Charlie Gordon Flowers For Algernon Essay

In the story “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes the author creates a persistent and brave character named Charlie Gordon. Charlie Gordon is a grown man with an I.Q. of 68, and he goes to a special school for adults with special needs. He willingly undergoes a surgery to triple his intelligence, but he later finds out that it isn’t permanent. He uses his intelligence to try to find a way to slow down the regressing of his brain, but his efforts are to no avail. He comes to find that intelligence only drives his friends further from him, and finds himself confused about what people want him to be. Charlie Gordon is a persistent and brave character, that runs into many troubles in this story, but his persistence and bravery shows how he gets through those problems.

Charlie shows his everlasting persistence throughout the story, shows a lot about the type of person he is.

Evidence that may prove he is persistent is when he states in progress report 3, that he was trying very hard and wanted to be smart all his life. The proof he was trying hard is Miss Kinnian saying that he was her best pupil, and this shows that he is persistent because he is striving to be smart and is doing everything in his ability to be chosen for the surgery to make himself smarter. Another piece of evidence that he is persistent is that he wants to go through with the experiment even after being told it might be temporary, and he also stated that he doesn’t care if it hurts. This is proof he is persistent because it shows that even if there are changes made to his body, or physical harm dealt he’ll still go through with the

surgery.
Charlie Gordon exhibits acts of bravery throughout the story, by going to work after the surgery even after being made fun of for being unintelligent and slow. Standing up for the kid in the restaurant that also possessed a low I.Q. like Charles had previously, this act showed bravery. Standing up for the kid working at the restaurant showed bravery because it showed that he wasn’t afraid to provoke a large group of people, knowing that people may poke fun at him. Going to work again despite being heckled for his lack of knowledge shows bravery. This shows bravery because it reveals that Charlie isn’t fearful of the people that had tormented him and that he wants to come back and show that he isn’t the same person he once was in the pass.
I conclude that Charlie Gordon is a brave and persistent person and displays both characteristics consistently throughout the story. Evidence to show he was both persistent and brave was plentiful in this story. He showed persistence by stating he wanted to be smart all his life and was trying very hard, resulting in him being Miss Kinnian’s best pupil. More evidence showing he was persistent was the fact that he went through with surgery even after knowing it might be temporary and there was a possibility of harm. Evidence that Charlie Gordon showed bravery was when he stood up for the kid working in the restaurant that was being made fun of. Another piece of evidence that he was brave was when he went to work despite the fact everyone disliked him and used him because he didn’t know any better. This is why Charlie Gordon is persistent and brave.