Comparing Algernon And Charlie's Journey

In the story, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon makes a decision to allow doctors to do an operation on his brain to ¨make him smarter¨. Because of Charlie being mentally handicapped, I think that most of the decision making for Charlie was based on hopes and dreams, and not medical arguments, therefore nobody made the right decision.

The protagonist and author of the progress reports that form the text of Flowers for Algernon. Charlie is a thirty-two-year-old mentally retarded man who lives in New York City. At the start of the novel, he works at Donner’s Bakery as a janitor and delivery boy. Charlie’s friendliness and eagerness to please, along with his childhood feelings of inadequacy, make him the hardest-working student in Alice Kinnian’s literacy class for retarded adults. When Charlie undergoes an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence, his IQ skyrockets to the level of a genius. His obsession with untangling his own emotional life and his longing to reach an emotional maturity and inner peace to match his intellectual authority inform many of the novel’s

In this novel, Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, a man named Charlie Gordon has an operation done to increase his intelligence. He started as a mentally retarded man and slowly became a genius. He seemed to soak up information like a sponge and he was able to figure out the most complex scientific formulas. The only problem with the operation is that it does not last for ever and in his remaining time he tries to figure out why it is not permanent. He will eventually lose everything he learned and become worse off than when he started, so Charlie was better off before he had the operation.

It is possible to live without intelligence. Intelligence is important but if you don't have it, then it is fine. You can try to become intelligent by being yourself, but there is no need for getting surgery to get smarter. Charlie shouldn’t have gotten the surgery. He was living happily. He wasn't sad about anything, so he wouldn't need to go through any stress.

Next, the characters between the two stories have many differences. In "Flowers for Algernon" one of the main doctors, Dr. Strauss, is a man while in Charly they are a woman. The characters actions and emotions also differ greatly between the two stories. In Charly Mrs. Kinnian and Charlie both like each other and want to be together while in "Flowers for Algernon" Charlie likes Mrs. Kinnian, but she does not like him back. The characters in the stories have different aspects to their personality.

In the movie “Flowers for Algernon”, tells a story about a man named Charlie that isn’t so smart. His dream is to become a genius. He suddenly gets picked for an experimental surgery to boost his I.Q. Alice Kinnian (Charlie’s teacher) suggest him because, of his dedication to be intelligent. The surgery is a success and Dr. Strauss was the surgeon. After Dr. Nemur helps track his intelligence and how it builds. He records most of his lessons and tests. One of the tests that he did was racing a mouse named Algernon. Charlie must complete a maze before the mouse. He fails the first couple of times ,but finally gets the hang of it. While his journey of becoming a wise man is taking place, he works at a bakery named Donneans. Many of his co workers

“I said Miss Kinnian never gave me tests like that one only spelling and reading. They said Miss Kinnian told that I was her bestist pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardist and I reely wantid to lern” -Charlie. Concluding that if you could feel smarter than you are now, would you. That's what Charlie feels like until he has an operation that makes him smart. The theme of this story I think is that people change over time. Like charlie changes throughout the story. In the story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes Charlie patarys the theme that people changed overtime.

Have you ever wanted to know several languages, be able to learn everything easily, or even have an IQ of at least 200? Charlie Gordon, in the story “Flowers for Algernon,” was a man who had an IQ of 68, but he went through a surgery that made him smarter than his own teacher at a school for the mentally challenged, and his own doctors. Charlie’s IQ was tripled after the surgery once he began to practice different languages as well as the English language. Charlie soon reverted to his former self at the end of the story, and this tripled intelligence that he possessed once before was soon back to the IQ of 68 Charlie had it easier in life after the surgery.

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

“Don’t be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn’t do what you do, or think as you think. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today” (Malcom X). In 1965, Charlie Gordon of New York, a 37 year old with an IQ of 68, who is continuously humiliated and judged by people due to his disability, becomes a candidate for an experimental operation performed by Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss after his teacher, Mrs. Kinnian, recommends him. While Charlie’s intelligence increases at a rapid rate, surpassing an IQ of 200, Algernon, a mouse who is previously operated on, begins to exhibit signs of violence and mental deterioration; it is at this point where he realizes his fate. Working day and night, Charlie writes a report titled

Sometimes surgery can be necessary to save a life, while other times it is unecessary, and inhumane. Charlie Gordon is a 37 year old man with an extremely low IQ of 68. He is introduced to a lab where they decide that they should test a surgery on Charlie that triples his IQ. This surgery was a mistake. Charlie Gordon shouldn’t have had the surgery to increase his IQ because the surgery is dangerous, the surgery could’ve, and did ware off, and Charlie would be overall happier without the surgery.

The Union Army was about twice the size of the Confederate Army. Charlie and Henry are two boys who went to war, and went through similar events, but had two different mindsets. Henry was afraid and ran, and was filled with fright. But Charlie was quite the opposite, he wanted to go the war, and he was a strong character. They both came out of the war a changed person. The two soldiers are very similar, but also different characters with different personalities.

2. How does Charlie change through the course of the novel? How different is he from the person he is at the beginning of the novel to how he is at the end? Do you consider the novel’s ending to be tragic or inspiring? How so?

In the novel, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie’s newfound intelligence shapes his emotions so that they alter his perspective on his personal relations with people in his life. Charlie’s recognition of his feelings allow him to vaguely express his “love” for Alice. Found on page 76 of the book, Charlie pronounced, “Why haven't I ever noticed how beautiful Alice Kinnian is?” Shortly after he recognized Alice’s appeal, Charlie shares his attraction towards Alice with her on page 80. This indicates Charlie’s confusion between his intellect and emotion because it shows how fast Charlie was to rush into a relationship he was not ready for.

     Algernon the mouse’s condition worsens as a whole, and he finally dies. Charlie sees this as a sigh of doom, and knows that his own time is approaching. He seeks his parents out, and meets his father, but cannot bear to introduce himself. He then meets his sister and his mother, and brags about his accomplishments, makes peace, and continues on.