Flowers For Algernon Ethics Essay

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 story Flowers For Algernon is about a man named Charlie. He has a low IQ of 68. He wants to be chosen to under go an experiment to make him smart. Ethics is what is right and wrong, mainly right. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the sugary to make him smarter. They were unethical by not telling him the risks

Irony happens in a lot of places in the stories Flowers for Algernon and The Necklace. Irony happens in The Necklace when Mathilde loses her friends Necklace she bought a 36 thousand franc necklace. Meanwhile, the necklace that she actually lost was only worth about 500 francs. In The Necklace, the irony is shown when “Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took her hands. “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was at the very most five hundred francs!..” (Maupassant, 5). It is ironic that she spent ten years paying for something that was worth less than the necklace that she bought to replace the false necklace with. There is also irony in Flowers for Algernon when Charlie is unhappy due to the operation that

The idea of changing someone's IQ is an interesting thing but Charlie a thirty seven year old man who struggles with learning and wants to be smart will become smart as a doctor gives him this chance by having a brain operation, Charlie should not have had the operation performed on him. “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes is a great sci fi short story that you can learn a lot from. Although I think Charlie should not have had the operation, some might say that he should have had it because he wanted to be smart so it gave him a taste of what being intelligent is all about. The operation done on Charlie had a negative impact on him in the end, poor doctor choses, weak animal testing and bad knowledge of the situation could leave many other

Imagine yourself as a young child. You’re extremely happy and you have little to no worries. Now imagine yourself as a teenager or adult, and you’re the exact opposite, because of school, relationships, jobs,money, or responsibility. These contrasts tie into the theme I’m about to introduce you to. This theme is expressed thoroughly in many parts of the story, Flowers For Algernon, which is “Ignorance is Bliss”. In the story, the main character Charlie Gordon undergoes an operation to gain intelligence. After a while, he finds out the operation is only temporary, which leads many negative things to his mind including stress. Two reasons this story explains great examples that “Ignorance is Bliss”, is that when you’re ignorant or unintelligent or even young, you’re upbeat and when you are smart, you endure much more stress and worries. I remember when I was young, and I had nothing to worry about in life.

Society has become a shallow place. If an individual does not fit into societies form of the normal person then they are treated differently. But does society treat those who are different in a negative or positive way? In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the author Daniel Keyes shows an in depth look at the treatment of individuals in today's society. Firstly society tends to discriminate against those whose IQ does not fit into the norms of our society. The physically handicapped in today's world are not considered to be "equal" as those who fit into the normal physical appearance, Keyes portrays this through Charlie's thoughts while in the café. Although animals are not technically humans society treats them in ways which no human would

Flowers for Algernon is about a man named Charlie who is mentally slow and not smart. Charlie had an operation to make him smart. What the doctors did was unethical.

In 1961 to 1972 the United States was using more than 19 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam. This herbicide was used to help clear out the forest lands so that the U.S soldiers could see where they were going, but did the scientist look at the long term effects? This herbicide, Agent orange cause many side effects, including 5 illnesses, different types of cancers and many more different health problems in people living in that time period and many generations to come. There is a major issue on whether scientist should be held morally responsible for the outcomes of their experiments. There are many arguments on whether scientist should be held morally responsible for the outcomes of their experiments because it is their responsibility

Recently I (and many others) have read the story “Flowers for Algernon, and the movie “Awakenings”.

Algernon, a mouse that was one of the first successful animals to undergo the operation, had been studied by Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss, though they never concluded their studies - which makes their decision to experiment on Charlie unethical. Before experimenting on a human, it is common sense to finish testing to make sure that everything is safe and definite. In the essay, ‘Take Care: There’s More to Medical Ethics Than Absence of Harm’ Eric Kodish explains that “...as complex and complicated as issues are, doctors can help by asking themselves…: What do I need to do in order to take care of this person before me?”

In the modern world, patients expect their doctors to aid them and to support them. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur conducted an intelligence enhancement experiment on a man named, Charlie Gordon and changed his life. With an IQ of sixty-eight, the scientists altered him and tripled his IQ. However, this operation has not been ethical because the procedure was abstruse to Charlie, the doctors were rushing, and Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss were acting selfishly.

One reason Charlie Gordan should never have had the experiment is the uncertainty of the outcome. Algernon is said to be the first animal to have stayed smart for so long and he is still alive (page 31). This means that the doctors and scientists did not wait until Algernon’s death to see if he actually did stay smart permanently, if there were any problems with his brain, or even if the surgery messed with his brain so much that it caused him to die early. It also means that the doctors are far too eager to test on humans, implying that they probably have more motives than just helping out mentally retarded people. Another way that the test is uncertain, is the fact that they told Charlie that they were going to use him, but they did not tell

Daniel Keyes point of view of improving intelligence by artificial means, is that he is against it. In the end he told through Charlie in an odd way that he had wished he never would have had the operation because he now people will have seen how he was once mentally challenged, then became smart and then became slower again. He was afraid that society wouldn’t accept him. "I dont want Miss. Kinnian to feel sorry for me. Evry body feels sorry at the factery and I dont want that eather so Im going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good." When Charlie went back to work he was confronted by a man who made a rude comment, but a CO-worker who used to make fun of him and set him up to fail stuck up for him. But later Charlie said that he wishes to go to New York to get away from everyone. That is where Daniel Keyes states that he wouldn’t want the operation to be done. This is the statement Charlie made: "…Im going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus…" I think that where Daniel Keyes point was made because if he (Charlie) had never had the operation, he wouldn’t be trying to get away from society, he would have never known what being a "genius" even meant. Daniel Keyes stated in the story, " It was evil when Eve listened to the snake and ate from the tree of knowledge. It was evil when she saw

Dilemmas happen everyday. Some dilemmas can be good, and some can be bad. A dilemma is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives.  In the story, Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes wrote a story about a 37 year old man named Charlie  who has a disability, he doesn't understand thing that normal people can. He then is encouraged by his teacher to get a surgery done to become smarter. Some people think that the surgery was a good idea,or some think it was a bad idea. In my opinion, I think that Charlie made the wrong decision about the surgery. Some people think that Charlie should of have the operation to make his dream come true In my opinion, I think he shouldn't have had the surgery because, people weren't expecting him to be new, it would not be permanent, and he put his life in danger.

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.