“68% of the world’s population has an IQ in between 85 and 115” (Quora) The highest IQ ever recorded was 190 by Marilyn Vos Savent. (The Richest) Charlie is a 32 year old man with an IQ of 68. He works cleaning the bathrooms and delivering at Donner's Bakery. He is also a candidate and participant for an experiment, he undergoes a surgery to make him three times as smart as he is at the moment. As fast as the gained the knowledge, it went away. After what he had learned had gone away he ran away as well to go somewhere where people did not know him as the person who used to be intelligent. The risks of Charlie's surgery were greater than the rewards. To begin with, nobody wants to experience the feeling of intelligence only to have it ripped away. “I’m forgetting things that I learned recently. It seems to be following the classic pattern--the last things learned are the first …show more content…
If there are more negatives than positives that the action is not worth it. “Thats why Im going away from New York for good. I dont want to do nothing like that agian.” (Keyes, 245) Charlie does not want to experience what he went through again. He does not want to see the people that he trusted so much only to realize that they were making fun of him. Because of the surgery there were effects and consequences that were unforeseen. The doctors did not expect algernon to die, they did not expect everything to go away. Charlie experienced all of that only to want to get away and escape. The risks of Charlie’s surgery were greater than the rewards. First, nobody wants to feel intelligence only to have it ripped away soon afterwards. Second, people that are loved and cared about should not be left because of an individual's desires. Lastly, everything has a consequence, for every action there is a reaction. If what happens because of the action is worse than the action itself it is not worth it. Charlie’s surgery took more than it
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
“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.
Many people believe that achieving great intelligence will bring them great happiness. This was what Charlie Gordon imagined for himself, that if he could only get the surgery that was supposed to make him smart, then he could finally fit in and be really happy. In the end, though, was Charlie really better off after he got the surgery? No, he wasn’t. Charlie was ultimately better off before he got the surgery to make him intelligent because if he had never done the surgery, then he would never have had to experience the trauma of having to go back to not being intelligent after knowing what intelligence felt like. Also, before the surgery, Charlie didn’t realize how un-faithful his friends were, and how naïve he actually was, which ultimately caused him a lot of shame. Finally, if Charlie had never gotten the surgery, he wouldn’t have had to leave New York.
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
When thinking about the well known comedy Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare the audience is quick to focus on the wit and comedy that the play has to offer, rather than the understated villain who easily disappears in the background. While reading the play, one can posit that Don John is not the typical villain who acts with a specific motive in mind, rather, he is acting out of an obligation he feels to serve as an antagonist considering his position as a bastard. This is demonstrated in his dialogue, which reveals his inner turmoil on being chained to the villainous role and his willingness to act on any malicious opportunity that presents itself to him. This is significant in that, it provides another layer to our villain and causes the audience to think beyond the first layer that is easily presented, and into the true inner motives of the character.
Charlie was better off after the surgery. After the surgery, he had real friends, loved Miss Kinnian, and beat Algernon. After all what happened after the surgery, at least he knew what it felt like to be
But, the reason why was all because he was starting to feel things. Emotions are normal and that surgery made him feel like that. Itś honestly not a bad thing. Other readers may also think he shouldn't have had the surgery because it led him to get fired from his only job, however, it wasn't his fault. The other guys were uncomfortable and were afraid only because if they tried to pick on him, that Charlie would out-smart them all. One last reason people with my opposite idea believe that he shouldn't have had the surgery because in the story, Charlie says he didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, so he left New York. However, most people wouldn't want anyone to feel bad or sorry for them and Charlie made a good choice because if Miss Kinnian was going to cry when she saw Charlie, he wouldn't want to hurt her more even though he was hurt by himself
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.
If Charlie would have accepted himself the way he was before the operation, he would have avoided all the trouble. His loved one Alice could not stand him anymore because he made her feel uncomfortable and strained due to all the absurd things he was talking about, for example neo-Boulean mathematics and post-symbolic logic. He realized that having a high I.Q is not just a bed of roses. For example, While arguing Alice told Charlie that, “There’s more to it than just having a high I.Q” (300). This shows how much Charlie had actually changed since the surgery, and not necessarily in a good
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.
One reason as to why this is the theme that sticks out the most is because the operation harmed Charlie’s social life. He had a lot of people to call friends, like Joe Carp, Frank Reilly, and Gimpy, but after he had the operation, he realized that they weren’t really his friends. “April 22- People at the bakery are changing. I can feel the hostility.” Charlie had become smarter than the people who worked at the bakery, and they started to push him away, and Charlie started to feel upset and hurt by their actions. He thought that he had lost all of his friends were lost, and that upset him. This is one of the many reasons why technology was a bad thing for Charlie.
Charlie had a chance to learn and do things that most people wouldn't have a chance to do in a lifetime, even if it was for a short time. After Charlie's regression he continued to try to become intelligent again, however, Charlie had said himself that he was grateful when he said, "Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a little bit (Keyes 245) [Sic]." You have to understand that, with a mindset like this, you know you have done the right thing. Charlie was grateful for his chance to be smart and was thoroughly pleased with his decision. Nothing can be more favorable than the joyous feeling of gratitude. It can be compared to getting the gift you always wanted for Christmas, or when someone gives you a sincere smile that will brighten any bad day. This must have been what Charlie had been feeling in order to be this grateful. Another piece of evidence to prove this point is when Dr Nermur had said that Charlie was, "trying to cram a lifetime of research and thought into a few weeks (Keyes 238)." Both Charlie and Dr. Nemur both know that he was capable of this, and so much more. After the operation Charlie was super intelligent and grew the ability to understand more things socially, which is what he wanted the most, to be able to understand his friends and be smart like them, two of his greatest desires in one stone.
The surgery was worth the experience because it helped him contribute to the world of science. He contributed by desperately wanting to be in the experiment and wanting to make discoveries, “I hope they use me. Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to be smart.” (Keyes190). He was the first human to really want to contribute to this experiment. Just by getting the surgery he helped science. Without Charlie they couldn’t have gotten the results and shown
One reason why the operation on Charlie was unethical was that he could not fully grasp the concept of the procedure. For example, in Progress Report 1, Charlie wrote that Miss Kinnian, Charlie's teacher, told him about the procedure and he jotted down, "I hope [Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur] use me ... I want to be smart[sic]" (Keyes 514). To receive the operation was Charlie's dream because he wanted to enhance his intelligence, however, that was all he knew about the procedure. Since Charlie had a low intelligence, he could not see the pros and cons of the surgery, only what he wanted, which was to become smart, making the operation unethical. Also, in Progress Report 3, Charlie recorded his past on how people would ask him why he wanted to become smart. "I told them becaus all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb ... I dont care if it herts[sic]" (Keyes 515). Being born with low intelligence made Charlie yearn to get smarter. However, because getting smarter
One reason why I think the surgery was a bad idea was because, no one was expecting him as a friend. When Charlie got his surgery, some people at his work were realizing that Charlie had changed, and was starting to have feelings. “Look at him. His face is red.He's blushing. Charlie is blushing.Hey, Ellen, what'd you do to Charlie? I never saw him act like that before”. In this sentence Charlie's workmates realized that Charlie's operation was actually working, and that Charlie was