The true meaning of Christ-chan's Algernon ending

On the eve of the anniversary of Christ-chan's ascension to a higher plane of existence, I decided to reflect on the Algernon ending, and Algernon more generally. <br><br>What I found was absolutely fascinating and thought-provoking. As someone who has read Flowers for Algernon, I can't believe I never realized the extent of this symbolism in the first place.<br><br>The relationship between Algernon and Charlie is an obvious one. Christ-chan kills Algernon because of a basic, visceral notion of what it means to "love" someone. Through the eyes of Christ-chan, we understand that he loves Algernon, and that he doesn't want Algernon to lose his innocence; he doesn't want Algernon to "die." <br><br>Christ-chan's short-sighted, childish definition of "love" ultimately justifies the decision to euthanize Algernon. In Christ-chan's mind, he believes he is saving Algernon from a fate worse than death: the "pain" of death itself. In this way, Christ-chan believes he is effectively saving Algernon from death, which is a notion that you could only ever find in the mind of a very young child, or someone who is under the influence or a damn Fallen Angel. A very "articulate" one, at that. <br><br>This is reminiscent of the Christian God, who is often depicted as vengeful and violent, yet somehow loving. <br><br>What Christ-chan does not realize, however, is that this violence is a perversion of the notion of love. This is a perversion of what love is supposed to encompass. <br><br>Why? <br><br>Because the basic psychological underpinnings of love are rooted in a deep, universal human desire to PROTECT the innocence of those we care about. Christ-chan's decision to euthanize Algernon is a perversion of this natural, healthy desire to PROTECT, because it is justified and carried out in the spirit of VIOLENCE. <br><br>This perversion of basic human psychology is echoed in the Christian God as well.<br><br>The Christian God is often viewed as both "loving" and "vengeful." <br><br>However, the Christian God can only be considered "loving" to the extent that it is willing to PROTECT the innocence of man. <br><br>And yet, the Christian God does not protect the innocence of man through gentle, loving means.<br><br>No.<br><br>The Christian God is depicted as PROTECTING the innocence of man through violence, torture, and punishment.<br><br>But this is a perversion of love. <br><br>Love is supposed to PROTECT, not PUNISH. <br><br>Love is supposed to GIVE, not TAKE. <br><br>Thus, the Christian God's suppositional "love" for man is a perversion of the true meaning of "love." <br><br>In this way, Christ-chan's "love" for Algernon is equally perverse. <br><br>In fact, the mind of the Christian God and Christ-chan are very much interchangeable. Algernon is the symbol of Christ-chan's innocence, and Christ-chan kills Algernon, which is symbolic for Christ-chan's own loss of innocence. <br><br>As mentioned earlier, this is reminiscent of the Christian God, who is often depicted as killing the innocent. <br><br>In this way, we see that Christ-chan and the Christian God have a lot in common, psychologically speaking.<br><br>Both are rooted in a deep, narcissistic desire to VIOLATE the innocence of others. <br><br>Both mindsets are a perversion of the psychological underpinnings of "love". <br><br>Both are convinced, through a broken form of logic, that they are ACTUALLY PROTECTING the innocence of others, when they are actually VIOLATING it. <br><br>So, how can we conclude this reflection on the true meaning of Algernon? <br><br>Well, I think you could say that it wasn't really an ending at all.<br><br>I think you could say that Algernon's innocense was forever lost in the mind of Christ-chan.<br><br>And I think you could say that Christ-chan's own innocence was lost as well.