Flowers For Algernon Essay

Flowers for Algernon is a story with hope, humor, defeat, sadness, and disappointment. Charlie is your average joe with a mental disability. He writes through a series of journal entries about his journey of coming out of the darkness of ignorance and into the bright light of intelligence. At the beginning of his trek, he was working hard to become smarter on his own but was chosen for a experimental surgery that makes people smarter. He underwent the operation and gradually his intelligence surpassed his teachers. Unfortunately the effects were not permanent and Charlie digressed into the person that he once was, knowing he was going to die like his mouse friend Algernon. He moved to New York and It is assumed that

his red fire cheeks. To them is was a harmless gag, to them Charlie was just a crippled toy, an accident to mankind. But Charlie felt naked, Charlie felt embarrassment, Charlie felt. For he wasn’t less of a human than anyone else, he wasn’t a freak show open for everyone’s entertainment. He was just born with disabilities.

The award-winning short science fiction, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, digs deep in how society reacts to different levels of intelligence. The book covers a wide variety of society from the creative minds to world-renowned scientists. When a retarded adult becomes one of those brain maniacs through a scientific operation, you get the full spectrum of what it is like personally as a handicapped person and through the minds of a genius. In the reports, you can see the progress and comparison of Charlie’s realization towards other people’s capability of intelligence.

Additionally, Charlie now has a chance to be smart. This operation allows Charlie's IQ to triple. Since Mrs.Kinnian suggested Charlie he got a chance to experience true intelligence, and love. After the operation, he was able to comprehend more than the doctors, who were before smarter than him.

People now days treat others with disrespect and look down upon on other who are mentally challenged, and this is not right. In the story “ Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie gets the opportunity to get an operation that could potentially make him smarter. The bad news is it could have side effects and he could lose everything he has learned from the operation and it not work. I believe in this story Charlie should have gotten the operation.

Charlie should not have had the operation because it ruined his relationships. After the operation, when Charlie reached genius level, he realized “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved” (235). As Charlie’s intelligence started to progress, he began realizing that those he once called friends, thought he was just a joke. Since Charlie was not as smart as the people around him, he did not

The Experiment People all around the world are affected by mental disorders and they all wonder what is it like to be normal. In the excerpt, Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes, Charlie a 37 year old man with mental disability, that agrees to have a surgery to make him one of the smartest people in the world. Charlie Gordon goes through love and heartbreak. He also learns many new things. This story will touch your heart.

Being educated and learning are an essential to a “normal” lifestyle. In the novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie has learned exceptionally quickly after the operation and impresses everyone with his quick learning skills. “... Charlie I dont know how you done it but it looks like you finally learned something.

The novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is an excellent written novel that has deep meaning to it. The novel is about a 32 year old man named Charlie Gordon who is mentally disabled, and he goes through a medical procedure which enhances his knowledge. Throughout the novel, all Charlie wants to be is normal. Charlie just wants to fit in, have friends, and make his parents proud. Charlie is the first person ever to go through this surgery so he is going through a journey that only he has experienced. In the novel, Charlie's operation is based off of a similar operation that was performed on a mouse called Algernon and the things that happen to Algernon usually end up happening to Charlie. As Charlie's intelligence increases he goes through struggles that affect his relationships and his views on life. Charlie experiences and remembers things that have happened previously in his life and his ultimate goal is to learn his past. At the end of the novel Charlie starts to lose his intelligence which results in his ultimate demise. Depending on the situation, ignorance is bliss, however, there are other scenarios where knowing the whole truth regardless of the consequences is also beneficial.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27. (N/a., King James Bible Online) In the book Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a thirty-two year old man named Charlie Gordon, who suffers from a metal disability, has the motive to become more intelligent and to gain more friends. To complete his wish, he undergoes a life threating surgery. There are many reasons why it was not ethical for Charlie to have the surgery.

Plato once stated,”Necessity is the mother of invention,”He meant our needs help to create inventions. People invent things to help make our lives easier. Many inventions make our lives better by addressing a problem that we might have, but often there are bad side affects to all this technology. Even though technology is a great thing and gets better and better every day is it really helping our society or is it hurting our society.

In the science fiction novel, Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should not have had the option to have the operation to make him intelligent. Charlie was better off before the operation because at the end of the book, he returned to his old self. For example, “I dont know why Im dumb agen or what I did wrong maybe its becaus I dint try hard enuff.” This shows that Charlie’s grammar has regressed. This proves that the operation was not needed because Charlie returned to his normal self. Charlie was better off before the operation because he was fired from his job. When Charlie became intelligent, all the workers signed a petition, to get Charlie fired, because he was too smart. This shows that the operation was not needed because he lost his job and his

Daniel Keyes decided to use Charlie Gordon as a symbol of motivation. Before the plot twist, he was a friendly man who sees the good in everything and puts trusts in his friends. But his lack of intelligence makes it impossible for him to truly see that his ‘friends’ are victimizing him. And was given the opportunity to let the doctors operate on his brain to help him to get smarter gradually. After the operation, Charlie became smarter and smarter.

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

Daniel Keyes was born on August 9, 1972. He grew up in New York and attended New York University briefly before joining the United States Maritime Service at 17, working as a ship's purser on oil tankers. Many of his works were published in the New York newspapers. The inspiration for Flowers for Algernon struck while he was waiting for a train in 1945. His book was created on the single thought, “What would happen if it were possible to increase a person’s intelligence?” Fifteen years later, the thought grew into a novella which was published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1959. It also won the Hugo Award for best short story in 1960. In 1966, Keyes expanded it into a novel which tied for the Nebula