Flowers for Algernon: Meaning of a thought?
Hello everyone!!
I just finished Flowers for Algernon (short story) and between the wet fingers, red eyes, and snotty nose I gotta say it is phenomenal. The content of the story itself, but moreso the way it is written, the way we actually see Charlie's changes through the text, the apostrophe, the capitalization, both the ascent and descent.
I was wondering about the meaning of one of the last lines, paraphrased: 'Tell Prof Nemur if he can laugh at himself he can have more friends'
I really want to understand what does this actually mean and where are the boundaries of that sentence in the real world. Because I also struggle with it, and in the book, as well as this line I read (if you go on a stage and feel afraid of people laughing at you, that is insecurity) made me realize that it is a fragile ego, an insecurity that prevents people/me from laughing at myself.
On the other hand, I have felt same as Charlie when he pretends to be stupid, he knowingly laughed and made no defense to fit in. But many of my friends, with different level of closeness to me, have said that in these situations I should stand up for myself and hand shit back and not worry about confrontations and fitting in.
Both sides are valid. What do you guys think?