Happiness In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

Have you ever attempted something that you were really looking forward to? Something that would be a life-making opportunity for you? Well, Daniel Keyes writes about a retarded man who has a potent dream of becoming smart. This man is Charlie Gordon, or the main character in Flowers For Algernon. Becoming intelligent is Charlie's most important desire! He does not care about having to cope with any operations to make his dream happen! He struggles and perseveres throughout a big portion of his life in order to improve upon his limited abilities. Surely, the chance to become more intelligent, even if only temporary is not an evil act. It is an opportunity for him to experience a snapshot of a life with intelligence and make contributions to

Before the operation, Charlie Gordon, from Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, is happy. He may have a simple, pitiful existence, but he thinks his friends like him, and enjoys being with them and Miss Kinnian at the Learning Center for Slow Adults. However, Charlie wants to be smart, the one dark cloud in his sunny sky of life. Because of this, Charlie volunteers for an operation to triple his IQ of 68. With a high IQ comes awareness of the world around him, so Charlie suddenly becomes conscious of his previously pitiful existence which leads to a slew of feelings such as embarrassment, shame, and superiority. Charlie thinks that becoming smart will make him happy and well-liked, but the operation works the opposite effect. Charlie starts to look down on everyone, and cannot socialize with others because of his IQ. As a result, Charlie becomes almost depressed. His depression deepens when Charlie discovers that his intelligence will not be permanent. Soon, Charlie regresses to his former childlike mentality. Although at the end of the novel, Charlie does not find himself any worse off after the operation, the few months he spent smarter are not terribly enjoyable for him, and his changing mentality negatively impacts those he is close to, namely Miss Kinnian. Because the effects are not permanent, Charlie would be far better off without the operation.

Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a piece of literature that asseverates that perhaps intelligence is a seamless fundamental. Precisely, for 34 old Charlie Gordon who initially wants to attain intelligence because he has been dimwitted throughout his whole entire life. Mr.Gordon is given an opportunity to be chosen for an operation. Fortunately for Mr. Gordon he happens to be the perfect candidate for the operation that will result to be semi-successful. As for Charley a 1968 film that portrays a 34 year old who seeks

“Eagar, Determined, and Motivated:” these three words describe Charlie Gordon in Daniel Keyes’s story “Flowers for Algernon”. Daniel Keyes writes about a thirty two year old man with a low IQ (Charlie Gordon) who strives to become “normal”. Charlie will do anything to become smarter even letting two doctors preform brain surgery to enhance his learning capability. Charlie evolves throughout the novel and by the end of his journey although his IQ is low he is a more complete person. He learns the true meaning of friendship and demonstrates intellectual growth as a person by overcoming obstacles and understanding various lessons.

In the heart wrenching story Flowers for Algernon there is a man, Charlie Gordon who has an IQ of 68 and was berated because of this. However he does undergo an operation to triple his IQ to a staggering 204 nevertheless the operation didn’t work out in which the man went back to the IQ of 68. Through Charlies’ journey of being berated of his mental slowness, then becoming a genius and being shunned, to losing it all there was people who felt guilty.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things”, -Henry Miller. When one reads this quote, it may have a different meaning to them than to others. To Charlie Gordon, it practically defines his life journey. In the shorty story “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie Gordon is a main who obtains an IQ of 68, and desires to be smart. Charlie finally gets his dream one day by partaking in an intelligence enhancing operation. His perspective of life is much different before and after the surgery. Although Charlie seems happy before the surgery, Charlie is able to apprehend reality through a “pair of new eyes”, regarding the operation. Three arguments why Charlie’s emotions are happier following the surgery are: He learns about lies he had in life, Charlie had a positive learning experience, and Charlie discerns his full potential.

Have you ever wanted to know several languages, be able to learn everything easily, or even have an IQ of at least 200? Charlie Gordon, in the story “Flowers for Algernon,” was a man who had an IQ of 68, but he went through a surgery that made him smarter than his own teacher at a school for the mentally challenged, and his own doctors. Charlie’s IQ was tripled after the surgery once he began to practice different languages as well as the English language. Charlie soon reverted to his former self at the end of the story, and this tripled intelligence that he possessed once before was soon back to the IQ of 68 Charlie had it easier in life after the surgery.

He wears glasses but only for watching T.V. and movies. Charlie has a great motive because all he wants is to be smart for example, "After the operashun I'm gonna try to be smart. I'm gonna try awful hard. (p.11)". Charlie, being intellectually disabled, doesn't understand things, making him constantly happy. This is because he doesn't think about life. Charlie gets bullied but thinks they're being nice to him when they do things like "He really pulled a Charlie Gordon that time. I don't know why they say it but they always laff and I laff too. (p.23)". After the operation, he had a different outlook on life. He wanted to become smart so that he could talk with his coworkers about intelligent things like politics. Although, the operation made him too smart. His way of thinking was based on facts and intelligence, rather than emotion, feelings and instinct. Charlie was a genius and they weren't. He didn't know how to control his emotion because he never knew he had them, often making him go into depression and be

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.

Do you choose intelligence over happiness? “I don’t know what’s worse, to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.” Writes Charlie Gordon (Keyes 298). In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon is a young man who struggles with mental retardation. His dream is to be intelligent so he can be like the rest of the world. Charlie goes through an experimental surgery that increases his intelligence. But the consequence of his tripled intelligence is that Charlie Gordon is not as happy as he was before surgery. Before his surgery, Charlie was oblivious to his “friends” being mean to him. After, he realized what kind of people they really were. Before surgery, Charlie’s ignorance hid him from the true, harsh reality. After surgery, Charlie’s ignorance disappeared, making him realize how fake and disappointing the world can be. Before Charlie’s surgery, he was happy, but felt oblivious to the world surrounding him. After surgery, he was pleased with his intelligence when it reached its peak. But when Charlie’s intelligence began to deteriorate, he became upset that he couldn’t think the way he could when he was smart. From the reasons stated above, In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon is better off before surgery.

Flowers for Algernon has a difficulty with technology when Charlie’s brain begins to deteriorate. Scientist Dr. Nemur and neurologist/psychiatrist Dr. Strauss did an operation on Charlie to higher his I.Q. At first, the surgery seemed to be a huge success making Charlie even more intelligent than themselves. Later in the novel, Charlie realizes his intelligence deteriorates and names it the “Algernon-Gordon Effect”. The operation did successfully able him to learn at an extreme rate although, the more he learned, the faster his new intelligence would disappear. The technology made Charlie smart for only a limited amount of time, this becomes burden on him. Charlie realized how his colleagues truly

From the inability to write out a cohesive sentence, to having a perceived IQ of over 200. Unfathomable in this claim in today's understanding but in the realm of science-fiction anything and everything is possible, even having the mind of one person enhanced past unimaginable levels. But with every great Triumph for every great achievement there is a downfall, a falter, a end to the regime...and in Charlie's case it was one that tore at the cords in our heart, the very fiber of our soul, and almost made us wish we didn't embark on this emotional roller-coaster that is "Flowers for Algernon". As the story progresses notice Charlie speech becoming more intelligent and his sentence going from completely missed spelled out of order and very basic, to becoming as complex as that of postdoctoral research paper. We as readers see his rise along with animal test subjects the smartest among them being a small white rat named Algernon, and together they both experience this exponential rise to intelligence, but as the readers ill prepared for what was to come, we see the small white rat Algernon losing his intelligence...

Donner. Charlie thought of the men who also worked at the bakery to be his friends. One day the men at the bakery asked him to attend a party with them; gladly Charlie accepted. When the men took Charlie to the party they mistreated him. They finally decided they were done teasing Charlie and so they abandoned him." I don't remember how the party was over but they asked me to go around the corner to see if it was raining and when I came back there was no one their. Maybe they went to find me. I looked for them all over until it was late." (Keyes 30) When Charlie went to the parties with the men from his work he did not realize they are laughing at him instead of laughing with him. Soon after Charlie's operation he progressively becomes smarter. After he became smart his friends found no pleasure in teasing him, so they ignored him and would not talk to him. Mr. Donner thought it would be best to let Charlie go so he could find a better job. When Charlie's operation faded he went back to the way he was before the operation. Mr. Donner offered him his job back at the bakery and Charlie was glad to accept. Now that all the men from the bakery knew why Charlie suddenly became smart they decided to treat Charlie fair. When Charlie went back to work there was a man who was very rude to Charlie, " But then Joe Carp came in and grabbed Klause by the

“Before, they had laughed at me, despising me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hated me for my knowledge and understanding… This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I knew and loved…” (Keyes 108) . Charlie finds that even after his operation, there are still barriers between him and his coworkers, acquaintances, and family. “...language is sometimes a barrier instead of a pathway. Ironic to find myself on the other side of the intellectual fence.” (Keyes 114). This idea that language is also a barrier is significant because it shapes Charlie’s relationships with Professor Nemur and Dr.Strauss. “... he has succumbed to arrogance and superiority over those who have provided the opportunity for his intellectual development.” (Wroble). This criticism describes the effects of the growth of Charlie’s ego as his IQ grows too. Not only does Charlie face an intellectual barrier, but also faces an emotional

Most people think that being smart is the best thing someone can have and having intellectual greatness is the key to happiness. However, in Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie learns that intelligence does not equal happiness. After Charlie gets an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence, Charlie learns an important lesson. Charlie’s friendships, situations, and conclusions he draws in his writings teach him that he does not need to be smart to be happy.