Dr. Strauss’s Journal
Journal Entry 1
Why was Charlie chosen for the surgery?
I Dr. Strauss, chose Charlie for the surgery, it got me a lot of grief from Dr.Nemur but I knew it was the right choice. Charlie is a man of low intellect but he is very cooperate, motivated, and not hostile. These traits are exceptionally rare in a man of 68 IQ. Another reason that Dr. Nemur and I chose Charlie was that he worked extremely hard in Miss Kinnians class. Working hard got him to be the best because he picked up spelling and writing faster than others in the class. Some other reasons I chose Charlie was because he did all the tests without much complaint. We almost lost Charlie when he tested against Algernon in the maze and didn't write the progress reports for 2 weeks. When the tests were to
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challenging he would try other ways to figure them out, meaning he is resourceful. The last reason being he had a job meaning he wasn't a slouch and wanted to show that he could be like everyone else. Charlie seems like a nice guy working for an impossible dream. I care for Charlie emotional well being, if he has problems the lab has problems we all must be working together like a well oiled machine. If he is ready to take the surgery and get smarter even if he is little scared then I know I made the right choice. Journal Entry 2 Describe how the pre-operation testing went and how you felt about the results. I'm back in black and better than ever. Charlie has just finished the pre-operation testing. The results are confusing and need some decrypting so I shall do my best. We started with the Rorschach test we told him that people often see pictures in the cards. Charlie tried a lot to see these pictures but could only see them as inkblots, he even tried with his glasses. He believes he failed the tests but has helped us kind of understand his thinking. Next we tested him with a thematic apperception test our tester asked him to make stories about the people in the pictures. Charlie responded by saying he won't lie because he always gets caught. Our tester left room because we were going nowhere fast. Later that day we sent some lab guys to come and get Charlie to test against Algernon in the maze. We tried ten times and Charlie lost all of them showing that the operation on Algernon can make him smarter then a human. These results show that Charlie won’t lie for the test, his thinking is limited because he can only see inkblots, and lastly Algernon can beat Charlie in the maze which we hope goes the other way around after the operation. Journal Entry 3 What were your initial feelings about how the surgery went? The surgery looks successful probably because I did it. (Very modest) My initial feelings were that it might of worked Charlie complained of only having headaches he didn't seem smarter already. This is the same thing for the other animals I performed on they didn’t seem smarter straight away. We took the bandages off when Charlie was ready and did multiple tests on him mostly Algernon mazes. He couldn’t beat Algernon but at least he is still trying. I look at his progress reports with Dr.Nemur, Nemur tells Charlie he has been spelling progress and report wrong. Charlie fixes it and soon he won’t have to write progress report at the top. More of my feelings to the surgery was that it seems like he will continue to help. Charlie was asked to try to think after the surgery and what he feels. He replied that he doesn’t know how to think, we told him to try it looked like he was putting in a lot of effort for a simple task. I’ll try again later but if doesn’t how think how is the operation going to work or what use would it be. I feel like if Charlie keeps going to do the tests and I give a radio that plays stuff during his sleep to make smarter we might get somewhere then we can breed more superhumans to make U.S and the world a better smarter place to live. I have many concerns that I share with Dr.Nemur about Charlie’s operation but only time will tell if he stays cooperate. Journal Entry 4 Explain what you thought and felt about Charlie after he became smarter than you? It took sometime but Charlie has finally reached the full potential of the operation. He speaks on such a high level sometimes higher than Dr.Nemur and I. We normally don’t understand what he is talking about because he is either talking in an ancient language,some math formula, or science discovery way above our level of understanding. This scares me and humbles me because I don’t understand him. He starts distancing him from us which I believe is very bad because then we can’t test him or see how he is mentally or physically holding up. Whenever Charlie tries to have a conversation he is always talking about discovery and no social skills. I’m getting really depressed and stressed out because a man of 37 who used to have an IQ of 68 now is way smarter then me. This makes me get depressed because once Charlie asked if Dr.Nemur knew what Rahajamati was saying about them in India and if they were going to refute him. I looked at him and super confused because I no idea what Rahajamati was saying about the research Dr.Nemur had worked so hard on. I believed I was kinda of a high intelligence man but now that Charlie is way smarter then me, I feel so stupid all time because i’m being told a great many things I never heard about coming from a man who once was at a IQ of 68. Now that the operation is done and I can see result it has on a person and the people around the person. I wonder if it was a good idea. Journal Entry 5 What indications did you see that the procedure was not permanent? Stuff is changing around the lab, Charlie hardly comes in but he did on May 23.
On that day he picked up Algernon like normal but got bit. Charlie watched afterward for some time and saw that he was disturbed and vicious. Burt tells me that Algernon is changing. He is less cooperative, he refuses to run the maze any more, and he hasn't been eating. Burt and others have to feed Algernon because he refuses to do the shifting lock. This a indication that the procedure isn't permanent and Charlie may start to lose intelligence. On May 25 Dr.Nemur and I told Charlie not to come to the lab anymore. Then on May 29 we gave him permission to start a lab and he worked all day and all night on the reason he is losing intelligence. On june 5th he is forgetting stuff which leads up to him becoming absent minded on June 10th. The other indications the procedure wasn’t permanent was once they dissected Algernon who died on June 8th Charlie predictions were correct. Charlie also can’t read or remember books he already read. Soon Charlie can’t remember where he put stuff, forgets punctuation, and spelling reverts back to before. These indications are clear that the procedure wasn’t
permanent. Journal Entry 6 If they could make the procedure permanent would you have it done on yourself and why? I Dr.Strauss if I could have this procedure put on me if it is permanent. I wouldn’t do the procedure I know super high intelligence sounds amazing, but if you look at Charlie when he had the operation on him he was super distanced from everyone. No social skills at and always talked about some high intellectual thing he just learned. Part of life I believe is the people we interact with so we can learn many new experiences, feel like we aren’t alone and for friends to help you always when you are up and down. If you do the procedure and distance yourself from everyone because you want to be smarter then I think you are missing out in life. Another reason I wouldn’t do it is you're messing with someone's brain and its in human nature to mess up sometimes. You could die or get high grades of amnesia, but even if they could make it perfect I wouldn’t want to change my brain because it's unnatural like Fanny told Charlie. I did the operation on Charlie and the experimental animals so I know what the procedure does in the brain. I don’t want metal objects to cut my head open then to do stuff to my brain it gross and unnatural. The procedure shouldn’t be done but it’s in name of science, thought their is some stuff in science that is uncalled for this is one of them and these are the reason I would refuse anyone who would ask me to do the procedure even if it was permanent.
He proved the operation was a failure Algernon-Gordon effect. The quote is saying (which is next)that Charlie is telling the doctors that their experiment was a failure.The quote is “I recall your once saying to me that an experimental failure or disproving of a theory was important to the advancement of learning as a success would
Although Charlie was a thirty seven year-old man, his understanding and comprehension of a situation was far too low to understand such consequences that the surgery could come with. In the article, "Five Steps to Better Ethical Decision Making", it says to ask yourself if you could understand making that choice (Dobrin). The doctors in "Flowers for Algernon" did not ask themselves if they were lacking as much intelligence as Charlie, could they make the choice to have the surgery? Charlie didn't know what could happen to him if the there were side effects until it was too late. Therefore, the doctors did not act ethically when choosing Charlie as the test
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.
Charlie?s experiment was temporary, and overtime his IQ regressed. Algernon, a mouse that went through the same surgery as Charlie, died. If Charlie?s hypothesis proves correct, then he will die as well. Charlie?s life was better before the experiment because he was not exposed to the risks and consequences of the surgery. Without the experiment, Charlie would still be living his ignorant but happy life.
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.
Many popular novels are often converted into television movies. The brilliant fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes, was developed into a dramatic television film. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded man who is given the opportunity to become intelligent through the advancements of medical science. This emotionally touching novel was adapted to television so it could appeal to a wider, more general audience. Although the novel and film are similar in terms of plot and theme, they are different in terms of characters.
Charlie worked hard trying to discover how long his smartness would last. While studying Algernon, he noticed that he was becoming more jumpy and that he would attack Charlie sometimes. Charlie wondered whether this was because of the experiment. Algernon got worse and he refused to do the mazes and to work. After a few weeks Algernon died. Tests showed that Algernon’s brain had started to shrink, causing him to die.
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.
“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.
We see Charlie's transformation from being mentally disabled person to becoming the most intelligent man. The story progress as a journal entry tracking Charlie's progress during the experiment. In the beginning it is quite evident by the writing style and thoughts of the narrator that Charlie had a very low intelligence level. But once the scientist performed the surgery, we started to notice a few changes, for example, his sentence becomes more and more easier to understand and his thoughts start becoming more complex, which
Before the operation it is Miss Kinnian who suggests the experiment to Charlie seeing that he is eager to learn. She is one of the only people who is concerned about him and wants to help him achieve his dream. Once Charlie 's intelligence starts increasing, he starts developing feelings for Alice and along the way falls in love with her. However, the old Charlie that is in his mind does not let him have sexual thoughts about her and make love to her: “ ‘I love you...’ the words chocked out of me, ‘but I can 't do it. Something I can 't explain, but if I hadn 't stopped, I would hate myself for the rest of my life. Don 't ask me to explain, or you 'll hate me too. It has to do with Charlie. For some reason, he won 't let me make love to you’ ” (Keyes 205). Charlie is about to make love to Fay but something is restricting him from doing so. He explains this to Alice but she still does not understand what is stopping him. This shows that Charlie does really care for her and does not want to use her. The experiment does not go as planned, a fatal flaw is found that kills Algernon the mouse who is used to test out the same research. When his intelligence starts regressing, Alice stays and takes care of him for a while until he drives her away. She agrees to leave and try to forget about him as she promised him earlier that she would
My last reason why charlie should get the operation is he will be mature. Instead of
Charlie would have never known about some things in his life if it wasn’t for the surgery. He always has wanted to be accepted all his life, by his peers, co-workers and even his own
Before the A.I. surgery Charlie was given two tests The Rorschach Test and The Thematic Apperception Test. These tests helped the doctors analyze his intelligence and personality. He didn’t do very well, but after he did way better. To illustrate this a quote from the story is “We went through the cards slowly. One of the them looked like a pair of bats tugging at something” (Keyes, 232) Before he couldn’t even tell what was happening or what he could see, now he can explain things better and has a imagination. After the A.I surgery Charlie’s test results became better and better.
After the A.I. surgery charlie began to see pictures in the inkblots. Before the surgery, he had trouble with the tests, he