If you had one wish, what would it be? A mountain bike, doll house or even a brand new phone. Charlie Gordon on the other hand had only one wish. His wish was to become intelligence. In the science fiction story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon, a thirty seven year old man had a mental disability . He strived to feel accepted by his peers. Changing his life forever, he undergoes a surgery to increase his I.Q. Charlie Gordon was significantly better off having artificial intelligence surgery. The surgery helped Charlie regain memories, increase his I.Q and experience emotions. Charlie regained memories of the past which he truly will never forget. Looking back on his life, Charlie never knew his parents. In the text, Charlie states “I think of my mother and father a …show more content…
Charlie Gordon definitely wanted to be smart so when he realized he was getting there he said “I’d hidden the picture of the old Charlie Gordon from myself now that I was intelligent, it was something that had to be pushed out of my mind.” (Keyes 237). This for example is something Charlie felt passionate about and believed he could do. In his mind, he got rid of the old Charlie Gordon and replaced himself with the new person he was becoming. His I.Q was increasing every day and Charlie was finally beginning to see he was getting smart.
Lastly, Charlie started experiencing emotions he has never felt before. Miss Kinnian, his school teacher was willing to help Charlie through his tough times. Charlie says “The thought of leaving her behind made me sad. I’m in love with Miss. Kinnian.” (Keyes 234). Feeling true emotions Charlie begins admiring Miss. Kinnian. He always thought of her as a role model and teacher, but after artificial intelligence he instead thought of her as a woman. Charlie was beginning to feel real emotions after the A.I
Charlie had a very bad memory span before the operation and could not remember anything from his childhood. After Charlie has the operation preformed on him, he is able to recall memories from his past. Almost all of his childhood memories are ones he would probably rather forget and not have uncovered.
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.
Charlie also learns love in a way to get him better and set him for life. When his mother makes him dig the hole and fill it back up, this is harsh love and will prepare Charlie for later life as it will teach him respect and manners. Charlie deep down knows this is what his mother is trying to teach him, but at the time he just wanted to believe that she was trying to punish, annoy and make him work. Charlie also discovers the love of peers. When Charlie is dragged into the drama of Laura by Jasper he didn’t know if to trust him. But when the truth came out and Jasper wasn’t a part of it, Charlie loved him for telling the truth and being a good friend. Also when Jasper asks Charlie to leave Corrigan with him when they are older, Charlie loves Jasper for the respect and friendship he is giving him. Charlie also sees the act of false love. This is seen by Charlie when he witnesses his mother cheating on his father in the backseat of a car. Charlie knew his parents relationship wasn’t going too well, but he didn’t expect this. He uses this to overcome his mothers power over him. But this example shows us how Charlie has learnt the difference between real love and false love, this will only help him later in life.
A book named The Giver by Lois Lowry published in 1993 teaches many life lessons that everyone needs to learn in some point in their life. In this novel it is about a twelve year old boy named Jonas who realizes his perfect society isn’t so perfect. When he was picked for the New Receiver of Memories he learned things that were hidden from the people of the community. The more Jonas learns about the past the more he wants to change how the community sees the world. In The Giver, the author uses an image of a utopia, the people in the community, and The Giver to develop the theme that emotions are needed in life.
What defines intelligence? Is it how much you know? Or could it be how much you want to learn? These are the questions that Charlie Gordon was probably thinking before his fatal destiny. All he wanted was to know what is was like to be perceptive. He became envious of his peers and the world around him. Charlie thrived to understand the world through the eyes of a genius. However, he truly should've been careful with what he had wished for.
Charlie fell in love after the A.I. surgery. Before the A.I. surgery Charlie didn’t know what love was. “The thought of leaving her behind made me sad. I’m in love with MS. Kinnien.” (Keyes,234) After the A.I. surgery Charlie sheen Ms. Kinnian as a crush not a teacher anymore. Charlie Gordon has never fallen in love before.
Intellectual growth is the development of one’s ability to process information and form your own conclusions. We see Charlie’s intellectual growth throughout the book. He eventually surpasses everyone around him and starts viewing them with a more critical eye. On April first Charlie surprises his workmates by demonstrating that he can operate the dough mixer and the on April twenty first he redesigns the whole dough mixing process. Charlie makes tremendous psychological leap with his realization. When Charlie says “’Gimpy stealing from Mr.Donner … I wanted to hit him” (Keyes, 88) this statement reveals that Charlie is capable of solving moral predicaments, such as Gimpy’s theft all by himself due to that fact all his coworkers want him fired and Charlie is disappointed by their insecurity. When Charlie was on the same intellectual level as everyone around him he says that he once looked up to them intellect people he once thought. Charlie’s greatest leap towards
Have you ever wanted to be something else? Be something you dream of? In the story, Charlie Gordon , a mentally challenged man, is faced with this question in his mind and fulfills his dreams of becoming smart, so he could be accepted, to have friends, and feel normal. Charlie taught us to never make fun of someone because they have something wrong. In this science fiction story, ¨Flowers For Algernon¨ by Daniel Keyes, Charlie, a 37 year old man had the IQ of just 68, but Charlie had potential and dreams of being smart. With A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) surgery, the doctors, and Miss Kinnian, his dreams were possible. Charlie Gordonś life was better after the surgery because he had the chance to feel smart and experience the real world
Charlie Gordon made advancements in Science, he was able to read and understand books, and become adult mature. Charlie made advancements in Science. This takes place when Charlie Gordon finds what is happening to Algernon which is going to happen to Charlie too. A support for this reason is, “The unforeseen development, which I have taken the liberty of calling the Algernon-Gordon effect, is the logical extension of the entire intelligence speedup. The hypothesis here proven may be described simply in the following terms: Artificially increased intelligence deteriorates at a rate of time directly proportional to the quantity of increase” (Keyes 240).
For example, by the end of the book, his IQ lowered, and left him where he started from. In that way, he has not changed. While at the convention, Dr.Nemur was explaining his hypothesis, and Charlie noticed a mistake. And in that moment, he realized his knowledge was going to be short lived. “The professors had made a mistake, and no one else had caught it. I wanted to jump up and tell them, but I couldn’t move. Like Algernon, I found myself behind the mesh of the cage they had built around me. Now there would be a question period, and before I would be allowed to have my dinner, I would be required to perform before this distinguished gathering. No. I had to get out of here.” (Keyes, 162) After this huge climax in the story, Charlie came to the conclusion that he would still write the reports, to show his regression and decrease in his IQ. As time went on, it was getting more and more obvious how difficult it was for Charlie to read and write. By his last report to the University, he forgot everything he had learned while he had the IQ of a genius, he forgot everything about his relations with Alice Kinnian, and he forgot all that he had learned about himself, he only remembered very little. “I don’t know why Im dumb agen or what I did rong. Maybe its because I dint try hard enuf or just some body put the evel eye on me. But if I try and practis very hard maybe Ill get a littel smarter and know what all the words are. I
Charlie begins to hang out with Sam and Patrick and is getting in the routine of going to football games and then going out afterwards to celebrate. Afterwhile he catches feelings for Sam and the way he expresses them further deepens our understanding of his depression. Instead of going with the flow and not telling her about the dreams he had about her, he professes his love for her in the form of sharing his dreams and telling her just how he feels. Perhaps, this isn’t all his fault because when Sam tells him that she’s too old for him, he becomes obsessed with his love for her and can’t stop thinking about how perfect she is in his eyes. The only thing this confession has done for him is make his feelings grow and send him in a downward spiral of
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
And I don’t know what it is.” (137) throughout the story, getting more and more concentrated towards the end. Charlie engages in spirals of thought, often leading in him to abandon some letters, “I have to stop doing this, I am getting to sad.” (168) and his negative character development begins to be the driving plotline of this story.
Charlie said that he wanted to “get smarter” so that he would fit in with all of his friends. Charlie wanted the operation but I think he wanted it for the wrong reasons and he didn't fully understand all the risks that it could have on his life. He didn’t even think about what would happen if something went wrong or if it didn't work, he was only focused on the fact that he was going to be smart. Charlie’s agreement to get the operation done was based off of his hopes and dreams, which was to be smart, and that was all Charlie was thinking
Charlie Kelmeckis is described as a “wallflower.” He is socially awkward and likes to keep to himself. He also really enjoys reading and writing. Charlie cares deeply for others, but has a lot of guilt about past events. For example, Charlie believes that the death of his Aunt Helen is his fault, because she was killed in a car accident on an errand to get Charlie a birthday gift. Charlie has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression. His mental instability was mostly caused by being sexually abused by his Aunt Helen before the age of seven. Charlie experiences flashbacks of his Aunt over the course of the movie, but all are portrayed in a positive light.