This article examines the intersection of disability and animality in Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon (1966) and it contributes to emerging discussions in critical disability and animal studies. By analyzing the intertwined experiences of Charlie and Algernon, the novel highlights the shared oppressions faced by disabled people and animals; it also challenges the flawed perception of both groups as lacking. The article further explores their cross-species cooperation and “hum(an)imal” becoming as positive representations of disability–animality interactions. Finally, it considers how these reimagined connections inform broader questions of shared vulnerability and interdependence, as well as advocating for a new ethical framework grounded in crip futurity.
Chen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.