Was Charlie's temporary increase of intelligence worth the loss he suffers by its departure?
In the riveting short story by Daniel Keyes, “Flowers for Algernon”, we discover the significance of time and value. Charlie Gordon, a 32-year-old man with the brain of a 5-year-old, has been chosen to undergo a life-changing experiment. Consequently, the outcome of this experiment is a temporary increase of intelligence that will eventually wear off. Now was this temporary increase of intelligence worth the suffer or not? I strongly believe that the operation was more rewarding than it was damaging because Charlie discovers how to devote time to the right people and comprehend a life time's worth of information and experiences within the duration of only a few months.
The importance of human affection was never fully developed by Charlie only after he had the operation. He learns about honesty and trust which could never be taught without the authentic experience. When Charlie falls in love with Ms. Kinnian (“I’m in love with Miss Kinnian” April 28), it opened up this side of him that no one had ever seen. His excitement towards her made him recognize the beauty in the small things. (“I don't understand why I never noticed how beautiful Miss Kinnian really is. She has brown eyes and feathery brown hair that comes to the top of her neck” April 28). Charlie developed an infatuation. Although it was brief, his fidelity creates a small attribute to his nature.
In addition to his love for Miss Kinnian, Charlie also cherishes the mouse, Algernon. Charlie admires Algernon’s presence as if he is a friend that is going on the same adventure as him. Throughout the story when Charlie gradually starts to lose his memory, he still knows how important Algernon is for him. Even when he completely goes back to his old self, he remembers to put flowers on Algernon’s grave because he knows that Algernon was not just any other mouse. Algernon was a part of him, and placing flowers on his grave was placing flowers on the loss of intelligence for both him and the mouse. (quote about putting flowers on grave) With the help of the operation, Charlie explores the reality of losing someone that you are truly passionate about.
This short
In the movie and the book, Charlie announces that he loves Miss Kinnian. For example, on page 71 of the story it states, “The thought of leaving her behind made me sad. I’m in love with Miss Kinnian.” This statement from the story makes Charlie realize that because of him becoming smarter, his emotions have also changed for Miss Kinnian. In the movie, Charlie realizes that he loves Miss Kinnian, but leaves for a few weeks to a month for a rebellious stage. The movie portrayed it in the same way because the movie wanted to focus on Charlie’s emotions along with the book. Although the book didn’t focus on the emotions as much as the movie, the writers still thought that Charlie should love her.
There are several differences and similarities in the book Flowers for Algernon versus the movie. Some of the many similarities are, Charlie’s co-workers are extremely rude to him, tease him, and play tricks on him while they’re at work. His co-workers also made a petition to fire Charlie when they found out that Charlie is no longer “dumb” and is getting smarter and won’t fall for their tricks anymore. Another similarity is that in the movie just like the book, Charlie also mentions that, “why is it that people think it’s okay to laugh at people with mental disabilities yet they don’t laugh at people with physical disabilities. He got this conclusion because when he was at a bar he noticed a dishwasher, who had a mental disability, dop and
The protagonist of Daniel Keyes’ Science Fiction short story, “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie Gordon should not have gotten the experiment. Charlie would have lost everyone he held dear, such as Miss Kinnian because he held a strong bond with her.As well as people he holds dear, his IQ dropped well below what it was before hand. Charlie had made a
Algernon, the white lab mouse, could be considered as a parallel alter-ego of Charlie. He symbolised Charlie’s position as a toy of the scientists’ whim to be used in whatever way they liked. Algernon was allowed almost no dignity or individuality. At first, Charlie hated Algernon for beating him at mazes, but he eventually grew fond of the mouse and was upset when he learned
Flowers for Algernon is a story with hope, humor, defeat, sadness, and disappointment. Charlie is your average joe with a mental disability. He writes through a series of journal entries about his journey of coming out of the darkness of ignorance and into the bright light of intelligence. At the beginning of his trek, he was working hard to become smarter on his own but was chosen for a experimental surgery that makes people smarter. He underwent the operation and gradually his intelligence surpassed his teachers. Unfortunately the effects were not permanent and Charlie digressed into the person that he once was, knowing he was going to die like his mouse friend Algernon. He moved to New York and It is assumed that
“Eagar, Determined, and Motivated:” these three words describe Charlie Gordon in Daniel Keyes’s story “Flowers for Algernon”. Daniel Keyes writes about a thirty two year old man with a low IQ (Charlie Gordon) who strives to become “normal”. Charlie will do anything to become smarter even letting two doctors preform brain surgery to enhance his learning capability. Charlie evolves throughout the novel and by the end of his journey although his IQ is low he is a more complete person. He learns the true meaning of friendship and demonstrates intellectual growth as a person by overcoming obstacles and understanding various lessons.
Flowers for Algernon is about a man named Charlie who is mentally slow and not smart. Charlie had an operation to make him smart. What the doctors did was unethical.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things”, -Henry Miller. When one reads this quote, it may have a different meaning to them than to others. To Charlie Gordon, it practically defines his life journey. In the shorty story “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie Gordon is a main who obtains an IQ of 68, and desires to be smart. Charlie finally gets his dream one day by partaking in an intelligence enhancing operation. His perspective of life is much different before and after the surgery. Although Charlie seems happy before the surgery, Charlie is able to apprehend reality through a “pair of new eyes”, regarding the operation. Three arguments why Charlie’s emotions are happier following the surgery are: He learns about lies he had in life, Charlie had a positive learning experience, and Charlie discerns his full potential.
“Flower for Algernon” is an outstanding story about a Man named Charlie Gordon with an I.Q. of 68, and a small white mouse named Algernon who can beat Charlie in any maze. The story begins when Charlie's Support teacher, Miss Kinnian, advise Charlie to do an experiment that Dr.Nemur and Dr.Strauss believe that a surgical operation could possibly have Charlie's I.Q. raise up triple the amount it was once before. In the beginning, it was a thank took months for success to happen in the experiment.However, the success was only temporary. Charlie with once with an I.Q. of a genius know back to his original self.
Charlie was faced with many losses throughout the story. For example, he had the surgery that made him intelligent, but he soon regressed to his previous self. Secondly, he also lost a mouse named Algernon, who he raced with at the research hospital. Lastly, Charlie lossed
In “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie started out very happy, ordinary person with a good sense of humor, people enjoyed being around him. After he had an operation to help him belong, he became very serious and didn't do many fun things, he was not this type of person before the operation. The operation made him smart, but dull. As a result, he turned into someone he wasn’t; his co-workers and friends did not enjoy being with him anymore, in fact, the story says, they made it seem like they hated him. By changing himself, Charlie ended up losing most of the important people in his life and making him less happy as a result.
His mother had taught him to not look at girls, and after the operation when he started to develop more feelings, he had a hard time talking to Alice Kinnian because he had the thought that he liked her, and that he shouldn’t. Due to the hard nature of his mother, Charlie’s emotional life was not maturing with his new-found intelligence. Emotionally, he was still a little kid. “I knew she would give herself to me, and I wanted her, but what about Charlie?” Whenever he would get near Alice, he would start to panic because he felt that there was still a part of his old self within him, keeping him from taking his relationship further with
Do you choose intelligence over happiness? “I don’t know what’s worse, to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.” Writes Charlie Gordon (Keyes 298). In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon is a young man who struggles with mental retardation. His dream is to be intelligent so he can be like the rest of the world. Charlie goes through an experimental surgery that increases his intelligence. But the consequence of his tripled intelligence is that Charlie Gordon is not as happy as he was before surgery. Before his surgery, Charlie was oblivious to his “friends” being mean to him. After, he realized what kind of people they really were. Before surgery, Charlie’s ignorance hid him from the true, harsh reality. After surgery, Charlie’s ignorance disappeared, making him realize how fake and disappointing the world can be. Before Charlie’s surgery, he was happy, but felt oblivious to the world surrounding him. After surgery, he was pleased with his intelligence when it reached its peak. But when Charlie’s intelligence began to deteriorate, he became upset that he couldn’t think the way he could when he was smart. From the reasons stated above, In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon is better off before surgery.
When Charlie Gordon took the operation he started to feel and show emotions. First came anger when he saw people treated the boy working in the dinner with no respect. Next came love and happiness when he fell in love with Miss Kinnian and felt full of joy. Finally came sadness when Algernon died he felt sad because Algernon was a friend to him. In the story it said “P.P.S please if you get a chance put some flowers in Algernon’s grave in the backyard” (p.341). Charlie still feels sad that his friend Algernon is dead so he wants to show that he will always remember Algernon as a friend. If it wasn’t for the surgery Charlie would have never felt these
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change,” (Einstein) . Change is what Charlie Gordon wanted in “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes. Charlie Gordon is a mentally impaired human being with an I.Q. of sixty eight that was living in New York. He wanted to be as smart as everybody else to be able to talk to them normally. He had a operation done on him that would make his I.Q. triple into a 204 but this operation had more costs than benefits.