Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

493 Words1 Page

You walk into a hospital. You sit down. You read a book. You are nervous because you are having a brain surgery. In the science fiction story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, the main character Charlie Gordon is nervous because he is having artificial surgery. The surgery is going to triple his I.Q. He will go from having an I.Q. of 68 to an I.Q. of 204. Charlie Gordon should not have had the A.I. Surgery. He was wrong to have surgery, because he became aware of bullying, he started losing friendships with others, and he struggled with trusting others. After the A.I. Surgery, Charlie became aware of bullying. At Donegan's Plastic Factory, Charlie found out what Joe Carp and Frank Reilly were saying about him. “Now I know what it means …show more content…

Surgery, Charlie started losing friendships with others. When Charlie arrived at Donegan’s Plastic Factory, Donegan showed Charlie a petition with 840 names saying that he should be fired. “They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I’m more lonely than ever before…” (Keyes 235). 840 people signed a petition saying that Charlie should be fired from the factory. After the surgery, Charlie lost many friends of his. After the A.I. Surgery, Charlie struggled in trusting others. Charlie started to realise what Joe and Frank were doing to him. “It’s funny, I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me.” (Keyes 231). Charlie lost his trust in his co-workers after the A.I. When Charlie had the A.I., he didn’t trust anyone for a while. Others may say that Charlie was right to have the surgery. They would agree that Charlie was aware of others feelings, but he also became aware of bullying. Being aware of bullying made Charlie lose trust in others. Opponents may say that Charlie had true friends before the surgery. When Charlie’s I.Q. increased, he became aware that his friends were not really his friends, so he ended up being all alone. Charlie started, “I am alone in my apartment at Ms. Flynn’s boarding house most of the time and seldom speak to anyone.” (Keyes 236). Critics argue that while it may be true that Charlie was forgiving. Still, all in all, Charlie started losing trust in

Show More
Related

  • Charlie was Better off Before the Operation in Flowers for Algernon

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Intelligence In Flowers For Algernon

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    He was much happier before the operation. The situations were the same before. But, after the operation, he had started noticing the obstacles. Joe and Frank used to tease Charlie before, but now he was ashamed and realized that they had befriended him to make fun of him. He now started noticing the wicked incidents in his surrounding and started to compare them to his life. He became lonely after he got fired from his job. His life had become a track lane with obstacles all along the way after he became intelligent. Intelligence does not always lead to happiness. The story “Flowers for Algernon” proves that ignorance is

    Read More

  • Treatment of Charlie after his Operation in Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way that Keyes shows Charlie’s mistreatment is through his friends’ fear and avoidance of him. Before the operation, Mr. Donner, the owner of the bakery that Charlie works at, had ensured that Charlie would always have a job and a home at the bakery. Charlie would have to otherwise live at an institution for mentally challenged people. Although the other employees at the bakery make fun of him without his knowing, he considers them his friends, and he talks and goes to parties with them. When he has the operation, he becomes much smarter than his friends, and they are no longer able to tease him. He is able to

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Operation In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    People would see how he acts and laugh and that is just plain rudeness. People should be treated equally even if they act different or look funny. Treat people the way you want to be treated;not like they are some piece of trash on the sidewalk. “Sometimes somebody will say hey look at Joe or Frank or George he really pulled a Charlie Gordon. I dont know why they say that but they always laft. This morning Amos Borg who is the 4 man at Donnegans used my name when he shouted at Ernie the office boy. Ernie lost a packige. He said Ernie for god sake what are you trying to be a Charlie Gordon. I dont understand why he said that. I never lost any packiges.” Saying “You pulled a Charlie Gordon” is not charming. The people at the factory are basically saying that he is the most idiotic their so when someone messes up Charlie must be rubbing off on them. Because before and right after the operation Charlie still wasn’t that intelligent, he didn’t realize Joe and Frank weren’t his real friends and would just laugh at him. Charlie decided to change. He wanted to be liked and fit in. Maybe becoming smarter would solve that problem? “Once again now I have the feeling of shame burning inside me. This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved. Before, they laughed at me and despised me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding.

    Read More

  • Flowers For Algernon Theme

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Before Charlie got smart he thought that he was good friends with Joe Carp and Frank Reilly but after the From being laughed at to being treated like he was a baby. All of this happened to him just because he was mentally challenged. The worst part is that Charlie didn’t know that he was laughed at and nobody told or tried to help him. This went on until Charlie got the operation and got smart. However things became worse after the operation.

    Read More

  • Charlie Gordon Flowers For Algernon Analysis

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    One reason is that he was only intelligent for a little while, but then he was back to being how he was before within three or four months. I don’t know about you, but if that happened to me, it would lower my self-esteem by a ton. I am inferring that Charlie’s self-esteem hit rock bottom and that is why he left. He thought that he was disappointing everyone. Another reason that the operation was more costly than beneficial is that he most likely ruined his relationship with Miss Kinnian. At first Miss Kinnian just seemed like a teacher to him, but once he became smarter, he realized that he loved her. But after he figured out what was going to happen to him, he ruined his relationship by being rude to her. After he goes back to how he used to be, he forgets that he is not in her class anymore and goes. This makes Miss Kinnian even more sad, because this proves that Charlie is back to how he was and it didn’t work. Finally, another reason why the operation was not good was because Charlie had to find out that everyone was making fun of him. At first, he was living a happy life, or at least what he thought was a happy life. When people laughed at him, he took it as laughing with him. When he went to school, it was all just a game. But then he realizes that everything he thought was wrong. And now he has to live with that

    Read More

  • Analyzing Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charlie’s decision to go through with the surgery let him experience new things. He shows that he has gone through new experiences through the line, “What makes it awkward is that I have never experienced anything like this before” (Keyes 78). Charlie is a low-functioning adult, so that means he cannot do a lot of things by himself. He was always wondering what it felt like to talk to an intelligent human, and comprehend the words that people would say. No one wants to live their life always wondering what it is like to do, or feel something. Normal people feel

    Read More

  • Charlie Gordon's Intelligence In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    This, Charlie thought, would make him have more friends and a better life; he thought he would be able to have conversations about topics he was not able to understand before. Although the operation raised his intelligence levels, as mentioned before, his personality worsened and happiness decreased. As a result of this, Charlie realized that his friends were disrespecting him. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me.” (Keyes 42). When Charlie’s intelligence increased, he was smart enough to figure out that the people he once called his friends did not actually treat him as a friend. Charlie experienced this sorrow because of the intelligence that was manufactured into him, causing the opposite of what he expected to

    Read More

  • Operation In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    All his co-workers voted for him to be fired. This made Charlie get very depressed and upset. He cried and thought t o himself the everyone hated him. Since he was so smart he also realized that the people who were hanging out with him weren’t really his friends at all. Charlie noticed this at a party he got invited to. Charlie realizes this in the story, “Everyone was looking at me and laughing and I felt naked….I’m ashamed.” (Keyes,66) A good thing about Charlie realizing this is that now he knows who not to hang out with. Another disadvantage of having the operation is that when Charlie's I.Q tripled he became too smart to communicate with people. He had lost his social skills and whenever he would try to have a conversation people would just look at him strange and walk away. The story tells us this, “Everybody seems to be frightened of me. When I went over to Amos Borg and tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped up in the air.”

    Read More

  • Ethical Surgery In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    A major scene in the novel, the convention, was where Charlie discovered the truth behind Nemur and Strauss’s scheme. When Nemur took the podium, he said, “It might be said that Charlie Gordon did not really exist before this experiment” (Keyes 161). Nemur truly believes that he invented Charlie, and that he saved him from a life of misery, or better yet, no life at all. This, of course, discouraged and angered Charlie, causing him to write, “I’m a human being, a person--with parents and memories and a history--and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room” (Keyes 161). The surgery did more than what had been established. On top of an advancement in his intelligence, Charlie realized that what he had gone through, and the work he had done, had gotten him nowhere. He was Charlie before the operation. The real Charlie. Charlie was able to form relationships before the operation, and functioned positively in society, but he would end up throwing this all away. He wanted to form stronger relationships, but his mental illness prevented anyone from doing so, due to the fact that they saw no point. After the surgery, Charlie is aware of his mental illness, and becomes angry about his process, which prevents him from forming the relationships he had wished for. Along with the convention, Charlie’s surgery shows much unethicality in the bakery, where he was fired from his job. Charlie’s boss/employer told Charlie on May 20, “But something happened to you, and I don’t understand what it means. Not only me. Everyone has been talking about it. I've had them in here a dozen times in the past few weeks. They’re all upset. Charlie, I got to let you go” (Keyes 104). Pre-surgery, Charlie was able to make a living, with a job and a roof over his head. Not until after his surgery, Charlie had lost his job, his

    Read More

  • Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    The phrase “ I feel a lot better today” signifies that Charlie has come to terms with the memories and understands that they are a part of his past. However, by continuing the phrase by expressing anger towards them means that just because he has relived the flashbacks doesn’t mean he will accept the humiliation that he is finally realizing. Charlie before the surgery had been blissfully unaware of the memories since his mental capabilities didn’t allow him to recall moments, but now with the surgery Charlie is going to have to face the horrors of his childhood all over again. Charlie’s disability also caused befriending people to become a difficult task. Regardless, Charlie is able to form connections with people. When Charlie’s intelligence became prominent at work, he began to describe a new environment in the bakery. “People at the bakery are changing. Not only ignoring me. I

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Essay On Flowers For Algernon

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charlie should not have taken place in this surgery because he would still end up being an outcast. His motivation

    Read More

  • Ethics In Charlie Gordon's Flowers For Algernon

    462 Words  | 1 Pages

    Many people say that Charlies doctors didn’t act ethically and that they shouldn’t have gone threw with the surgery, however if it wasn’t for the surgery Charlie never would have learned the truth about his friends and science couldn’t have ever advanced to becoming closer to make the effects permanent and make the side effects

    Read More

  • Charlie In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Book Report On Flowers For Algernon

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    They make fun of him but Charlie doesn’t realize that until his operation works. I can relate to having fake friends and not being able to see that they aren’t real. In sixth grade there was a group of 12 “friends” that I invited to my birthday yet not one of them show up. They didn’t talk to me much after that. I realized that they weren’t my friends when they didn’t show just how Charlie realized his “friends” weren’t his friends when he got smart. "I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. As Daniel Keyes states in Flowers for Algernon,

    Read More

More about Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

Open Document