Charlie's Success In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

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Trading happiness for intelligence is like trading a heart for a brain. Though this is not exactly possible, the choice of living with strong friendships and joy or living with only intelligence and no company is a difficult one. This is the exact choice Charlie, from science fiction short story “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, had to make. Charlie was referred to a program by his very kind teacher Miss Kinnian, where he could get an operation, to raise his IQ and amount of knowledge. After he went through the operations process, his amount of knowledge spouted up for he had lots of enthusiasm to learn and energy. He gained a lot of knowledge and was thankful that he could be a part of this to contribute to science. Though he learned …show more content…

At the beginning of the short story, he could not see much about his reality so he was very happy overall. While he was taking a test before the surgery he said “I told him I saw an inkblot. He said yes and it made me feel good”(Keyes 1). Though this quote might not seem to mean much, it shows how small little things like a doctor saying “yes” made Charlie feel proud of himself and made him brighten up. Throughout the whole beginning section, Charlie was brightened like a lightbulb in a way that he could never experience after the surgery. He still had lots of feelings before the surgery such as feeling scared, happy, and proud like everyone else, indicating that he did not just experience those emotions for the first time after the surgery. He also wanted to please everyone around him, always trying the hardest he could. Additionally, many may say that he felt like something was missing before and really wanted to become smart to help other people and to connect better which is true, but this demonstrates he experienced some sort of struggle, but was still happy. To add to that, when Charlie finished the operation, he had to go through much larger struggles, harming him even more and making him lose even more happiness. Nobody should ever have to go through this even if they can learn …show more content…

When he was talking to Miss Kinnian, she said, “You’re like a giant sponge now, soaking things in”(Keyes 15). This can mean that he was gaining lots of knowledge and he would get to keep growing. But it also could mean that he was just like a sponge, and object that gets squeezed out once it has been filled up. This could also refer to Charlie having so much knowledge but once he had learned so much, he could lose it all in an instant, like a sponge losing water. Also, after a sponge is used, it is just thrown away. Once his doctors see no more use for him - “Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur have asked me not to come to the lab anymore”(Keyes 21) - they will just throw him away. Even though all of his effort to help them, he is just forgotten. They carelessly kicked him out, acting as though he was as emotionless as a sponge. Additionally, though Charlie felt like his report would be helpful to the science world, it probably would never be published for the doctors would never allow it. Charlie heard that “Dr. Strauss said that someday thousands of neuro-surgeons might be using his technique all over the world”(Keyes 14). Dr. Strauss might be thinking that many people would get more intelligent, helping them, but be actually just wanted fame because he

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