“I think it's a good thing to find out how everybody laughs at me. I thought about it a lot. It's because I'm so dumb and I don't even know when I'm doing something dumb. People think it's funny when a dumb person can't do things the same way they can. Anyway, now I know I'm getting smarter every day. I know punctuation and I can spell it well. I like to look up all the hard words in the dictionary and remember them. I'm reading a lot now, and Miss Kinnian says I read very fast. Sometimes I even understand what I'm reading about, and it stays in my mind” (Keyes 293). Charlie Gordon is a 37-year-old male with an IQ of 68, and the protagonist of “Flowers for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keyes. In “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie undergoes surgery …show more content…
To be able to give consent, a person must be competent. A person must be deemed legally competent if there is a question of competency for any reason, including mental delay. If a person is deemed incompetent, then they are unable to give consent themselves. Oftentimes, competency is determined by extensive psychological tests. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie is only given tests to determine his intelligence, and his ability and willingness to learn. He was not given any tests to determine if he was competent to give consent. In an article on consent and capacity by StatPearls, a leading professional healthcare education and technology company, it is noted that “Competence is determined by a judge”. This legal determination is never determined by medical providers” (Libby et al, 2023). No judges or any type of court of law were ever involved in Flowers for Algernon, as Charlie never mentions one in any progress reports. In addition, any type of legal action often takes quite a while, and there are only two days from the beginning of the story and when Charlie had his surgery. Taking into account the rapid surgery time, and no mention of any court of law, it can be assumed that no legal action was taken to determine Charlie’s competency. Due to this, Charlie was unable to give consent to have the surgery …show more content…
Charlie did have a mental disability, as his IQ was 68. The Arc of Aurora, which is a non-profit organization which advocates for people with intellectual disabilities, defines a mental disability as follows “Intellectual Disability is a below-average cognitive ability with three characteristics: 1. Intelligence quotient (or I.Q.). is between 70-75 or below.” (The Arc of Aurora, 2024). As Charlie has an IQ of 68, he already falls into the category of having an intellectual disability. The next person to make medical decisions for Charlie would’ve been a family member. As there is only a reference to his family in passing and no mention of a current relationship, one must assume no family was available to give consent. As Charlie did not have a guardian to give consent, it was illegal for the surgery to be performed on Charlie. The University of Oregon, a public University in Oregon with strengths in health sciences, states, “A mentally disabled person may not be the subject of research unless permission is obtained from the person's guardian” (University of Oregon, 2024). Charlie lived alone and did not have a guardian, however, it is possible to have a medical guardian appointed, but there is no evidence that this took place. For a
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
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
Background information:In the story of “Flowers For Algernon” charlie was abiviously not as itelligent as he should have been. What is trying to be said is that when someone did or said something to charlie he would do nothing but laugh because he didnt think for hmself or know what he was doing. The same concept goes with the story of “Adam And Eve”. In the story Adam and Eve, Eve was tricked by the snake of eating of the tree of knowledge. She also didnt know any better and could’t think for herself.Eve and Charlie both had bad the same differnce outcome.
Experiment Gone Bad in Flowers for Algernon & nbsp; One experiment was done on a mentally retarded person to try to raise his intelligence. The experiment worked, but after months, he came back to the state he originally was at. In the book, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, this intelligence operation was done, and the patient was Charlie Gordon. After the operation, Charlie was very bright, but experienced loneliness, and psychological distress. Charlie was emotionally upset because of his flashbacks from childhood, and because his intellegence grew faster then his emotional intellegence.
Dr. Nemur and Dr Strauss are arguing about whether or not they should use Charlie,“Dr Nemur was worried about using me but Dr. Strauss told him Miss Kinnian recommended me the best from all the people who she was teaching”. This shows that Ms Kinnian recommended Charlie and most likely reviewed the surgery. Ms.Kinnian cares for Charlie, so would not recommend him without looking into the surgery. What this argument fails to consider is the fact that Ms. Kinnian was the only one that reviewed it. There was no other person allowed. Dr. Nemur even specifically told Charlie not to tell anyone, “ Joe Carp said hey look where Charlie had his operation what did they do Charlie put some brains in. I was going to tell him, but I remembered Dr. Strauss said no”. This goes to show how little people are allowed to know about the operation. Even the friend of the patient is not allowed to know. This is no ethical because then people that care are then not allowed to give their review on the subject. Therefore there may not be a proper amount of people that is needed for a proper
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.
Every day, people go through operations and sometimes experience unpredicted and unwanted outcomes. The story, Flowers for Algernon, is exactly like that. In this story, a 37 year old man, named Charlie Gordon, has a mental disability and participates in an operation/experiment to increase his knowledge. After taking part in the operation, Charlie’s intellect gradually escalates to a genius status. Charlie, the man who had an IQ of 68, was slowly maturing mentally and he started seeing the world with a whole new different perspective. However, near the end of the story, his brain regresses back to where he started from. Charlie shouldn't have taken part in the operation: he started seeing the world in a different perspective, he experienced unpredicted outcomes, and the operation changed Charlie's whole personality. Charlie would have been better off if he didn’t undergo the operation and participate in the experiment.
“Eagar, Determined, and Motivated:” these three words describe Charlie Gordon in Daniel Keyes’s story “Flowers for Algernon”. Daniel Keyes writes about a thirty two year old man with a low IQ (Charlie Gordon) who strives to become “normal”. Charlie will do anything to become smarter even letting two doctors preform brain surgery to enhance his learning capability. Charlie evolves throughout the novel and by the end of his journey although his IQ is low he is a more complete person. He learns the true meaning of friendship and demonstrates intellectual growth as a person by overcoming obstacles and understanding various lessons.
Before the operation Charlie was unaware of the way he was being treated or of how others viewed his disability throughout his whole life, but by the end of his progress reports he understands the way life is. The gift of intelligence was given to him, however this gift he was given was drawn away from him just as quickly. Many bad things occur to Charlie after the operation, but the war between his emotions and his mind stood above the rest of
In the book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, A 32 year old mentally disabled man, Charlie, gets offered to do a study in which he may get smarter. Charlie is excited to do it but permission was needed so they asked his Mother and she agreed. “I had more crazy tests today in case they use me”(Keyes 4). He starts doing progress reports to keep track of any changes that may happen during the project. He works at a bakery with his co workers which he calls them his “friends” and his boss who cares for him. His co workers take advantage of him and make fun of him but Charlie does not know and understand that yet because he’s mentally disabled. “Joe Carp
Everyone goes through different experiences in life, just as everyone has different types of intelligences and skills. In total there are nine types of intelligences but there is only 2 listed using 3 paragraphs. These examples come from “Flowers for Algernon” or “Dakota Fullest Earns Nation’s Highest Folk Honor”. Some ways in which people demonstrate their knowledge and skill is through Howard Gardner’s Logical/ Mathematical , Bodily/ Kinesthetic , and Intrapersonal intelligences.
I believe that “Flowers for Algernon” has a theme that presents itself in several different instances throughout the story: don’t judge a book by its cover. Whether it encompasses the surgery or Charlie’s personal life, the theme still can be used. There were other, less cliched themes that could be found in the story, but this one can be applied to a larger portion of the plot.
What would you do if you had the chance to triple human intelligence? This is the question Daniel Keyes answered in the story “Flowers for Algernon.” Charlie Gordon had this chance. Charlie learns about the struggles of becoming smart. Charlie has always wanted to become smart, but since he has a disability, Charlie isn’t able to learn like a normal human being.
What if it were possible to triple human intelligence by surgical means? This is the question that Daniel Keyes answers in the story “Flowers for Algernon.” Charlie Gordan is the main character who wants to be smart and has brain surgery. After the surgery Charlie improves, learning how to read many advanced books. He also learns to write better using punctuation, and grammar correctly and falls in love with Alice.
Reflections illustrates the emotional pain caused by war through the depiction of a man struggling with the memories of fallen comrades while he experiences the grief of being a surviving soldier and as he also struggles to carry on with life after the war. The subject of the painting is a Vietnam veteran paying tribute to his fallen comrades at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. As he is standing alone and in silence, he appears to be contemplating his friends that never made it home alive from Vietnam. While gazing at the memorial, he doesn’t appear to be only reading the names, but he actually visualizes the faces of the dead men. The picture insinuates that even though the men were together for only a short amount of time, the recollection of war continues to haunt him regularly.