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The gift and curse of intelligence in flowers of algernon
Outline essay for flowers for algernon
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Intelligence is a powerful force. In the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the main character, Charlie Gordon, goes through different levels of intelligence. Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon to show that perception of people and events change as one's intelligence changes.
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.
After Charlie's operation, he quickly gains a lot of intelligence. He realizes that the
guys at the bakery, who he once thought were his friends, were actually mocking him. Charlie also realizes the reason for their behavior. He now feels like it's a good thing that he knows what they were once doing to him. Before his operation, Charlie was happy with his friends. He had no idea his friends weren't true friends until he ate the forbidden fruit of intelligence and understood their true motives. Charlie realizes his intelligence levels have been decreasing. As a result, he pushes away the people close to him; even people who genuinely like him, such as Miss Kinnian. “You had something I had never seen in a retarded person before”(299). She liked him because of his personality and not because he became a genius. “'...you've lost something you had before. You had a smile...a warm, real smile, because you wanted people to like you'”(299). Miss Kinnian's attempts to make him realize how much he had changed made Charlie realize why he had wanted to become smart. “'Just leave me alone. I'm not myself. I'm falling apart, and I don't want you here'”(300). Despite Miss Kinnian's efforts, Charlie makes her leave, because he didn't want her to think that he was stupid for not understanding her. Charlie's life started just as it had began. He endured multiple levels of intelligence, becoming an absolute genius at his peak and being normal Charlie at each end. Throughout his life, his cognizance of people changed in parallel to his intelligence, resulting in a similar perception at the end as to what it was in the beginning.
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.
Firstly, Charlie's realizes that his co-workers aren't his true friends after all. When Joe Carp and Frank Reilly take him to a house party, they made him get drunk and started laughing at the way he was doing the dancing steps. Joe Carp says, "I ain't laughed so much since we sent him around the corner to see if it was raining that night we ditched him at Halloran's" (41), Charlie recalls his past memory of him being it and not finding his friends who also ditched him and immediately realizes that Joe Carp was relating to the same situation. Charlie felt ashamed and back-stabbed when he realized that he had no friends and that his co-workers use to have him around for their pure entertainment. It's after the operation, that he finds out he has no real friends, and in result feels lonely. Next, Charlie unwillingly had to leave his job from the bakery where he worked for more than fifteen years. Mr. Donner treated him as his son and took care of him, but even he had noticed an unusual behavior in Charlie, lately. Mr. Donner hesitatingly said, "But something happened to you, and I don't understand what it means... Charlie, I got to let you go" (104), Charlie couldn't believe it and kept denying the fact that he had been fired. The bakery and all the workers inside it were his family, and the increase of intelligence had ...
Charlie lived in a paradise-like world, he though he had many "friends". The only thing he felt he was missing was brains. When he was offered the chance to become 'smart' he jumped at the chance to be like everyone else. Unprepared for the changes intelligence would bring, Charlie lost his innocence. When he realizes his 'friends' don't actually like him they just liked to make fun of him.
Charlie starts off as a grown man who was abandoned by his parents at an early age due to hid disability. Charlie maintains as job cleaning the bakery where he was basically raised by Mr. Donner, the man who owns the bakery, and all the other workers there. Considering Charlie is not conscious that everybody else makes fun of him he goes along with all the jokes and harassments they make toward him. Given Charlie was happy at this time, it raises the question would he have been content if he had known that he was being made fun of?
And therein lies the tale. Charlie does indeed get smarter. He struggles to absorb as much knowledge as he can in whatever time he has. He suggests a new way to line up the machines at the factory, saving the owner tens of thousands of dollars a year in operating costs, and the owner gives him a $25 bonus. But when Charlie suggests to his factory friends that he could use his bonus to treat them to lunch or a drink, they have other things to do.
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.
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.
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.
...ve frends…"(Keyes 309). This shows that Charlie realizes that his friend like him for whom he is not for how smart he is. 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 intelligence since he understands what he is turning into, he finally makes true love to Alice and gets his true friends.
Alice Walker uses the narrative element of imagery to craft a powerful story in “The Flowers” by using very descriptive sentences and singular words. She uses these to clearly depict the setting, characters and many other aspects of her story. To begin, in the very first paragraph , Walker writes, “ The harvesting of the corn and cotton, peanuts and squash, made each day a golden surprize that caused excited little tremors up her jaws.” Here, the author is able to create a scene in the fall, that further helps the reader imagine the joyful scene the story starts off with. Walker uses words like, golden, surprize, and excited to how how Myops attitude reflects a sense of pure innocents. Next, the quote, “Myop watched the tiny white bubbles disrupt the thin black scale of soil and water that silently rose and slid down the stream.” shows how Myop is happy and has childish innocents. Words like, tiny, bubbles, disrupt and many more used in the quote, help to convey more images of the tone of this story. Finally, as the story’s mood and tone begins to change, there is one quote that stands out. “It was the rotted remains of a noose...now blending into the soil. Around an overhanging limb of a great spreading oak clung another piece.” Walker uses this quote to depict a new sad and gloomy mood change and to show that Myop found the body of a man who had been lynched. Here, the author has also conveyed that this new mood will continue as Myopic innocents degrades. Lastly, the final words in this short story, “And the summer was over.” creates a powerful, descriptive ending. These examples show how the author, Alice Walker used the narrative element of imagery to show how the story, “The Flowers” turns from a cheerful, happy mood at the beginning, to a gloomy, unpleasant mood at the end.
Charlie struggles with apparent mental illness throughout his letters, but he never explicitly addresses this problem. His friends make him realize that he is different and it is okay to be different from everyone else. This change in perspective gives Charlie new opportunities to experience life from a side he was unfamiliar with. Without these new friends, Charlie would have never dared to try on the things he has. His friends have helped him develop from an antisocial wallflower to an adventurous young man who is both brave and loyal. Transitioning shapes how the individual enters into the workforce, live independently and gain some control over their future
Relationships between people are important to maintain. During one’s lifetime, these relationships will change for the better or worse. In the novel, Flowers for Algernon, the author, Daniel Keyes, presents a change in the main character’s relationship with many people. Charlie Gordon, a 32 years old man who is mentally disabled takes the risk of undergoing a surgery that will make him intelligent. As Charlie’s intelligence increases, he finds out a lot about himself and becomes a different person. He learns the meaning of love, and experiences this newfound feeling with Alice Kinnian. Charlie’s teacher at Beekman College for Retarded Adults, Miss Kinnian, is one of the only people who is concerned and genuinely cares about him. When they part
Do you strive or hope to be something that you aren't? Charlie Gordon is someone who knows what he wants. He is also a person who isn’t like everyone else and he doesn’t want to be different. In this story, there are also many times when Charlie feels upset and challenged, but he knows that he can work through those obstacles. He even says, “I’m not going to give up my intelligence without a struggle”. In “Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes uses characterization to analyze the learning ability of Charlie Gordon.
One of the most crucial conflicts that happens often in society is the lack of respect to people. Most often the role of intelligence plays a major part in the perceiving of one’s character. No one has better expressed this message than Daniel Keyes as he displays these qualities in the book Flowers for Algernon. From his personal encounters in life, Keyes has created a moving story that has inspired many readers and has brought light into many obscure topics.