Ignorance In Charlie Gordon's Flowers For Algernon

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

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.

It has been said that intelligence and/ or knowledge can be both a curse and a blessing. The book “Frankenstein” portrays this idea perfectly. Intelligence can be a wonderful gift that brings many great things, but at what cost? Would you seek all the knowledge in the world if you knew that it would bring you only pain and suffering? These two questions help qualify the validity of the statement that intelligence or knowledge can be both a curse and a blessing.

“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.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” - Harriet Tubman. Charlie Gordon is a very welcoming, playful, and genuine man. He attends Beekman College for Retarded Adults and has a strong motivation to learn and to improve his intelligence. He dreams of being popular, and making friends. Throughout the novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon changed in many ways. Prior to his life changing operation, he was not able to grasp that the people at Donner’s Bakery were not his friends, they only spoke to him to make fun of him. Charlie acknowledged their harsh actions, and started retaliating. Charlie is a very open

Since ancient times, knowledge and wisdom have continually developed and improved. As they develop throughout time, people feel enlightened and satisfied. However, there have been plenty of instances when ignorance was truly bliss. Even in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, it states that the same amount of grief can be found in the identical amount of wisdom, and more knowledge leads to more sorrow. It is a true fact that in moments of depression, no one willingly wishes to acknowledge his or her state of distress. However, is ignorance truly better than knowledge? Would one prefer to stay thoughtless? This greatly depends on the circumstance; some situations are better left unknown.

In the movie “Flowers for Algernon”, tells a story about a man named Charlie that isn’t so smart. His dream is to become a genius. He suddenly gets picked for an experimental surgery to boost his I.Q. Alice Kinnian (Charlie’s teacher) suggest him because, of his dedication to be intelligent. The surgery is a success and Dr. Strauss was the surgeon. After Dr. Nemur helps track his intelligence and how it builds. He records most of his lessons and tests. One of the tests that he did was racing a mouse named Algernon. Charlie must complete a maze before the mouse. He fails the first couple of times ,but finally gets the hang of it. While his journey of becoming a wise man is taking place, he works at a bakery named Donneans. Many of his co workers

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.

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.

The idea of the acclaimed saying "knowledge is power" is the contradiction of the idea that ignorance is bliss. In the book, "The Great Gatsby"; authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald; it communicates the concept of ignorance being bliss by a quote by Daisy saying, "a beautiful little fool" (Fitzgerald 17). While the idea of ignorance being bliss, in this quote, is alluring, this thought is, in fact, less valid than the idea, "knowledge is power." This is because, on account of Daisy's quote, it gives the character more knowledge about what is going on around their environment and to have the capacity to recognize what is wrong with that knowledge. The saying, "knowledge is power" is more valid than the saying, "ignorance is bliss," because having more knowledge about something can give a person/main character an advantage.

When doctors are studying science and testing certain operations on patients, they could sometimes not think about the decisions or consequences about the treatment or operation. Or you could say they weren't thinking as ethically like a doctor should. Which ethically means the intelligence of ones mind and thoughts on any decisions that impact their life or another's life. Charlie Gordon is a character in the story "Flowers For Algernon", and he did not have the most intelligence. So, Doctor Nemur and Strauss took him in without thinking logically or ethically. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed surgery to make him smarter.

The story "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes, that we read in English was about a mentally retarded person, named Charlie who had an operation to increase his intelligence, but the operation was a failure and Charlie is slow again. He wants to move now so society won’t ridicule him for being slow again. Daniel Keyes wrote this short story for good reasons. Daniel Keyes wrote "Flowers for Angernon" to show people from an outside look on how we treat mentally challenged people. When you treat people as you always do, you don’t see how mean or how cruel it really may be. It could just be your personality or the way you were brought up. By him writing a story on a mentally challenged person wanting to become smart to

Intelligence can mean different things to each and every person. Intelligence is a topic scientist are still studying and have been for years. Flowers For Algernon portrays intelligence and its values in the best way ever. Flowers For Algernon has a good point of view on intelligence because it shows how intelligence can have an effect on you life style, the way you view others, and the way others view you.

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.