Imagine a world where intelligence is not limited, but is open to change. The short story, “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, is a tale about a learning delayed adult named Charlie Gordon, who is given the opportunity to increase his intelligence via an operation. It is through this character’s journey of intellectual development that one is able to see the awesome burden it is to be given a second chance to change oneself. Despite any positive outcomes associated with the surgery, Charlie is better off in his life before the operation with his natural IQ of 68. Without the surgery, Charle is blissfully unaware that the society he loves does not love him. Furthermore, Charlie does not experience loneliness or the pain of losing a job because …show more content…
Charlie is blissfully unaware that the society he loves does not love him. After the operation, Charlie becomes vividly aware that there is more to his “friends” then he thinks. Charlie remarks,“It’s a funny thing, I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me” (323). As a result of Charlie’s increasing intelligence, he becomes aware that his friends are laughing at him not with him. Prior to the operation, Charlie is at peace with his friends. This peace and happiness makes up for Charlie’s low IQ, and shows how much better Charlie’s life was before the surgery. Additionally, due to Charlie’s 68 IQ, he is never lonely. Before Charlie’s intelligence increases, he is surrounded by people that make him happy. “my friends from the factory Joe Carp and Frank Reilly invited me to go with them to Muggsys salon for some drinks… I had a good time” (318). After Charlie experiences the effects of the operation, he is so smart that his friends do not understand him. For this reason they do not invite Charlie to the bar anymore or interact with him at all. Because of Charlie’s obliviousness former to the surgery, he does not undergo the feeling of loneliness. Therefore, Charlie is better off with his untouched IQ of 68. Although many believe that with an outstanding IQ of 204 Charlie would have many better job openings, this is not the case.
Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because they always made jokes about Charlie, but he was not smart enough to realize it. As he gets smarter he loses his friends because they think he is just trying to act smart.
The societal problems became a reality for Charlie as he overtook the brain of a genius. Every day, Charlie woke up thinking he was best friends with Joe and Frank; nonetheless, after the operation, Charlie’s brilliance knew Frank and Joe were not his legitimate cohorts. All the mocking was assumed to be friendly until Charlie was able to comprehend the actuality. Charlie’s acquaintances turned around
In the short story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a thirty-seven-year-old man named Charlie Gordon has a low intelligence level. Charlie is chosen for an operation(after taking many tests) that could increase his intelligence level. Algernon(a white mouse) had the same operation done on him. The first test Algernon has to run through a maze while Charlie does one on paper. When Charlie loses to Algernon, he begs for the operation. After Charlie has his operation, he becomes insanely smart and can beat Algernon without even trying. Months after the operation things start to go downhill for Charlie and Algernon. They both experience a decrease in their intelligence level and show aggressive actions. Weeks later Algernon dies because of a brain shrinkage. Charlie is now worried about his fate so he publishes the experiment(The Algernon-Gordon effect) which shows how the operation fails. After the publication, Charlie moves to
He is then judged even harsher which is why you shouldn’t try to be someone that you’re not. You should stay true to yourself. In the story, it says “Their going to use me! I am so exited I can hardly write” (Keyes page 351). This implies that Charlie is anxious to undergo the surgery that will make him smart. Another part says “If you volenteer for this experament you mite get smart”. (Keyes page 351) This shows that the operation will make him more intelligent so he can fit in with everyone else. This proves that Charlie is trying to be someone he is not in order to fit
Charlie’s story began with the surgery, the biggest decision he made in his life. Although he was a guinea pig in the procedure, he wasn’t worried at all about the surgery, but rather on becoming smart as fast as he could. Supposedly these doctors were doing Charlie the greatest favor he would ever receive, and he was so eager to learn as much as he could. Soon however, Charlie would encounter challenges he never faced with the intelligence of a 6 year old. Before his surgery, Charlie had great friends in Miss Kinnian and the bakery workers. After the surgery the relationships between Charlie and everyone he knew would take a drastic turn.
Everyone would love to be intelligent and get good grades and a good job, maybe even invent something new and get money from it. If you had a chance to raise your IQ score by three times what it is now, would you do the operation? Would you take the risk of dying, having mental disabilities, not knowing the consequences? Most people would love to get smarter, but they do not want to get harmed during the operation.
Firstly, Charlie loses his friends. He literally gets to a point where he is too smart for his own good. The people from his work at Donnegan’s Plastic Box Company agreed to sign a petition to get Charlie to quit. Some of the workers, such as Fanny, were questioning how he suddenly became so smart. She and others felt uncomfortable to have him around. Evidence from the text proves that the people felt unsettled. “...there’s something mighty strange about you, Charlie… Who knows what you done to yourself to get so smart all of a sudden. Like everyone around here’s been saying, Charlie, it’s not right.” (Keyes, 72)
Due to experience with technological advancements, we have learned that there can be several drawbacks to something that may seem like a way to make our daily lives easier. This is especially true in the case of Charlie, as the operation did not give him the exact results he was expecting. Although he did get everything he wanted out of the procedure, Charlie's intelligence was not permanent like everyone had hoped. Instead, he lost all the knowledge he had gained which returned him back to square one. However, we know for certain that much thought was put into deciding whether Charlie should undergo the operation and the pros and cons of the procedure.
The scientists finally decide Charlie is the perfect subject for the experiment due to his motivation and his eagerness to be smart. As Charlie's IQ begins to grow, so does his ability to understand how cruel the world around him really is. While Charlie's knowledge grows, his attitude changes along with those around him. Charlie loses his job, friends, happiness, and even his willingness to care or learn. On the contrary, Charlie also experiences and learns a lot from this experiment.
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.
In the beginning of the story, Charlie is not very intelligent; he is classified as retarded. Charlie believes that if he was smarter, then everyone would like him. However, he believes that he currently has really good friends that work with him at the bakery. In reality his “frens” at the bakery make fun and laugh at him all the time, but he is too ignorant to know.
In “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon, a 37 year old man who has a 68 IQ, has a will to become smart. He goes through many tests including a race against a mouse named Algernon. Charlie is chosen to go through and operation that will make him smarter, but has a chance of only being temporary. He experiences many changes in himself as he becomes smarter, after the operation. Because Algernon was given the same operation, his experiences show what will happen to Charlie . As Algernon’s intelligence deteriorates, Charlie's follows. Algernon dies as Charlie is showing the sames signs of losing his intelligence. He loses all of his intelligence and ends up back at a 68 IQ. There is a major difference in Charlie’s personality before
Intelligence is difficult to change. Charlie Gordon, a 37 year old male has an IQ of 68. He is chosen to have surgery to triple his IQ. His teacher Ms. Kinnian suggested this operation to Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. His IQ does triple, but it doesn’t come without consequences. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should have not applied for the intelligence-altering surgery.
"I dont know why but he says its importint so they will see if they will use me. I hope they use me. Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to be smart,”(Pg 285 Progress Report l-March 5 1965). All his life Charlie Gordon wanted to be smart. Charlie is a 37 year old mentally disabled adult. He will do anything to be smart including experiments and operations. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes, the author, portrays the theme to never give up even through the challenges.
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.