The Charlie Gordon Experience In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

The Charlie Gordon Experience

“Charlie's disability is the result of an untreated physical disorder called phenylketonuria”. In the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, doctors were able to refine Charlie’s intelligence and nevertheless, his personality. The big question is, did Charlie’s empathy, ability to love, kindness and heart get altered in the process as well? A great number of studies were made to show that people with higher IQ’s tend to generally be unhappier due to their augmented level of understanding of the world. For example, an intelligent person is more likely to understand that Heaven doesn’t exist because in their mind, it can’t be scientifically possible. In the novel, Charlie’s intelligence end emotions have changed

exponentially, whether it is Charlie’s sentiment, his relationship with women and his ability to recall.
Firstly prior to the operation Charlie was a happy individual.

However after the operation Charlie’s happiness took a dramatic turn of events. Before the operation Charlie went to school, had a job and had ‘friends’ the only thing he didn’t have was intelligence. However after the operation Charlie was a different man. Intelligent but unhappy After the operation Charlie finally came to realize slowly that his ‘friends’ were actually not his friends after going to a party, Charlie said “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me” (Keyes 30) Before the operation Charlie was friendly with everybody even if the people were mean at him since Charlie was unaware that he was being ridiculed. However after the operation Charlie was bitter and arrogant, for example when Charlie confessed his love to Alice she says that it would not be appropriate for them to start a relationship because of the experiment, then Charlie said to himself “I hated her as I never hated anyone before with her easy answers and maternal fussing.” (57) This proves that after the operation Charlie is bitter and arrogant. Prior to the operation Charlie was more social and outgoing he would go out with ‘friends’ and go to work. On the other hand after the operation Charlie was more of an isolated individual since he realized that the world is not as beautiful as it is. Charlie said, “Now I’m more alone than ever before” (75). To conclude Prior to the operation Charlie was happy, he was friendly, had empathy, had ‘friends’ and had a job. However after the operation Charlie no longer had friends, no longer had a job, he became arrogant and bitter. Was the operation really worth

it?
To continue, throughout the novel Charlie had relationships with women, whether it is a good relationship or a bad one. Charlie’s Childhood was very difficult with his mother Rose abusing him any way she could. Charlie was raised to not think about women sexually. If Charlie would talk about it Rose would hit Charlie or threatens him for example Rose would tell him if he would think about women sexually or get involved in sexual activity she would take away his ‘peanuts’ and put him in a cage, meaning that she would cut his testicles, even if Charlie was not aware of what he was saying or doing. After the operation Charlie attempts to go visit his mother, unfortunately Rose turned out to be delusional, Charlie tries to win her trust by telling her what has happened to him. Rose comprehended but soon after the peace broke when rose Came to Charlie with a knife. Norma and Charlie did not have much of a relationship in the past since Norma was young and did not understand Charlie’s disability. However after the operation Norma and Charlie had a good relationship, Norma said “Oh Charlie. Charlie… it’s so wonderful to find all of the sudden I’ve got a big brother.” (188) This shows that Norma missed Charlie. Alice is a very important woman in Charlie’s life before and after the operation. Prior to the operation Alice was Charlie’s teacher and after the operation Charlie brings Alice go on a couple of dates but she refuses to go any further since it would be unprofessional. To conclude Charlie had multiple relationships with women, such as Rose, Norma and Alice, some of his relationships were good however some were bad, both prior to the operation and after.
Lastly, Charlie’s ability to recall things plays a big role in the novel whether it is Charlie’s ability to remember how to properly write, properly read and speak, and remembering his childhood flashbacks. Prior to the operation Charlie did not know how to write properly, he was still learning. At the beginning of the novel Charlie would write like so “Dr Strauss says I shoud [sic] rite[sic] down what I think and remembir[sic] and every thing[sic] that happins [sic] to me from now on”(1) However after the operation Charlie started to gradually read, write and. At the peak of Charlie’s intelligence he wrote flawlessly even so that his English was so advanced that the doctors had trouble reading his progress reports. “I had a nightmare last night, and this morning, after I woke up, I free-associated the way Dr. Strauss told me to do when I remember my dreams.” Prior to the operation Charlie could barely read and speak well. However after the operation Charlie could speak and read with no difficulty, even so that he claimed that he has learnt 6 new languages, “French, German, Spanish, Italian and enough Swedish” (104). Charlie Also knows how to read Hindu since he claimed to have read an article in the Hindu Journal of Psychopathology. Lastly, prior to the operation Charlie did not had no recollection of his past. However after the operation Charlie has multiple nightmares and flashbacks of his childhood. For example when Charlie went to meet his dad at the barbershop Charlie had a flashback of his parents having an argument. “There in the bright red inner darkness I saw what happened the night he took me away from the house for the last time…” (128). To conclude, prior the operation Charlie had difficulty reading, writing and speaking. After the operation Charlie could read fluently in 6 different languages, he could write flawlessly, speak with no difficulty but had flashback of his childhood.
To conclude Charlie’s disability phenylketonuria makes him who he his in the novel. Charlie’s intelligence end emotions have changed exponentially, whether it is Charlie’s sentiments, his relationship with women and his ability to recall. Ernest Hemingway once said “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” This is what happened to Charlie. Was Charlie better off without the operation?