Dr. Strauss’s Journal
Journal Entry 1
Why was Charlie chosen for the surgery? I Dr. Strauss, chose Charlie for the surgery, it got me a lot of grief from Dr.Nemur but I knew it was the right choice. Charlie is a man of low intellect but he is very cooperate, motivated, and not hostile. These traits are exceptionally rare in a man of 68 IQ. Another reason that Dr. Nemur and I chose Charlie was that he worked extremely hard in Miss Kinnians class. Working hard got him to be the best because he picked up spelling and writing faster than others in the class. Some other reasons I chose Charlie was because he did all the tests without much complaint. We almost lost Charlie when he tested against Algernon in the maze and didn't write the progress reports for 2 weeks. When the tests were to
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On that day he picked up Algernon like normal but got bit. Charlie watched afterward for some time and saw that he was disturbed and vicious. Burt tells me that Algernon is changing. He is less cooperative, he refuses to run the maze any more, and he hasn't been eating. Burt and others have to feed Algernon because he refuses to do the shifting lock. This a indication that the procedure isn't permanent and Charlie may start to lose intelligence. On May 25 Dr.Nemur and I told Charlie not to come to the lab anymore. Then on May 29 we gave him permission to start a lab and he worked all day and all night on the reason he is losing intelligence. On june 5th he is forgetting stuff which leads up to him becoming absent minded on June 10th. The other indications the procedure wasn’t permanent was once they dissected Algernon who died on June 8th Charlie predictions were correct. Charlie also can’t read or remember books he already read. Soon Charlie can’t remember where he put stuff, forgets punctuation, and spelling reverts back to before. These indications are clear that the procedure wasn’t
Algernon is a mouse. He's a special mouse, Charlie Gordon is told, and it must be true, because whenever Charlie and Algernon run a race (Algernon is in a real maze; Charlie has a pencil-and-paper version), Algernon wins. How did that mouse get to be so special, Charlie wonders? The answer is that Algernon's IQ has been tripled by an experimental surgical procedure.
When was the last time you wanted something so much, you would sacrifice your life to have it; even if just for a moment? Charlie Gordon, a 37 year old man with a learning disability, did just that. In the story "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes, Charlie gets a chance to alter his I.Q. substantially through operation. The only drawback to this is, the long-term outcomes of the operation are unknown. The operation does succeed, but later Charlie is sent on a riveting downward spiral into the life he tried to run away from. The operation hurt Charlie in every imaginable way; and did nothing to help him.
Although Charlie was a thirty seven year-old man, his understanding and comprehension of a situation was far too low to understand such consequences that the surgery could come with. In the article, "Five Steps to Better Ethical Decision Making", it says to ask yourself if you could understand making that choice (Dobrin). The doctors in "Flowers for Algernon" did not ask themselves if they were lacking as much intelligence as Charlie, could they make the choice to have the surgery? Charlie didn't know what could happen to him if the there were side effects until it was too late. Therefore, the doctors did not act ethically when choosing Charlie as the test
My last reason why charlie should get the operation is he will be mature. Instead of
We see Charlie's transformation from being mentally disabled person to becoming the most intelligent man. The story progress as a journal entry tracking Charlie's progress during the experiment. In the beginning it is quite evident by the writing style and thoughts of the narrator that Charlie had a very low intelligence level. But once the scientist performed the surgery, we started to notice a few changes, for example, his sentence becomes more and more easier to understand and his thoughts start becoming more complex, which
Dr Nemur and Dr. Strauss were opportunists; therefore, they took advantage of Charlie and affected his entire life. In addition, Charlie was a human and was equated to mice. Charlie did not understand that the surgery could fail, because he was the first human experimented on and was not the mice that the doctors experimented on. Lastly, the society benefitted from Algernon’s death because they then figured out that Charlie was going to die as
Charlie?s experiment was temporary, and overtime his IQ regressed. Algernon, a mouse that went through the same surgery as Charlie, died. If Charlie?s hypothesis proves correct, then he will die as well. Charlie?s life was better before the experiment because he was not exposed to the risks and consequences of the surgery. Without the experiment, Charlie would still be living his ignorant but happy life.
Many popular novels are often converted into television movies. The brilliant fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes, was developed into a dramatic television film. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded man who is given the opportunity to become intelligent through the advancements of medical science. This emotionally touching novel was adapted to television so it could appeal to a wider, more general audience. Although the novel and film are similar in terms of plot and theme, they are different in terms of characters.
In conclusion, Charlie is better off without the surgery to make him intelligent because he gains knowledge about the evils of the world, forcing him to realize his past life as a laughingstock and making him depressed. Although he was unaware of being bullied, he still enjoyed his life and happiness, rather than acumen and realism, is vital in an optimistic life. After the surgery, he is alone and even though he gained what he wanted, he lost what he already possessed, leaving him pessimistic. At the end, he even loses his last love, knowledge, leaving him beat up. All in all, Charlie, who had to deal with psychological traumas in the end, was better off before he gained with all these knowledge.
Charlie now knows he can follow in Algernon’s footsteps in the near future. Charlie later finds out what could happen to him. Charlie says, “Algernon died two days ago….. I guess the same thing is or will soon be happening to me. Now that it’s definite, I don’t want it to happen”(Keyes 205). Charlie knows that he could also die from the surgery he has been forced into to take. Some say he might not die because a human’s brain is more strong than mice brains. They say the experiment was not meant to harm Charlie. Charlie figures out, “I have already begun to notice signs of emotional instability and forgetfulness, the first symptoms of the burnout(Keyes 205). Charlie knows that this is happening to him, but he may not die from it. He knows he will deteriorate, but by how much is the
Charlie would have never known about some things in his life if it wasn’t for the surgery. He always has wanted to be accepted all his life, by his peers, co-workers and even his own
He proved the operation was a failure Algernon-Gordon effect. The quote is saying (which is next)that Charlie is telling the doctors that their experiment was a failure.The quote is “I recall your once saying to me that an experimental failure or disproving of a theory was important to the advancement of learning as a success would
“Flowers for Algernon, first published in 1959, is considered a landmark work on both science fiction and disability literature,” (Werlock 2009). The American Library Association reports that this novel was banned as an obscene for its love scenes. When the main character, Charlie Gordon, increases his IQ from 68 to a level that makes him a genius (after received experimental brain surgery), his maturity leads him to fall in love with his teacher, and a sexual encounter ensues. This caused Flowers for Algernon to be banned and challenged in many places (Plant City, Florida- 1976, Emporium, Pennsylvania- 1977, Oberlin High School (Ohio) - 1983, among others). Most people consider the sexual scenes fairly mild, but there are those who consider any mention of sexual behavior inappropriate for teens or pre-teens, hence the attempts at censorship. Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book has occasionally been banned from school libraries including some in Pennsylvania and Texas. Flowers for Algernon has won numerous awards, even for the film, and it is regularly taught in schools around the world; therefore, it should remain on shelves.
Before the operation it is Miss Kinnian who suggests the experiment to Charlie seeing that he is eager to learn. She is one of the only people who is concerned about him and wants to help him achieve his dream. Once Charlie 's intelligence starts increasing, he starts developing feelings for Alice and along the way falls in love with her. However, the old Charlie that is in his mind does not let him have sexual thoughts about her and make love to her: “ ‘I love you...’ the words chocked out of me, ‘but I can 't do it. Something I can 't explain, but if I hadn 't stopped, I would hate myself for the rest of my life. Don 't ask me to explain, or you 'll hate me too. It has to do with Charlie. For some reason, he won 't let me make love to you’ ” (Keyes 205). Charlie is about to make love to Fay but something is restricting him from doing so. He explains this to Alice but she still does not understand what is stopping him. This shows that Charlie does really care for her and does not want to use her. The experiment does not go as planned, a fatal flaw is found that kills Algernon the mouse who is used to test out the same research. When his intelligence starts regressing, Alice stays and takes care of him for a while until he drives her away. She agrees to leave and try to forget about him as she promised him earlier that she would
Before the A.I. surgery Charlie was given two tests The Rorschach Test and The Thematic Apperception Test. These tests helped the doctors analyze his intelligence and personality. He didn’t do very well, but after he did way better. To illustrate this a quote from the story is “We went through the cards slowly. One of the them looked like a pair of bats tugging at something” (Keyes, 232) Before he couldn’t even tell what was happening or what he could see, now he can explain things better and has a imagination. After the A.I surgery Charlie’s test results became better and better.