What if it was possible to triple human intelligence by surgical means? This is the question that Daniel Keys answers in the story “Flowers for Algernon.” Charlie Gordon, the main character in this story, is a thirty-two-year-old male with an IQ of 68. Charlie is frustrated with himself, as he strives to be smarter and do anything that could achieve his goal. He's very dedicated, and his teacher Miss Kinnean, recommends him to a couple of doctors named Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. Their goal is to triple Charlie's IQ and compare him to a rat who undergoes the same surgery. Charlie survives the dangerous surgery and gradually gets smarter without realizing it. Eventually, he achieved his lifelong goal and became a genius. Throughout his journal entries, his language gets to a point where you can't understand him. He learns how to love and know the true emotions of himself and others. Although the surgery was a success, Algernon's fast deterioration of his brain and his ultimate death, showed what was bound to happen to Charlie. He slowly loses his sense of reality as he …show more content…
Ignoring the fact that this surgery was dangerous, the psychological effects on Charlie were detrimental. Was it worth it for the short time of his intelligence, only to lose it just as fast? Charlie at the end of the story doesn't benefit from the surgery because he realizes his friends make fun of him and then he ends up completely isolated and feeling incredibly lonely. He also broke Miss Kinnasen's heart, as he had to be wise enough to do it intentionally. Going through all this had to be depressing, as he achieved his goal but knew that his days of smartness were numbered. He didn't want to be taken care of, and by the end of the story he became hostile and angry at the world, and himself. Eventually, when he fully loses his old intelligence, he doesn't turn hostile and strives to get smarter and have a better
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.
He was able to see the world through the new eyes that he had gained from the operation learning new things about the world and being able to talk and interact with the people around him as a normal person. For a moment in time Charlie was normal ,and even after he had lost everything Charlie still learns in the end that even though he may have lost everything he was still happy to be able to finally fulfill his dream of being normal. In conclusion I still think Charlie should have undergone the operation for these reasons ,because in the end if he hadn’t he would have experience these many great things and finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming smart and
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.
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
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.
With his simple minded approach to life, he was able to live happily without problems or difficulties that we face in relationships today. Although he was never smart, Charlie was a good person before the surgery.
“Flowers for Algernon” is about a man named Charlie Gordon who is mentally retarded. Charlie signs up for an experiment that is supposed to make him smarter. He wants to be like every one else. To do the experiment he has to keep a journal showing his progress. Charlie starts out spelling almost every word wrong. Charlie’s family and friends have all made fun of him; his parents gave him to his uncle when he was ten.
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.
“Ignorance is bliss,” is an old saying used throughout time and can be applied to the tragic yet inspiring (5) story know as Flowers for Algernon. Avid writer and author, Daniel Keyes creates a mentally challenged character, Charlie Gordon, who has gone through his life completely unaware of his disability is given an opportunity to change everything. As the story progress Charlie is faced with a constant battle between intellect and emotion or happiness, which leads to some dire situations and choices he may not be ready to make.
In society, many individuals attempt to change their appearance or personality for the benefit of others or to improve their own self worth. Ultimately, these changes have the ability to boost one’s self esteem. In Daniel Keys’s Flowers For Algernon, Charlie Gordon undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence. Even though his intelligence is not a permanent transformation, it allows him to become more aware about his own life. Charlie’s transformation is ethical and therefore the result is worth the attempt.
"Good satire comes from anger. It comes from a sense of injustice, that there are wrongs in the world that need to be fixed. And what better place to get that well of venom and outrage boiling than a newsroom, because you 're on the front lines" (Hiaasen). The use of satires in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn initiated Huck Finn 's outlook on aspects of society. He may not have created a direct impact on certain situations, but he did question and mock many actions. He had a niche for mocking morals and decisions an individual can make, as well as fabrications and lies within religion. Characters initiated situations that revolved around these themes that frustrated Huck. Mark Twain incorporated all the aspects of good verses evil, deception,
“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.
One main reason that I believe that Charlie was better off before is that he had nothing to lose. Before he had the surgery he was already low in intelligence and he could not understand much. In Progress Report 2 he says, “ Ill get it in a few minits becaus im not so fast sometimes. im a slow reader in Miss Kinnians class for slow adults but im trying very hard.”
To start, it is a good feeling to feel normal and everyone should feel that way. In the story, Charlie wants to be smarter and Dr. Strauss can do that for him. Charlie wants to be smarter so he can just be normal like other people. The thought of his I.Q. being tripled was amazing to him. At one point in the story Dr. Nemur said,“remember he will be the first human being ever to have his intelligence tripled by surgical means” (page 518). Anyone who has wanted just to be normal would understand what Charlie was feeling. If Charlie didn’t have the operation he would not be able to experience the benefit of being normal.
Charlie’s innocent thinking eventually returns to torment him after the operation. And because of this, Charlie is better off after the surgery because he realizes what real love is and that knowledge does not spawn human bonds.