Quotes For Algernon Charlie

To begin, one of the biggest reasons that Charlie would’ve been better off having never gotten the surgery is so he wouldn’t have to deal with knowing what great intelligence is like, but then having to go back to being naïve and dumb again. In the story Flowers for Algernon, Keyes says, “I learned so much so fast. Now my mind is deteriorating rapidly. I won’t let it happen. I’ll fight it. I can’t help thinking of the boy in the restaurant, the blank expression, the silly smile, the people laughing at him. No- please- not that again…” (303) This shows that Charlie realizes his mental capabilities are deteriorating and

In the book, Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is an adult in his thirties, who has an IQ of 68. Unlike most adults in his situation, he is really motivated to learn new things and to get more intelligent. Eventually, he gets the attention of Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss, who think that Charlie is the perfect candidate for an experimental operation that will triple his IQ, making him a genius. Charlie goes through with the procedure, but eventually it backfires and he starts regressing, until he is as dumb as he was before the operation. I think that Charlie should definitely have the surgery for a couple of reasons. Charlie wants to become smart, and thus he deserves it, and he can use his knowledge in the subject to

After the operation, in only a couple of months, Charlie starts showing signs of new intelligence. His grammar, improved, and he is able to reflect on what his does in the past something he wasn’t able to do before. He had finally gotten something use had always desired. Then, everything and everyone turned on him. In “PROGRESS REPORT 12” April 30th (pg. 60) Charlie writes: “now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding. What in the name of god do they want of me? They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I more alone than ever before…” Charlie got what he always wanted, and now he lost everything he had. It was a sacrifice it sounded like he didn’t want to make. I can tell just be the tone of his writing. This shows that we should embrace everything that we have. Charlie didn’t embrace everything, although he appreciated most of the thing he never became happy not being able to just enjoy life as it is.

Even though it was Charlies idea to do the operation it was not an ethical decision perform the experiment to enhance his intelligent by 3. the doctors knew about the all the risks of doing the experiment but still the did it any way without informing Charlie. That is the reason that the doctors ruined Charlies life. And that is the reason that Charlies doctors did not make an ethical

means.” Charlie was the same way to before the surgery, because in one of his earlier progress reports pre-surgery, Charlie stated, “I told them because all my life I wanted to be smart and not dumb.” Before and after the surgery, Charlie is unintelligent which means he didn’t gain anything from the surgery, but maybe a blip of being smart. Therefore, Charlie is better off before the surgery because then he wouldn’t have to go through all the studying and learning he did after the surgery for nothing.

My first reason why Charlie shouldn’t have done the surgery is because the doctors didn’t wait till Algernon died to see if the operation was successful. On page 184 the doctors raced Algernon and Charlie against

Charlie had a chance to learn and do things that most people wouldn't have a chance to do in a lifetime, even if it was for a short time. After Charlie's regression he continued to try to become intelligent again, however, Charlie had said himself that he was grateful when he said, "Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a little bit (Keyes 245) [Sic]." You have to understand that, with a mindset like this, you know you have done the right thing. Charlie was grateful for his chance to be smart and was thoroughly pleased with his decision. Nothing can be more favorable than the joyous feeling of gratitude. It can be compared to getting the gift you always wanted for Christmas, or when someone gives you a sincere smile that will brighten any bad day. This must have been what Charlie had been feeling in order to be this grateful. Another piece of evidence to prove this point is when Dr Nermur had said that Charlie was, "trying to cram a lifetime of research and thought into a few weeks (Keyes 238)." Both Charlie and Dr. Nemur both know that he was capable of this, and so much more. After the operation Charlie was super intelligent and grew the ability to understand more things socially, which is what he wanted the most, to be able to understand his friends and be smart like them, two of his greatest desires in one stone.

When he finally got smart, his friends were scared of him. If he knew that his outside life could be affected by the operation, he might not have done it. The doctors just wanted Charlie

One reason why the operation on Charlie was unethical was that he could not fully grasp the concept of the procedure. For example, in Progress Report 1, Charlie wrote that Miss Kinnian, Charlie's teacher, told him about the procedure and he jotted down, "I hope [Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur] use me ... I want to be smart[sic]" (Keyes 514). To receive the operation was Charlie's dream because he wanted to enhance his intelligence, however, that was all he knew about the procedure. Since Charlie had a low intelligence, he could not see the pros and cons of the surgery, only what he wanted, which was to become smart, making the operation unethical. Also, in Progress Report 3, Charlie recorded his past on how people would ask him why he wanted to become smart. "I told them becaus all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb ... I dont care if it herts[sic]" (Keyes 515). Being born with low intelligence made Charlie yearn to get smarter. However, because getting smarter

Charlie was better off after the surgery bc, He was 3x smarter then the doctors. In the beginning of the story charlie was saying how the doctors was smart in all that. Then, he realize that some of the stuff charlie knew the doctors didn’t even know he was also to beat algernon in the mazes. Charlie said” I beat algernon”!

Charlie was better off before the surgery. The reason is because he was more happier than. It says, “It was like a race with a white mouse. They called him Algernon”(115). This makes him happy because he has never gotten the chance to race a mouse before.

The surgery had already been tried by another scientist and did not work. So, the scientists performing the surgery knew that it had a very slim chance of successful working, but decided to precede with it. Also, I believe it was not the best decision for Charlie to get the surgery because Charlie starts to become emotionally unstable. He goes on an emotional roller coaster, going from happy Charlie Gordon, to an emotionally unstable man.

In this quote, it shows that he indeed is becoming smart and that the surgery worked. Before the surgery, Charlie did not even come close to beating Algernon at all, much less beating him once, then “8 more times” too. This confirms that Charlie’s first win was not just a lucky shot, but that he genuinely can beat him whenever wherever all because of the surgery. Though he may not realize it particularly in the following text, he is still acquiring what he has wanted for his whole life. If Charlie did not accept to have the surgery then he probably never would have been able to fulfill his wish to the level he is after the surgery.

If there are more negatives than positives that the action is not worth it. “Thats why Im going away from New York for good. I dont want to do nothing like that agian.” (Keyes, 245) Charlie does not want to experience what he went through again. He does not want to see the people that he trusted so much only to realize that they were making fun of him. Because of the surgery there were effects and consequences that were unforeseen. The doctors did not expect algernon to die, they did not expect everything to go away. Charlie experienced all of that only to want to get away and escape.

Charlie’s doctors taking advantage of him is another reason why Charlie shouldn’t have had the operation. Charlie isn’t very smart, and the doctors used this opportunity to experiment on Charlie. For instance, Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur told Charlie that he would be used for the operation, but they didn’t give him much time to think about it. Also, the doctors didn’t tell Charlie some of the side effects. Specifically the painful migraines that Charlie experienced. Charlie went into the operation room in the laboratory not knowing if he would be harmed in the future or not. Lastly, Charlie could have died. This was the first brain surgery performed on a human. The only other person was Algernon, a rat, that ended up dying. Charlie once said,