“The true method of knowledge is experiment.” — William Blake. Charlie Gordon was an adequate choice for the scientists, Dr. Strous and Dr. Nemur, to choose since Charlie’s gains from the surgery overrides his loses. The surgery was to try and triple Charlie Gordan’s IQ from 68 to 204, which was a success. Charlie indeed gained several things from his surgery including: understanding of true friendship, emotional maturity, and he finally got his dream come true. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the doctors made a great choice for picking Charlie Gordan as their test subject.
One way that Dr. Strous and Dr. Demur did an amazing job in their decision for their test subject, was that Charlie Gordon started off doing whatever his friends,
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So, without the surgery he probably would not have gotten where he was with an IQ of 204 starting at only 68 in a matter of weeks. “What a dope I am! I didn’t even understand what she was talking about. I read the grammar book last night and it explanes the whole thing.”(Keyes page 192). People tend to think that this dream come true does not override the fact that a side effect of his decreasing intelligence is that he died. While dying is not a good thing alone it does not strain from the fact that he died finally achieving something that he spent his whole life trying to reach. So, instead of dying from a life searching but never really achieving. He died a life where he succeeded his dream. Other people say that this human sacrifice was unsafe and that no one knows about it since even the doctors told Charlie not to tell anyone that he was getting the surgery. Well, that is not true. “All human exposure studies conducted by EPA scientists are independently evaluated for safety and ethics, and the results are peer-reviewed. EPA is committed to ensuring the protection of study participants.” (Watchdog: EPA human test subjects not always told about lethal risks of studies, page 32). So not only was it safe but, it was also evaluated by other
Have you ever wanted to have an IQ of 200+ and be considered a genius. That’s exactly what Charlie Gordon got but it didn’t last as long as he wanted it to. Charlie was selected to be the only human to undergo this experiment. First it took a while for his intelligence to start to increase and Charlie thought it wasn’t working. Then Charlie saw a huge difference in his spelling. Charlie’s IQ sat at 300+ plus for a couple of months and then he realized that Algernon, the mouse, was starting to be vicious and biting people. That was the first clue that the surgery may not last forever. Charlie had some very difficult times because of the surgery and because of that I think he should have never have gotten it.
Charlie Gordon’s doctors acted ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. In the beginning Charlie took a Rorschach test to test his personality. When he took the test, he said he saw nothing in the inkblots. Charlie Gordon is in his 30’s; his IQ was 68, despite this fact, Charlie spends time with his teacher Miss Kinnian to get smarter. Miss Kinnian teaches at a school for slow adults.
For being such intelligent doctors they should have known better than to put him through the surgery knowing all the risks. Charlie should not have gone through the experiment even though it was a major brake through for science. The doctors who performed the surgery were being very selfish when they decided to use Charlie for the experiment. Because of this experiment Charlie has lost all of his friends and his job and his feeling for miss.kinnian have grown rapidly just to get shot down.
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
Before the procedure, when Charlie’s IQ was sixty eight, he took a Rorschach test. A Rorschach is a psychology test where you are given a picture of an inkblot and have to tell what you see in it. Charlie could not see anything, but not even a month after the surgery Charlie saw all sorts of things. For example Charlie says “One of them looked like a pair of bats tugging at something. Another one looked like to men fencing with swords. I imagined all sorts of things.” (Keyes 232). This clearly illustrates that Charlie saw many things in the Rorschach because of his imagination. The aftermath of the surgery was very posotive because he finally didn’t fail, got to use his creativity and feel self
Charlie Gordon was not fully aware of the surgery. All he was fully aware of was that he was going to be smarter and that’s all he wanted. Also, Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur should have waited to give Charlie the surgery. Instead of giving him the surgery the same time as Algernon, they could have waited, saw Algernon died and then this wouldn’t have happened to
When Charlie Gordon had an IQ of 68 he had people who he had relationships with. Although his friends took advantage of his IQ he believed that they were laughing with him which made him very happy. When Charlie Gordon thought his friends were laughing with him he enjoyed going to work and being with his co-workers. Before surgery Charlie Gordon says at a bar that Mr. Donnegan says he is the best janitor he has ever had because he is never late and he has never missed a day (Keyes, progress report 9 April 3rd). After surgery Charlie later does not go to work for 2 months. This really shows how much Charlie’s operation changed his actions. When Charlie was losing his very high IQ he still understood that his co-workers were not his friends which really changed many of his relationships. On top of that Charlie Gordon started to feel feelings for Ms. Kinnian after surgery, before surgery he just saw her as a mentor but after surgery he saw something else. He had felt feelings for her which really made it awkward between them when Charlie lost his high IQ. Charlie Gordon’s relationships with different people change dramatically throughout the book because of his surgery.
In the novel, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, it is focused around the ironically unforgettable journey of Charlie Gordon. He is a 32 year old man who has an extremely low IQ, that qualified him to be a subject for an experimental surgery to help him raise his IQ, by a lot. Before the surgery, he had very little memories of his childhood, was very forgetful, and his inability to read or write made his want for knowledge even stronger. I picked this character because not only was he the main focus throughout the book, he has changed and has not changed at the same time and I found that rather unusual.Charlie has changed because after the surgery he got what he wanted, to be smart. But by the end of the book he lost his intelligence, along
Charlie Gordon's doctors did act ethical when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. States in Flowers for Algernon, "A week since I dared to write again. It's slipping away like sand through my fingers. Most of the books I have are now too hard for me now. I get angry with them because I know that I read and understood them just a few weeks ago." (Keyes 82). Symbaloo research evidence, "When Charlie went to sleep, he had to sleep with music on."
First of all, why Charlie shouldn’t have gotten the surgery is because he started understanding everyone and how they felt. This stressed him out a lot. He felt like he didn't belong with others. “Now I know what it means when they say “to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I'm ashamed.” (209). In this sentence, Charlie recognizes why his friends liked having him around so much. It was so that they could make fun of him and play tricks on him for their own fun. Also Charlie had felt bad about a kid at a restaurant. “I jumped up and shouted, “Shut up! Leave him alone! It's not his fault he can't understand! He can't help what he is! But for
Now I know what it means “to pull a Charlie Gordon.’’ I’m ashamed.” (Keyes201). He always saw everyone as being his friend and everyone seeing him as an equal. At this moment he saw how people really saw him. For the first time in his life he saw his “friends” for what they really are. Even when Charlie became smart he started to be like everyone else, “I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide, bright eyes of a child, uncertain but eager to please. They were laughing at him because he was mentally retarded, and I had been laughing at him too.” (Keyes207). He had been just like that boy once, and now he’s just like everyone who was laughing at him. He realized that he was becoming like the people who once laughed at him. This opened his eyes to how the world will treat people. It was worth the surgery because he got to experience the other side of
On the contrary, the naysayers may argue that Charlie should have had the operation because he had gotten an experience to be smart;however, the operations negatives outweigh the positives. However, the other side experienced many difficulties. Such as when Dr.Strauss and Dr.Nemur the doctors that performed on Charlie; had a conversation with him and struggled on a response. As Charlie explains in
In Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should have not been chosen for the surgery. Charlie Gordon should have not been chosen because he was lonely after the surgery. For example, in the story, it states, “I ain’t laughed so much since we sent him off for the newspaper that night at Muggsy’s and ditched him”(Keyes 193). Joe Carp and Frank Reilly are making fun of Charlie because they think he
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
“It’s a good feelings to know things and be smart. I wish I Had it right now, if I had I would sit down and read all the time. Anyways I bet i'm the first dumb person in the world who ever found out something important for science”. The operation was for Charlie to become smart permanently. It didn’t work so I agree of the operation being bad.