Charlie Gordon Flowers For Algernon Analysis

“I reread my paper on the ‘Algernon-Gordon Effect’ and I get the strange feeling it was written by someone else. There are parts even I do not understand” (337). Charlie becomes upset, as his own piece of work he was so proud of, cannot even be understood by the man who had made it; that being himself. Charlie knew he could not read it, which made him understand more about the operation and what it had done to him. The loss in his intelligence also removed some important memories. Charlie went for a walk one night to clear his head, bur as he started to walk back, he could not remember where he lived! Because Charlie could not remember, it caused a big jump in his deterioration, from forgetting grammar skills, to forgetting where he lived. Charlie starts to have mood swings when he could not do previous things that made him happy, like read. Charlie’s mood constantly switches between Neutral, to Angry, to Sad, and repeat. Charlie cannot grasp any one of those emotions to even save his own life, since they are running wild. All other factors mentioned indicate that before the operation, Charlie’s life was amazing.

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.

To begin, one of the biggest reasons that Charlie would’ve been better off having never gotten the surgery is so he wouldn’t have to deal with knowing what great intelligence is like, but then having to go back to being naïve and dumb again. In the story Flowers for Algernon, Keyes says, “I learned so much so fast. Now my mind is deteriorating rapidly. I won’t let it happen. I’ll fight it. I can’t help thinking of the boy in the restaurant, the blank expression, the silly smile, the people laughing at him. No- please- not that again…” (303) This shows that Charlie realizes his mental capabilities are deteriorating and

Charlie was lucky because Algernon got the surgery a long time before so they could tell Charlie if something was going to happen to him. "He was unusually disturbed and vicious."(216). In this sentence, it shows how they found out that Algernon was acting weird, so they researched on him and they found out what was happening. This way they could tell Charlie what will happen to him and if they had any way they could stop it from happening. "Algernon died two days ago. Dissection shows my predictions were right. His brain had decreased in weight and there was a cerebral convolutions as well as the deepening and broadening of brain fissures."(219). This sentence is describing what happened to Algernon and how he died. This shows that this will soon happen to Charlie. And just like Algernon, Charlie will die. This is why Charlie shouldn't have taken the surgery to become

The more obvious ways he had changed was his intelligence, and the memories that slowly came flooding back to him after the surgery. He had went from an IQ of 70, to an IQ of 185 and counting. It had a tremendous impact on Charlie, for he was like a sponge, absorbing as much knowledge as possible, refusing to stop. He had exceeded the expectations, surpassing the IQ of the doctors that worked at Beekman University, and even the ones that constructed the experiment that changed Charlie’s life. He had managed to learn French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Hindi, and Japanese in an extremely short period of time. Before the surgery, Charlie wanted to partake in conversations with the college students about politics,

After the operation, in only a couple of months, Charlie starts showing signs of new intelligence. His grammar, improved, and he is able to reflect on what his does in the past something he wasn’t able to do before. He had finally gotten something use had always desired. Then, everything and everyone turned on him. In “PROGRESS REPORT 12” April 30th (pg. 60) Charlie writes: “now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding. What in the name of god do they want of me? They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I more alone than ever before…” Charlie got what he always wanted, and now he lost everything he had. It was a sacrifice it sounded like he didn’t want to make. I can tell just be the tone of his writing. This shows that we should embrace everything that we have. Charlie didn’t embrace everything, although he appreciated most of the thing he never became happy not being able to just enjoy life as it is.

One of the reasons Charlie is better off after the experiment is because he becomes more self-aware. One part of the story that shows this is when Charlie goes to a party with his friends Joe and Frank, and everyone laughs at Charlie trying to dance. Charlie is now smart enough from the experiment to realize Joe and Frank just keeps him around for some entertainment, and not as real friends, so now he knows “what it means when they say ‘to pull a Charlie Gordon’” (7). Here, Charlie is benefiting from the surgery because he is now intelligent enough to be able to tell whether he has real friends or not. He realizes that they are just making fun of him, because he knows he used to be very unintelligent, which is why they say he can pull a Charlie Gordon. Now, Charlie can be more aware of who he chooses to be with, and know whether or not they are actually caring of him. He has become more self-aware in his choice of friends, and by doing so, improve his emotional situation. Another

As a consequence, having the operation created the chance for unpredictable and unwanted outcomes. Charlie was the first human patient for the experiment. Since the doctors have never tried the operation on a human being before, the chances for making mistakes are higher. This was proven as Algernon soon experiences side effects as his intelligence regresses and he eventually passes away. Soon, Charlie also regresses back to his original intelligence state. In conclusion, having the operation created unpredictable and unwanted outcomes. I inferred that Charlie wouldn’t die like Algernon did because the last line in the book in which he asks that someone puts flowers on Algernon's grave shows that he hasn't lost 100% of his memory of what happened. The fact that he remembers Algernon and his meticulous ritual of placing flowers on his grave shows that with repetition and reminders, he does have the capacity to recall details about the time he spent with intelligence. It's there somewhere in his subconscious, just like his childhood memories were before. While Charlie maintains most of his intelligence, 16 days after Algernon bit Charlie, Algernon died. And even after 13 days realizing his intelligence is regressing, he isn't showing signs of sickness, just showing that he is absentminded. Having all these different factors influenced all these different outcomes. In

Doctors save many people's lives, they can make their lives even better than they are now. In the short story "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon performs an operation to make him a genius. Charlie Gordon is a mentally challenged 37 year old man, who is trying to become smart. Being mentally challenged has been hard for Charlie, but this is his chance to forever change his life. The experiment was an incredible thing for Charlie because he realized he is in love with Miss Kinnian, figured out the flaw in the experiment, and got the experience of what it is like to be smart.

Charlie Gordon should not have surgery due to the experimental nature of the surgery as its effects have not been fully analyzed. For example, Doctor Strauss and Doctor Nemur told Charlie that there is a possibility that the experiment could fail and that the outcome could be returning to his original mental status. Gordon remains indifferent to the statement and says, “They said you know it will probly tempirery. I said yes. Miss Kinnian told me. I dont care if it herts” (112). Charlie’s positive outlook on life and lack of reasoning leads him to make the decision to have the surgery performed on him. He is desperate to become smart and fit in with the rest of society.Additionally, Algernon’s testing had not been completed when Doctor Nemur and Doctor Strauss started the test on

Imagine growing up and being told you will never amount to anything, by your parents, your friends, or people who see you on the street. The book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a story from the point of view of Charlie Gordon a 32 year old man with an extremely low IQ. He is given an opportunity to become smart and takes it in order to fit in. He becomes the first human test subject for a surgery that raises intelligence. He navigates troubles of family, relationships, work and bad news in a journey to find the real Charlie Gordon. Through “progris riports” Charlie documents his life before and after surgery and the charge that happen when he is shown a little kindness.

One of the reasons Charlie was better off after the surgery is because he helped the world. One way he did this is because he found out the Algernon-Gordon effect. He stated this when he said “The unforeseen development, which I have taken the liberty of calling it the Algernon-Gordon Effect…”(132).The Algernon-Gordon Effect is when you slowly drop your IQ, which happened to Charlie and Algernon. With Charlie’s intelleince he he recorded actully what happened.

Flowers for Algernon “all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb.” In the book Flowers for Algernon a 32-year-old developmentally disabled man named Charlie Gordon has the opportunity to undergo a surgical procedure that will dramatically increase his mental capabilities. After the operation, he had difficulty making new friendships and establishing new relationships due to a lack of social intelligence that the surgery could neither correct nor anticipate. And in the end, Charlie went back to being mentally disabled. In the story “Flowers for Algernon”, the author Daniel Keyes portrays the theme that a person should be careful what they wish for because it could cause consequences in the long run.

His intelligence and memory towards the end was worse then when he started. While Charlie's intelligence was increasing, he started to lose respect and trust of Dr. Strauss and Prof. Nemur. One of the goals that psychologist have is to create trustworthy relationship with their clients, and I feel like Dr. Strauss and Prof. Nemur both failed at this because they didn’t wait long enough to see the results on Algernon to see if the procedure was effective and permanent. They did not resolve Charlie’s problem with little or no harm. They put him through some very intense emotional and mental changes throughout the three months that Charlie went through.

Knowledge can not be obtained by a simple surgery, people must work hard for it. In the story presented by Daniel Keyes in Flowers for Algernon, this theme is presented frequently. The book exhibits the story of a man named Charlie Gordon, who has to bear the burden of having a mental illness. His life, in his perspective, seems to be one of joy and happiness until he is offered a surgery that will ostensibly increase his intelligence. Charlie, eager to obtain it, agrees, but soon realises, as his knowledge proliferates, that his life of “happiness” was not all it seemed to be. He comprehends that his once “good friends” were in fact only treating him with disrespect and deception, he realises his family has abandoned him due to his mental