Imagine how you would feel if you were always being treated as though you were not human, or if people acted as though they created you. Well this is how you would feel if you were the subject of a science experiment. Science experiments should not be performed on humans or animals because of the unknown outcome. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes shows a destructive nature of man through stereotypes, absence of family, and the various IQ levels needed to mature. Scientific experimentation shows a destructive nature of man through stereotypes. Stereotypes are cruel and heartless. “He makes the same mistakes as the others when they look at a feeble-minded person and laugh because they don’t understand there are human feelings involved. He doesn’t realise I was a person before I came here.” (Keyes, 145) Before the surgery Charlie was looked down upon because of his mental state. However, after the surgery he is treated like he was made by the scientists, as though he was their very own ‘Frankenstein’. This is a destructive nature of man because after the surgery Charlie finds out that his so called friends have been making fun of him his whole life. Stereotypes show a destructive nature of man. “People with mental illness are depicted as burdens to society and incapable of contributing in positive ways to their communities.” (Edney) Through this book the reader knows this statement is false, because Charlie is able to function fairly well in society, considering he has a job and he is doing very well there. Stereotypes show a destructive nature of man because they belittle people and make them feel worthless. There is a destructive nature of man is shown in Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon through the absence of family. Sci... ... middle of paper ... ...es not necessarily mean just a fully grown up individual it is a combination of age, awareness, intelligence and decision making ability.” (V, Jayram) when you are intelligent you are able to become mature. When Charlie is trying to decide whether or not to tell Donner about Gimpy, this shows he is becoming more mature because of his decision making ability. This proves that there is a destructive nature of man shown through the various IQ levels needed to mature. In the end, Charlie is returned to his previous mental state proving that scientific experimentation leads to a destructive nature of man. In Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes shows the reader a destructive nature of man through stereotypes, absence of family, and the various IQ levels needed to mature. Therefore, science experiments should be left for chemicals and labs not humans and animals.
The story of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is revered as one of the greatest novels to be formulated. It takes the point of view of a scientist named ‘Victor Frankenstein’ who is fuelled by an insatiable thirst of expanding his knowledge. His interests draw to that of being able to give things life where he takes the seat of god feeling that he has the power to do all he envisions, which in the end destroys him. Almost 150 years later the book Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes and published in 1959, manages to recreate the conflict between science and ethics and the implications of ungoverned scientific experimentation. The book observes a young man named Charlie who has a mental disorder, he continuously seeks to “become smart” and is attending a special school to achieve his goal. While visiting this school he is
Maturity is not a fickle expression such as happiness or frustration, but rather an inherent quality one gains over time, such as courage or integrity. Before maturity can be expressed, the one who expresses it must have significant confidence in himself, since self-confidence is the root of maturity. Being flexible and formulating one's own opinions or ideas are aspects of maturity, but neither is possible without self-confidence. The greatest aspect of maturity is the ability to make decisions which society does not agree with. Whether or not one follows through with these ideas is not important. What is important is the ability to make the decision. These decisions represent the greatest measure of maturity.
After weeks of testing Charlie is selected and has the procedure performed. There are no noticeable changes immediately, however after some time Charlie begins to have flashbacks and mixed emotions of his childhood for example, Charlie’s first flashback begins with him standing in front of the bakery as a child and it goes blurry and cuts out. (2) As Charlies intellect increases so does his perception of the world around him and the way people act toward him. Charlie finally begins to realize guilt and shame along with all other natural human
Before the operation, he exhibited some clear strengths such as determination, a positive attitude, friendly with people and some weaknesses such as education and inability to understand the adult world. After the operation, he begun to change in numerous ways. Charlie started out as being not really intelligent. Being around with “smart” people made him want to change and became “intelligent” just like his “friends.” I think its all crazy. If you can get smart when your sleeping why do people go to school. That thing I don't think will work. I use to watch the late show and the late late show on TV all the time and it never made me smart (Keyes 118). This part of the book led Charlie’s flashbacks takes place of how he was raised or nurtured through his childhood, Of how he wanted to try to become smart. However Dr. Strauss believes that his sleep would help Charlie be able to learn. However in his nature, his disability cannot help him at all, doesn’t matter how much he tries to watch TV and tries to go to sleep, I wouldn’t allow him to learn anything at all. The nurture of this is having the doctor recommend Charlie to do this. His disability also not just affects him but his family as well. His disability kind of makes his sister miserable as well, jealous over how the parents focus on Charlie due to his disability, despite the successes the sister achieves in school. Thus Charlie’s nature towards others has a negative effect which is towards his sister. Charlie was raised by his parents but through a condition that would then follow him probably for the rest of his life as well as being mainly raised through this experiment, which possibly wouldn’t help him at all in the near
Charlie worked hard trying to discover how long his smartness would last. While studying Algernon, he noticed that he was becoming more jumpy and that he would attack Charlie sometimes. Charlie wondered whether this was because of the experiment. Algernon got worse and he refused to do the mazes and to work. After a few weeks Algernon died. Tests showed that Algernon’s brain had started to shrink, causing him to die.
Charlie Gordon is the main character in "Flowers for Algernon." He under goes an operation to enhance his level of intelligence preformed by two doctors, Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. Since Charlie has an IQ that is below average and is the first patient to agree to commit to this surgery, his side affects could include loss of memory, unable to complete certain tasks, poor grammar and spelling, and even fatality. Charlie wants to proceed with the operation since he believes that he should as intelligent as normal human beings and he is sick of others making fun of him because of his disabilities. The experimental surgery that Charlie underwent to triple his intelligence had three major effects on his life.
Science, in this particular story, is represented by Aylmer who thinks of himself as a great scientist. He conducts a scientific experiment in the need to remove his wife’s birthmark. He tries everything he knows to create a magical potion to remove Georgiana’s flaw. Georgiana on the other hand represents nature. Georgiana represents the closest state to perfection that man can aspire to, but her husband is still not content. Feeling that it will be the only possible way to save her marriage, she gives in and tells him to prepare the experiment. In the need to impress her husband, she allows him to experiment with the removal of her birthmark regardless of the risk, or the consequence she might face. In this story, the power of nature prevails in the end. Even though Georgiana is unable to impress her husband with her unique mark, her birthmark captivates almost anyone who looks at it. In the desire to control nature, Aylmer kills his wife. The fate of the world, no matter how dark it is, is in the hands of nature, not science or man. Instead of trying to pursue the ultimate power and trying to change the laws of nature through science, one should pursue happiness in
Firstly, Charlie's operation turns him into an extremely intelligent person. Charlie becomes much smarter as the novel unfolds. A little after his operation Charlie's IQ slowly starts to increase. He finally beats Algernon after losing to him in a race repeatedly. After the victory Charlie says, " I beet Algernon. I dint even know I beet him until Burt Selden told me…But after I beet him 8 more times. I must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon."(Keyes 30). Algernon is a smart mouse, who has undergone the same operation as Charlie. Charlie victory shows his increase of knowledgeable. This also shows that his brain is developing. Charlie then gains more knowledge. After writing a few more progress reports one can see a huge change in Charlie's writing, especially in his grammar. While having a conversation with Joe, Charlie says, "Everybody on the floor came around and they were laff laughing…you been here long enuff enough."(Keyes 34). By correcting his own mistakes, Charlie shows that he is progressing towards a more educate...
“I recall your once saying to me that an experimental failure or the disproving of a theory was as important to the advancement of learning as a success would be” (Keyes 301). The reader now understands the experiment was not a success. Charlie also validates Algernon’s expected death when he says “Algernon died two days ago. Dissection shows my predictions were right. His brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing out of cerebral convolutions as well as a deepening and broadening of brain fissures” (302). This confirms Algernon’s expected death by the “Algernon-Gordon
Was Charlie better off without the operation? Through Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes sends an crucial message to society that man should never tamper with human intelligence or else the outcome can be personally devastating. After Charlie's operation, he felt isolated and lonesome, change in personality made him edgy around people or (lack social skills), and suffered from traumas due to past memories.
For one thing, it helps science advance further into artificial intelligence on humans. The whole experiment on him proves that artificial-induced intelligence on humans works. Even though Charlie reverts back to his old self, scientists can find ways on preventing it with the help of his high intelligence. His progress reports help scientists see the progression of him during the process. “Burt says its part of the esperimint and they will make fotastats of the reports to study them so they will know what is going on in my mind.” (11). He also explains the overall outcome of the experiment with his paper on the “Algernon-Gordon Effect.” He points out that “ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE.” (177). Despite the fact that the operation did not work on Charlie; he brings science one step closer to help artificial intelligence on humans and help others with learning
“dont be sorry for me Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.” [sic] In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes tells the story of Charlie Gordon. Charlie is given the option to go through an experimental surgery that is meant to triple his IQ. He is thrilled that he was chosen, and seizes his chance. Charlie changes in major ways throughout the beginning, the middle, and the end of the book. His intelligence, relationships with his friends, personality, and views on the world vary immensely. Maybe Charlie is not the smartest man, but through his experiences, he learns more about the world than many other
Charlie, in Flowers of Algernon, has a very low IQ. Charlie lived with his family when he was younger and his parents saw him as a threat to his sister so they decided to take him somewhere else. He has problems with reading and writing. He wants to be in an experiment where the two people in charge, Nemur and Strauss, have not tried the operation with humans. Charlie wants to be smarter so he can have friends and so he can read and write. He is nice and friendly. Charlie’s conflict with his low IQ teaches the reader to not always think that something is going to go good because it can have consequences at the end through Charlie doing the experiment to see if he can get smarter.
Daniel Keyes’ short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, masterfully weaves a narrative addressing the then current fears of biological science while simultaneously pulling at the heartstrings of readers. This particular text addresses both existentialism as seen in Charlie Gordon’s rapid decline at the end of the story, as well as eugenics which can be found when taking a look at the whole of the experiment Charlie is participating in (eugenics is a term coming from Professor Westgate’s handout). By examining the emergence of existential thought and the consequences of such in the character of Charlie Gordon, the concern of moral practicality in the pursuit of eugenics is unearthed.
Initially Charlie is a humble man, but after the operation he becomes arrogant. The operation made Charlie lose most of his good characteristics. After the operation it seems that Charlie has expected that everyone would have the same intelligence as him and that they all would have the capability of having so much information stored in their brains like him. He explains to Dr. Strauss who is Charlie's therapy and "French, German, Spanish…No Russians, Chinese, and Portuguese. He reminded me that he had very little time for languages…Physics nothing beyond the quantum theory of fields…Little in mathematics beyond the elementary level of calculus of variation"(150). Through history people have learned that money and power make people blind, selfish and arrogant, the same happens with Charlie. He begins to show off because he is smarter than everyone else. He wants revenge on the people who were making fun of him when he was retarded. There is a time when Charlie though that Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss are not treating him as human but as a mouse so he managed to embarrasses them. Now he is making fun of them because...