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Determinants of intelligence according to heredity
Determinants of intelligence according to heredity
Determinants of intelligence according to heredity
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Imagine changes so drastic that it severely affected multiple aspects of your life. In the novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon, a thirty-two year old janitor with an IQ of sixty-eight, undergoes an experimental procedure to increase his IQ. Through a series of progress reports, Charlie writes about his experience throughout the experiment. As a result of the experiment Charlie changes in multiple ways, three notable changes being his intelligence, his attitude, and how society perceived him.
Throughout the novel, one of the most prominent changes had been Charlie’s intelligence. Prior to the surgery, he had a subnormal intelligence. He had a low reading and writing level and was unable to use grammar or punctuation properly. However, after the surgery, at the height of his intelligence, he had learned 17 languages and discovered Algernon-Gordon Effect. For instance, weeks after the surgery, Charlie remarks that “[he] heard [his] answers – childish impossible things… ‘ Was that really [him]?’ Keyes, page 21. Charlie’s intelligence regressed to prior to the surgery
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As the story progressed, so did how society perceived him.
In the first few progress reports, society perceived Charlie as an outcast and someone they could ridicule. For example, after Ellen gave Charlie wax fruit to eat at a party, Joe Carp comments “[He] ain’t laughed so much since [Frank, Gimpy and him] sent [Charlie] around the corner to see if it was raining that night [Frank, Gimpy and him] ditched [Charlie] at Halloran’s.” Keyes, page 41. At the party, they were all using Charlie as entertainment because his low intelligence made him an easy target to take advantage of and since he was an outcast no one was willing to stand up for him. After Charlie’s intelligence increased, society was finally accepting of him because he became similar to them. This, however, acceptance did not last long. Once Charlie surpassed them intellectually, he was again an outcast in
society. In conclusion, the experimental procedure had changed many aspects of Charlie’s life, including his intelligence, how society perceived him and his attitude. Charlie had developed greatly throughout Flowers for Algernon, he was able to experience life, including all the tribulations it came with, like he desired. In fact, after the deterioration of his intelligence, Charlie declares, “Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.” Keyes, page 310.
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.
In the first place, Charlie’s colleagues are taking advantage of Charlie’s disabilities. They call him names because they are aware the he does not know they are insulting him. In one of the progress reports, Charlie stated, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when hes potted. I dont know what that means but everybody likes me and we have fun” [SIC] (205). Charlie does not know that Joe and Frank are insulting him. If he was intelligent, he would get upset and hurt. After the operation, Charlie started to realize that Joe and Frank were calling him names and made him embarrass himself in front of people. For example, when Joe and Frank made him dance with Ellen, he used trip over someone’s foot. Charlie had mentioned, “It’s a funny thing never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. I’m ashamed,” (209). He was embarrassed and hurt. Before the operation, Joe and Frank used to
The scientists who performed the experiment now need a human subject to test, and Charlie has been recommended to them by his night-school teacher, Miss Kinnian. Charlie's a good candidate for the procedure, because even though he currently has an I.Q. of only 68, he is willing, highly motivated and eager to learn. He's convinced that if he could only learn to read and write, the secret of being smart would be revealed to him.
For Charlie, Ignorance is bliss. He realizes that his so called ? friends? were just using him to entertain their perverse humor. Also, he was also fired from the job that he loved so much because his new intelligence made those around him feel inferior and scared.
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
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 knows that every story has two sides, but the tricky part is figuring out which side to believe. In the short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keys, Charlie Gordon, a 37-year-old man with a mental handicap, has an operation performed on him to artificially increase his intelligence. Before and after the operation, there were drastic changes in the lives of Charlie and all those around him. While the operation caused many twists and turns for Charlie and his peers, the pros far outweighed the cons.
The plot of both the novel and film version of Flowers for Algernon share common similarities. They both feature a retarded middle-aged man, Charlie Gordon, who receives an operation to heighten his intelligence. Charlie’s IQ eventually surpasses human normalcy to reveal that the experiment did prove successful. In both the film and novel, Charlie became even more intelligent than the professors who worked with him. In the film, Dr. Strauss was embarrassed to reveal that Charlie was smarter than him. That played a milestone event in Charlie’s identification of himself. Slowly his intelligence began to decrease and he eventually returned to his original state of mind. Throughout the story, Charlie encountered many different emotions that he had never experienced before because he didn’t have the common knowledge to understand them. The episode when he was at the nightclub with his co-workers gave him the opportunity to experience betrayal and anger. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me” (Keyes 30). The plot for both versions also carefully depicted Charlie’s psychological traumas that he suffered after his operation. These outbursts were often caused by romantic anxiety and the painful memories he would recall. Whenever Charlie got intimate with Alice he would tend to get extremely nervous or have a hallucination, causing him to ruin the moment. “I dropped a fork, and when I tried to retrieve it, I knocked over a glass of water and spilled it on her dress” (56). One of Charlie’s most painful memories was the one about the locket incident. Both versions did a great job of emphasizing this particular moment. “His clothes are torn, his nose is bleeding and one of his teeth is broken” (38). These flashbacks occurred many times in the novel yet the f...
After all of this Charlie becomes a more complete person because he realizes that he is better off being mentally disabled rather than being very intelligent since he understands what he is turning into, he finally makes true love to Alice and gets his true friends. Therefore, even though Charlie becomes mentally retarded by the end, he becomes a more complete person. Charlie undergoes a lot of changes during his journey. He matures which contributes to his intelligence growth, learns significant life lessons, and realizes that he is better off being mentally retarded rather than a genius. Charlie does not realize the fact that after becoming a genius, he is as far away from his goal of being normal and fitting in as he is being mentally retarded.
Throughout “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie goes through with an operation. Even though the operation went downhill after just a couple months, he hoped he had made a contribution to science. Charlie wanted to help other mentally challenged people like him. Just a couple of months after the operation, Charlie began to lose his intelligence and his memory. He felt sick and depressed for quite a while but still continued with studies, experiments, and progress reports. Charlie is also obedient and friendly. For example, “I wanted to take Joe Carp and Frank Reilly out to lunch to celebrate”(Keyes 46). That shows Charlie is friendly. Also, “They said it was better I shud go back to work but I can't tell anyone what the operashun was for and I have to come to the hospitil for an hour evry night after work”(Keyes 39). Charlie continues to do this and that shows
They made fun of him for his little amount of intelligence he possessed. After the surgery, he was able to distinguish why his “friends” were laughing at him and what had happened to him. His mind after the surgery made him more aware of his actions and spared him all the embarrassment, shame, and humiliation. He states, “Sometimes somebody will say ‘hey look at Joe or Frank or George he really pulled a Charlie Gordon’. I don’t know why they say that but they always laugh.” “He [Amos Borg] said, ‘Ernie for god sake what are you trying to be a Charlie Gordon?’ (Keyes 289). Before the surgery, when they said Charlie’s name, Charlie was completely oblivious why they were shouting his name. Furthermore, Charlie did not understand why people, like Amos Borg, would say such a thing. However, after the surgery, he came to finally came to realize what that peculiar phrase meant. When Charlie was invited to another party with Joe Carp and his other “friends” at the factory, Charlie knew this time why they were laughing at him. He recalled that moment as he “didn’t know what to do or where to run. Everyone was looking at me [Charlie] and laughing and I [Charlie] felt naked” (Keyes 293). Charlie knew that time why they were laughing at him and knew that his “friends” only invited him to make fun of him. After that incident, Charlie claimed he knew what it meant to “pull a Charlie Gordon”. Undoubtedly, Charlie was more aware of himself and avoided the terrors of public humiliation, shame, and
It started when Charlie realized how fake his friends really were. Before he had surgery, he thought his friends like him a lot. He didn't feel alone because he thought he would always have his friends to hang out with him and care for him. When he realized they actually hated him, he thought nobody actually cared for him. On page 18 of the PDF, Charlie says, "Dr. Strauss came to see me again. I wouldn't open the door and I told him to go away. I want to be left to myself." He would just stay his room and have thoughts of suicide. Also, Charlie is so much smarter than everyone else that he can't really relate to anyone and it is really hard to make friends for him. Everyone's first impression of him was an adult that couldn't process information and he was known as dumb. Everyone would be super rude to him and Miss Kinnian is really the only one who cared for him a
Charlie’s relationship with his co-workers changed drastically when Charlie went through the operation. Before the operation, Charlie thought that Joe Carp and Frank Reilly liked having him around because they invited him to parties. In the story Charlie writes that, “...everybody likes me and we have fun. I cant wait to be smart like my best friends Joe Carp and Frank Reilly.” (Keyes 290). This means that Charlie thinks that his co-workers are being friendly with him, when in actuality, they are making fun of him. Then, when Charlie
One reason why Charlie was better off after was because he had the chance to be very smart in his lifetime. One evidence is when the author says “Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.” This shows that he is grateful to be one of the smartest person alive and knew a lot of science, where he shows that he Knows a lot of science is the part where he says “I realize that Dr. Nemur is not at all a genius. He has a very good mind, but it struggles under the spectre of Also the story shows that he is grateful because Charlie does not get mad at Dr. Nemer or Dr. Strauss