One common theme throughout the story was the fact that neither Dr. Strauss or Dr. Nemur were doing this to help Charlie, but to benefit themselves. One example of this is when Charlie learns about Dr. Nemur’s wife, “Dr. Nemur had a shrew of a wife who was pushing him all the time to get things published so that he could become famous” (Keyes 295). With his wife pushing him to become famous there is no possible way that Dr. Nemur could be doing this just as a benefit of science. There is no point in becoming a doctor if your only goal is to please your wife and become famous. Many doctors today, like Dr. Nemur, believe that money and fame will make them happy. But at the end of the day saving a person’s life should be rewarding enough. Doctors …show more content…
Nemur nor Dr. Strauss alerted Charlie of the possible side effects of the experiment. Charlie's newfound super intelligence that drove a bigger wedge than ever before between him and his friends . Because of Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss , his friends that were once laughing were now staying away from him in fear " Once again now I have the feeling of shame burning inside me . This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved . Before , they laughed at me and despised me for my ignorance and dullness ; now , they hate me for my knowledge and understanding " (Keyes #) . Charlie was doing this all just for the liking of his friends , unknown to him , he was just chasing them away . Another defect of Charlie's super intelligence was that he was fired from his job of the boxing company . " You used to be a good , dependable , ordinary man-not too bright maybe , but honest . Who knows what you done to yourself to get so smart all of a sudden . Like everybody around here's been saying , Charlie , it's not right . " "But how can you says / said that , Fanny ? what is wrong with a man becoming intelligent and wanting to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world around him ? " . She stared down at her work " (Keyes 296 ) . The doctors were solely responsible for all of those 840 signatures on the petition to have him removed . Before the operation Charlie was a social outcast because of his mental state , he is even more socially
One of the Doctors names was Dr. Strauss ,and Dr. Nemur. Dr. Strauss was nice to Charlie and he wanted to use him for the operation. Dr. Nemur didn’t want to use him. Somehow Dr. Strauss talked Dr. Nemur into using Charlie. So Dr. Strauss was thought of a friend by Charlie. Because Strauss was nice and friendly to Charlie. But towards the end after Charlie had the operation Strauss was becoming mean to Charlie because Charlie was way smarter than him. Charlie started to notice this and no longer liked him. Charlie was kinda mad at
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.
His IQ was originally sixty-eight. But, because of the surgery, Charlie was able to learn a lot more, and he was able to comprehend and read things correctly. He eventually got smart enough to the point he was smarter than his own doctors. “Dr. Nemur appears to be uncomfortable around me. Sometimes when I try to talk to him, he just looks at me strangely and turns away. I was angry at first when Dr. Strauss told me I was giving Dr. Nemur an inferiority complex. I thought he was mocking me and I’m oversensitive at being made fun of. How was I to know that a highly respected psychoexperimentalist like Nemur was unacquainted with Hindustani and Chinese? It’s absurd when you consider the work that is being done in India and China today in the very field of this study.” “Page 130”
Strauss said that Dr. Nemur was more interested in the Chair of Psychology at Princeton than he was in the experiment. Dr. Nemur said that Dr. Strauss was nothing but an opportunist who was trying to ride to glory on his coattails” (295). This argument between the two doctors proves that Dr. Nemur especially was only invested in the surgery for his own personal gain-- and not for the benefit of Charlie. Because he was so eager to get his results out to the world and so paranoid that someone may discover a way to complete the surgery before him, he decided to rush into the surgery and didn’t take the guidance given to him by Dr. Strauss who said that they should wait. Instead, he goes ahead with the surgery and ruins Charlie’s life. REASONING? Additionally, we witness Algernon’s strange behavior which is concluded as a side-effect of the surgery. “May 23 It happened today. Algernon bit me. I visited the lab to see him as I do occasionally, and when I took him out of his cage, he snapped at my hand. I put him back and watched him for a while. He was unusually disturbed and vicious. May 24 [Algernon] is less co-operative; he refuses to run the maze any more; general motivation has decreased. Everyone is upset about what this may mean. May 25 They 're all pretending that Algernon 's behavior is not necessarily significant for me. But it 's hard to hide the fact that some of the other animals who were used in this experiment are showing strange behavior. I 've got to find the
Here, Charlie is overjoyed that he has become smart enough to finally do something he has worked so hard to do. Similarly, in the movie, Charlie is equally ecstatic about his altered intelligence, which is also shown when he beats Algernon. After winning, Charlie cheers loudly and runs all the way to the lab to notify the doctors and Miss Kinnian about his achievement. While both
This proves that Charlie cannot enjoy life as he used to, having had a taste of intelligence and seeing what the world was really like. The doctors should have felt ethically obliged to help Charlie adjust, but failed to do
Before the operation Charlie may not be very intelligent, but his is always happy with a smile on his face. Throughout the story, "Flowers for Algernon," it is easy to see how Charlie changes over time because it is evident in his progress reports. Early in the beginning of the story, he is not able to spell very well and he has trouble creatively. For example, when he is administered a Rorschach test, Charlie has a tough time understanding what the inkblots are supposed to mean. Although he is not as smart and doesn't have much creativity either, Charlie lives a happy day to day life and is better able to enjoy himself.
Charlie actually knows that he did something important by stating “Anyway I bet I'm the first dumb person in the world who found out something important for science. 245” The fact that he knows he did something important shows that he learned from the experience. Charlie even developed his own theory that helped people in the community. “ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE 240” If Charlie did not write this theory, the doctors would of kept trying to make him
Once again, Nemur was treating Charlie with no human compassion or emotion. He objectified him, and made “constant references to me [Charlie] as a laboratory specimen” (Keyes 79). Since he relied on Charlie for experimental purposes, he began to make unethical decisions and make Charlie feel
The result of gradually becoming more intelligent causes him to become over-confident and arrogant. Additionally, in the text, a quote by Charlie states, “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. That hurts the most”(Keyes 199). This quote displays his callous behavior towards an innocent boy, who was in fact, very much like Charlie.
During the experiment, Charlie’s intelligence level heavily influenced how he was treated. Before he became an intellectual, Charlie was treated with great disrespect by his acquaintances. Charlie’s coworkers used the phrase “pulling a Charlie Gordon” quite often when insulting another coworker. They used this term to describe a person as unintelligent, or stupid, much like they labeled Charlie. Initially, Charlie did not understand what the term meant, but as he became smarter, he did, and it upset him greatly. Charlie’s change of opinions affected his relationships. Before Charlie went through the experiment, he believed his coworkers, Frank and Joe, were his best friends, as they would take him to parties with them. As Charlie progresses, he realizes they only kept him around to embarrass him, and for a good laugh. (4) Suddenly, during his progression, Charlie’s coworkers take a
If you took this situation into reality, most people who are very intelligent become arrogant and selfish. This is very likely to happen to Charlie, especially because he is taking in so many intellectual abilities all at once. To add on to this theory, he will be the first man to be doing this procedure, which means the
Dr.Strauss had faith in Charlie because she knew that he could do it and in the story Dr.Strauss was a boy but in the film they had her as a girl. When Algernon had died charlie started to become less smart again like he was before and he thought that Miss. KInnian only like
“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.
First off, soon after Charlie becomes smart, he realizes that his best friends, Joe Carp and Frank Reilly, and the others at the factory where he worked, aren’t truly his friends. On page 293, Charlie writes, “It’s a funny thing I never knew Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me.” He feels sick and doesn’t go to work for a few days. He quits his job soon after and says that he had never been so lonely. Yes, before the surgery, his friends had been laughing at him, but at least he had thought they liked him for himself. At least he thought he had friends. He had been happy. And now, he’s not smart anymore, but he still remembers the emotional things he went through. He lost both his intelligence and his friends. Now, it is true that after Charlie becomes dumb again and goes back to work, Joe and