In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon endures a few emotional obstacles because of his intellectual improvement. In this essay there will be argued that intelligence is not compatible alongside emotional maturity. This statement will be proven by referring to Charlie’s relationships, his desire to create a life he wants and also his happiness and fulfilment.
Charlie struggles to keep his emotions under control, even when his intelligence starts to show progress. When he goes with his friends to party, they make him dance with a noticeably provocative girl and Charlie does not know why his body is reacting with a wet dream. This shows that emotional maturity and intelligence is not compatible, on the grounds that even though Charlie is mentally improving, he does not know how to handle
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In Progress Report 7 of Flowers for Algernon (Keyes, 1989), Charlie is thinking about what his future will hold when he will become intelligent. He believes that he will never be lonesome again. His thinking establishes the fact that he is reaching towards emotional maturity. Unfortunately, when he becomes smarter, all of his purported friends starts to envy and resent him because he is starting to outwit them. Simultaneously, Alice Kinnian starts to avoid Charlie because he is becoming more intelligent than she is. “Charlie, don’t push me. I don’t know. Already, you’ve gone beyond my intellectual reach.” (Keyes, 1989). Charlie has the desire to join university students in conversation about politics, religion and art. However, when he has this desire, he is still short-sighted and when he becomes intelligent, he realises that they converse about childish things. This leaves Charlie emotionally dissatisfied in terms of him creating the life he desires. This emotional desire of Charlie proves that intelligence and emotional maturity are not
3) Some examples of how the author shows Charlie’s increased intelligence is when Oliver quits his mixer job at the bakery, so Charlie volunteers to take his place. His coworkers give him a chance and he does an even better job than oliver. Another example is when Charlie figures out that Gimpy is
[Keyes, 299] As an intelligent member of society, Charlie has a certain moment when he becomes frustrated once he understands the world he lives in, when he thinks of how “Before, they laughed at [him] and despised [him] for [his] ignorance and dullness; now, they hate [him] for [his] knowledge and understanding. [Keyes, 293]” These emotionally alienated members of society believe that they can alienate themselves, believing they can be happy alone. This happens very often. Society, in this way, doesn’t like to own up to their pain, and as such, alienates themselves. In this way, they connect to Charlie
Flowers For Algernon Essay In Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the main character Charlie Gordon under goes in an operation to increase his intelligence as a mentally disabled person. Later on in the story he looses the intelligence he gained and could be on the road to dying. He is better off with the surgery because he gained so much such as, social cues and intelligence. Before the operation Charlie could barely say complete sentences let alone spell, but after the operation he was becoming smarter than his teacher, Mrs. Kinnian.
Because of this Charlie gets a procedure done to make his intelligence grow and make him smarter everyday. When the procedure begins to fade away he realizes that by having hope you learn later
Flowers for Algernon Everyone is who they are and no one can change that no matter what. Charlie Gordon is a thirty-seven year old man who has an IQ of sixty-eight and wishes to be smart. He was chosen for the intelligence-altering surgery to become smarter and triple his IQ. After the surgery, there were huge changes in his life.
Flowers for Algernon has a difficulty with technology when Charlie’s brain begins to deteriorate. Scientist Dr. Nemur and neurologist/psychiatrist Dr. Strauss did an operation on Charlie to higher his I.Q. At first, the surgery seemed to be a huge success making Charlie even more intelligent than themselves. Later in the novel, Charlie realizes his intelligence deteriorates and names it the “Algernon-Gordon Effect”. The operation did successfully able him to learn at an extreme rate although, the more he learned, the faster his new intelligence would disappear. The technology made Charlie smart for only a limited amount of time, this becomes burden on him. Charlie realized how his colleagues truly
Charlie Gordon, narrator of the progress reports in Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon, has an intellectual growth that can be depicted as a one year old boy who becomes an extravagant 20 year old scholar in the matter of weeks. In the beginning of the story, Charlie Gordon is a student at Beekman College as a ‘mentally delayed adult,’ accompanied by his IQ (intelligence quotient) of 68. He is then selected to undergo an operation to artificially increase his intelligence similar to the successful attempt on a lab mouse, Algernon. Learning new things every day, Gordon has surpassed many people by his IQ level. This growth has gotten to the point—as seen in Algernon’s experiment—that his cerebral level will then deteriorate at the same rate as the increase. Once Charlie reaches that point, he has regressed further
Charlie Gordon is a neurodiverse man who desperately wants to get smarter and strives to achieve his goal, no matter what comes his way. In the story Flowers For Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie is the main character. He is a student at Nights School, which is an institution for young adults. His IQ is measured to be about 68. As he is very determined, Charlie undergoes an operation provided by the doctors to enhance his intelligence.
Before the operation, Charlie Gordon, from Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is happy. He may have a simple, pitiful existence, but he thinks his friends like him, and enjoys being with them and Miss Kinnian at the Learning Center for Slow Adults. However, Charlie wants to be smart, the one dark cloud in his sunny sky of life. Because of this, Charlie volunteers for an operation to triple his IQ of 68. With a high IQ comes awareness of the world around him, so Charlie suddenly becomes conscious of his previously pitiful existence which leads to a slew of feelings such as embarrassment, shame, and superiority. Charlie thinks that becoming smart will make him happy and well-liked, but the operation works the opposite effect. Charlie starts to look down on everyone, and cannot socialize with others because of his IQ. As a result, Charlie becomes almost depressed. His depression deepens when Charlie discovers that his intelligence will not be permanent. Soon, Charlie regresses to his former childlike mentality. Although at the end of the novel, Charlie does not find himself any worse off after the operation, the few months he spent smarter are not terribly enjoyable for him, and his changing mentality negatively impacts those he is close to, namely Miss Kinnian. Because the effects are not permanent, Charlie would be far better off without the operation.
Flowers for Algernon is a short fictional story that is written in the form of a journal by Charlie Gordon, a man with a clearly illustrated learning disability. In this story Charlie Gordon was picked as the first human and second test subject for an experiment that was meant to triple any ones IQ level. Dr. Strauss tells Charlie Gordon to write Progress Reports about his days and this is how the story is presented to the reader. When Charlie Gordon has his surgery that was meant to make him starter, did he actually get smarter, or does he only perceive that he gets smarter?
It shows that intelligence doesn’t give you happiness or friends. As Charlie got smarter he became more selfish and more people began to dislike him.
In the story “Flowers for Algernon” it is written in first person by Charlie Gordon. He is told by Professor Nemur to write progress reports about how he feels about his way of becoming intelligent. He explains that he is thirty-two years old and that he works as a janitor. Also he explains that he is in Ms. Kinnians class for retarded adults. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur want Charlie to have his dream of being smart come true. He is nervous but still excited about the surgery. Days go by and Charlie sees no change. But many see the increase proper vocabulary and grammar. Many of his co workers make fun of him by saying “You pulled a Charlie Gordon” when they do something dumb. He than realizes and begins to explain that he is better than them.
People like Charlie tend to get their emotions out of control, they get frustrated and upset easily, they have loyalty towards a person as long as they view the relationship as useful and they are constantly preoccupied with themselves. Charlie battles with the emotions he feels after he starts to get flashbacks of his childhood. “He stands there, frightened by the sudden outburst. He cowers, not knowing what she will do. His body begins to shake.
Character development is the core for Daniel Keyes endeavor to convey themes to his audience by developing the character of Charlie Gordon. One way to develop his character is through relationships with other characters, which is critical in conveying the themes in the book. Another way through which Keyes develops Charlie Gordon’s character for his audience is through letting in the audience on the thoughts of the character in the book so they get on a ride with his emotion, conflict, and dilemmas. Flowers for Algernon illustrates how cruel the society treats the mentally disabled with the use of literary elements. Daniel Keyes conveys the message that the grass is not always greener on the other side through character development.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman. Charlie Gordon is a very welcoming, playful, and genuine man. He attends Beekman College for Retarded Adults and has a strong motivation to learn and to improve his intelligence. He dreams of being popular, and making friends. Throughout the novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon changed in many ways. Prior to his life changing operation, he was not able to grasp that the people at Donner’s Bakery were not his friends, they only spoke to him to make fun of him. Charlie acknowledged their harsh actions, and started retaliating. Charlie is a very open