Flowers For Algernon Essay

“I wanted to race algernon some more but Burt said thats enough for one day. They let me hold him for a minit. Hes not so bad,” (Keyes 120). Charlie Gordon has a good heart, but a very low intelligence. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is eager for a surgery that will hopefully triple his IQ and make him much more intelligent than the average man. After Charlie gets his operation, he meets a lab animal, a mouse named Algernon, who has had the same operation that Charlie had. Dr. Strauss, the man who started this all, has Charlie and Algernon race to solve mazes that measure Charlie's intellectual growth, which increases proving the operation successful. Daniel Keyes focused on multiple craft moves: simile, foreshadow, and personification to give the reader a way to associate the story with ways that they can relate to.

As Charlie's intelligence increases he thinks that he will be more liked the higher his intelligence climbs, but later Charlie discovers that whether you are of lower intelligence then most of the population or of higher intelligence you still will not quite fit in. "I've discovered that no one really cares for Charlie Gordon whether he is a moron or a genius. (Keyes 172) Charlie's relationship with Alice also shows how whether he is of extreme low extreme high intellect he still cannot communicate with her the way he needs to. " I'm just as far away from Alice with an I.Q of 185 then when I had an IQ of 70" (Keyes 88). In today's society if a persons thoughts slightly differ from those of the majority of the population then they will be scrutinized and shunned from the others. People are not willing to look at an idea through a different perspective and this is shown in Flowers For Algernon, when Charlie discovers the fault in Dr. Nemur's experiment and confronts him about it, Dr. Nemur treats him like the old Charlie who is to mentally challenged to be correct. It is repeated numerous times during the novel that Charlie was "created" by the experiment and was not a "human being" because of his below 100 IQ before the operation. "I'm a human being, a person- with parents and memories and a history- and I was before you ever wheeled me into that operating room." (Keyes 112). Society needs to learn that even those who are different then most of us still are humans and

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.

Charlie Gordon was born with an extremely low IQ and although he may not realize all that is going on around him, he does realize that he is not smart. More than anything he wants to learn to read and write and impress his family and co-workers. That opportunity comes along for Charlie and although he does not understand the consequences fully, he takes it. Charlie was not going to just go to school and learn to "be smart" because he did not have the capability, although he went to a class for retarded adults three times a week. Instead his teacher suggested he talk to Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur who were looking for a retarded adult to test a new operation on to enhance the IQ of not only retarded people, but later for people with average IQ levels and even geniuses, to further knowledge for the human race. Although the operation did work, it did not last and Charlie was left struggling to hold onto the knowledge he had acquired over the few months where his IQ had increased three fold, then dropped again. This experiment was dangerous and unethical. It affected Charlie

Change. Chances are, we’ve all experienced some kind of it throughout our lives. In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon goes through monumental changes with the help of his friend Algernon, a lab mouse who has recently experienced the same surgery as Charlie. Throughout this essay, I’ll describe these changes and how they shaped Charlie and Algernon. At the beginning of the book, Charlie was not intelligent at all.

I have just concluded my reading of the astounding book Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Throughout the journey of reading this book, I was deeply devoted to learning everything I could about the characters, and their unique personalities, the plot, the imagery, and the overall theme of the book. This book is about a 30 year old man named Charlie Gordon. In the book, the reader follows him through life while he is navigating his circumstances of being born with a brain defect. This brain defect causes Charlie to have an incredibly low IQ, and it holds him back from maturing when he is supposed to. But then, a possible miracle is placed at his feet. He is chosen to take part in an experimental project that aims to dramatically improve

Someone's mental capacity often judges what they can and cannot do in life. And we do what we are told based on general social norms. Based on the text and story of “Flowers for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keyes, we, as the audience, see a man with an I.Q of 68 with a dream to be smart and normal like the society he knows. Once this man gets the offer to genetically change this, he accepts the offer, keeping his dreams in mind.

The main character in the story “Flowers for Algernon”, by Daniel Keyes, can be compared to a blind person. They can not experience world in way that all people should have the chance to. His name is Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled 37 year old man. Charlie is chosen for an operation that could allegedly make him smarter. However, after he becomes intelligent from the surgery, he then regresses to his original state. A test subjects symptoms show that he will have health problems and then die.Charlie should have had the surgery because he could finally see the world around him and fulfill his goal; to be smart.

In the science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon, the main character is a mentally challenged man named Charly. He is a very kind man who works as a janitor at the box factory. However, he feels as if he is held back by his low IQ. Finally he is offered an opportunity to be the first human subject to have a surgery for increased intelligence. After having the surgery, things quickly progress. Charly is suddenly flung into a world where he falls in love, can beat Algernon the mouse in the maze, and remember information quickly. Everything seems to

This story perfectly reflects the complex element to being a human. As Charlie gains super-intelligence, he finds himself no better off with his factory colleagues and Ms. Kinnian. In fact, this situation gets worse. These people are frightened and upset at the sudden change that was Charlie’s mental capacity; so much so, that his peers had him fired from his job, and Ms. Kinnian becomes too upset to talk to him. Later on in the story, Charlie decides it would be best for him to leave the area altogether, as he believes the damage couldn’t be undone. In a way this is really ironic and funny; Charlie becomes smarter and thinks people will like him more that way, though really he was liked more when he was dumber. Flowers for Algernon does such a good job of being detailed and complex with it’s characters’ actions and

“Flowers for Algernon” “Flowers for Algernon” is a very interesting and emotional short story written by Daniel Keyes. His main focus is on a man named Charlie Gordon who for all his life has wanted to be smart like normal people yet learns that being smart doesn’t solve all of your problems. This is one of the best short stories I have ever read. Some main things about Keyes writing that I particularly thought he did well were his themes, the development of the characters in the story, and the point of view he used to make you have an emotion connect to the story. One of the themes I noticed in this story is perseverance.

There are more than eight emotions in a human body such as fear, anger, sadness, joy, disgust, trust, anticipation and surprise. In the novel “Flower for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled man of thirty-two years old and his instructor embark him to be the “lab rat” of an experiment because he really wants to learn. During the novel, his feelings are being introduce in his life because he did not have any before he grew up and became cleverer. In parallel with him, the scientists are also testing this new experience on Algernon, a mouse who is capable to do a maze because of the experiment. Charlie’s teacher is Mrs. Kinnian and they both developed a relationship that did not work. Charlie’s IQ was too high for Mrs. Kinnian. Slightly, at the end of the book, Algernon is starting to degenerate and so Charlie does too. In Charlie’s life, emotions are taking over knowledge because it helps him to develop friendship, feelings and love.

Before Charlie had his operation done to make him smarter, he absolutely despised Algernon. “I had lots of tests and different kinds of races with Algernon. I hate that mouse.” Charlie hated Algernon because he would always beat him in all the tests and races they did together. Algernon would make Charlie feel dumber when he would constantly destroy him in every race. Beating Charlie almost became

Throughout the novel Charlie’s personality and intelligence level changes a lot. In the beginning Charlie is happy, has friends, he’s retarded, and can’t remember a lot of things. “I fergot his last name because I dont remebir so good.” (Keyes 2),

In Daniel Keyes’ compelling novel, Flowers for Algernon, the main character undergoes both important emotional and physical changes. The book has an interesting twist, as it is described in the characters “progress reports”. This book has a science fiction undertone, and takes place in exciting New York City. As the novel begins, the main character, Charlie Jordan is thirty-two years old, but cannot remember anything from his childhood.