Flowers for Algernon is about a 32 year old man named Charlie Gordon who has a mental disability. He was abandoned by his parents when he was a child. Charlie’s parents sent him away to Warren State Home, which is a place for retarded people who can not live on their own. Charlie started to attend Beekman University, where there was a special program for retarded adults. One day, two scientists, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, came to Charlie’s teacher, Alice Kinnian. They came up with an experiment to make retarded people smart, and they wanted to use Charlie in the experiment. Charlie wanted to be smart, so he encouraged the scientists to use him in the experiment, even though Miss Kinnian was not fond of using Charlie in the experiment. (Keyes, 2004) Before the operation could occur, Charlie went through a series of tests to see what he knew and could think of. One of the tests involved a mouse named Algernon, who went through the same operation that Charlie was getting ready to go through. Algernon was a smart mouse, and Charlie had to try to beat him in a race through a maze. Algernon won every time, and Charlie began to hate the mouse. After all the tests, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss decided Charlie would be great to use in the experiment. The two scientists told Charlie to write everyone he could think of, and they called them progress reports. At the beginning of the book, Charlie’s progress reports have many misspelled words and improper grammar. After the
There are several differences and similarities in the book Flowers for Algernon versus the movie. Some of the many similarities are, Charlie’s co-workers are extremely rude to him, tease him, and play tricks on him while they’re at work. His co-workers also made a petition to fire Charlie when they found out that Charlie is no longer “dumb” and is getting smarter and won’t fall for their tricks anymore. Another similarity is that in the movie just like the book, Charlie also mentions that, “why is it that people think it’s okay to laugh at people with mental disabilities yet they don’t laugh at people with physical disabilities. He got this conclusion because when he was at a bar he noticed a dishwasher, who had a mental disability, dop and
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
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
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.
“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.
As a consequence, having the operation created the chance for unpredictable and unwanted outcomes. Charlie was the first human patient for the experiment. Since the doctors have never tried the operation on a human being before, the chances for making mistakes are higher. This was proven as Algernon soon experiences side effects as his intelligence regresses and he eventually passes away. Soon, Charlie also regresses back to his original intelligence state. In conclusion, having the operation created unpredictable and unwanted outcomes. I inferred that Charlie wouldn’t die like Algernon did because the last line in the book in which he asks that someone puts flowers on Algernon's grave shows that he hasn't lost 100% of his memory of what happened. The fact that he remembers Algernon and his meticulous ritual of placing flowers on his grave shows that with repetition and reminders, he does have the capacity to recall details about the time he spent with intelligence. It's there somewhere in his subconscious, just like his childhood memories were before. While Charlie maintains most of his intelligence, 16 days after Algernon bit Charlie, Algernon died. And even after 13 days realizing his intelligence is regressing, he isn't showing signs of sickness, just showing that he is absentminded. Having all these different factors influenced all these different outcomes. In
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes is not your average book. It is written in a progress report format, and from the point of view of a mentally challenged man named Charlie Gordon. During the book, you follow Charlie's life before, during, and after he has an operation to make him smarter. It contains a lot of themes, but the theme that stuck out the most was both harm and good can come from technology.
The Truth The worst thing about being lied to is to harshly learn the truth sooner or later. At least that's what the protagonists of the book The Giver and story “Flowers for Algernon” had to learn in the middle of their journeys. Jonas from The Giver and Charlie from “Flowers for Algernon” both didn't know the truth behind most things in their everyday lives. Jonas and his community were all being kept away from many common things like love, colors, animals, etc. While Charlie on the other other hand, has a mental disability which made him not able to see the truth behind how the world was treating him.
In Chicago, both Algernon and Charlie are presented to show how well the experiment was going. In the book, Algernon were presented and asked questions. In the movie, however, after they show a video clip of Charlie before he got the operation, he comes up and gives a speech. During his speech he said things about how he was lied to, how people were making fun of him, and how people were mistreating him. His speech ended when he got up and all of the animals out of their cages.
Intelligence is like a key, opening new doors and passages, unique ways of seeing the world. Intelligence makes people aware of their surroundings. Charlie Gordon, the main character in Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, started the story as an intellectually underdeveloped man who had an Intelligence Quotient of 68. He attends a night school for “ slow adults”, which is taught by Mrs. Kinnian . When Charlie is offered the opportunity to receive an experimental surgery, which claims that it will triple the participant’s Intelligence quotient, he accepts it.
The main character in the story “Flowers for Algernon”, by Daniel Keyes, can be compared to a blind person. They can not experience world in way that all people should have the chance to. His name is Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled 37 year old man. Charlie is chosen for an operation that could allegedly make him smarter. However, after he becomes intelligent from the surgery, he then regresses to his original state. A test subjects symptoms show that he will have health problems and then die.Charlie should have had the surgery because he could finally see the world around him and fulfill his goal; to be smart.
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
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.
The scientists at the lab report to Charlie that he and Algernon are to be taken to Chicago for a convention, in which the head scientist will present the findings of his team. Once they arrive, Charlie and Algernon are the prime “exhibits” and Charlie is humiliated by some remarks made. He also discovers that the researchers had not given sufficient time to verify their results of Algernon before performing the experiment on Charlie. Charlie and Algernon run away to New York, and Charlie decides his time is probably short, and begins to try and trace the reasons for his experiments’ failure. Alice and Charlie cannot overcome their problems, and she is forced to move on. He soon gets involved with Fay, his neighbor and unconventional artist. Around her, he is able to defeat his inhibitions. But as Charlie’s work becomes harder and more time constraining, they too break up.