The Measure Of Intelligence In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

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.

Have you ever wanted to be something else? Be something you dream of? In the story, Charlie Gordon , a mentally challenged man, is faced with this question in his mind and fulfills his dreams of becoming smart, so he could be accepted, to have friends, and feel normal. Charlie taught us to never make fun of someone because they have something wrong. In this science fiction story, ¨Flowers For Algernon¨ by Daniel Keyes, Charlie, a 37 year old man had the IQ of just 68, but Charlie had potential and dreams of being smart. With A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) surgery, the doctors, and Miss Kinnian, his dreams were possible. Charlie Gordonś life was better after the surgery because he had the chance to feel smart and experience the real world

“Action is the real measure of intelligence,” (Hill). In “Flowers For Algernon” created by Daniel Keyes, An adult named Charlie Gordon had a mental disability and he had an IQ of 68. He was learning, but at a very slow rate. Charlie had brain surgery to make his IQ triple in a matter of weeks. After months his brain started degrading and he lost his intelligence. The costs wayout the benefits after Charlie’s surgery.

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.

In Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon was a thirty-two year old, mentally challenged man. Charlie got the chance to participate in an experimental operation that could make him more intelligent. The doctors who performed this experiment tested on a rat named Algernon and saw great results. Charlie believed that this operation would allow him to be what he thought was considered “normal”. He believed that being smart would make his life much easier, but as the story went on, his mind changed. Once Charlie had the surgery, he realized that intelligence wasn’t everything.

In the short story “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes leaves the reader saddened, stunned and ultimately forming questions. Keyes also highlights several characters, a particular character is a mentally disabled janitor named Charlie Gordon. He has a sixty-eight IQ, works at a paper factory in New York, and is oblivious to his surroundings. Gordon’s deepest desire is to increase his intelligence by doing an operation that has only been done on a mouse, whose name is Algernon. Soon after the operation is done, Gordon starts becoming a super-genius with more knowledge than most doctors. He understands elaborate mathematical equations and can read and write at an age beyond his years. However, his increased intelligence starts to “ware off,” Gordon starts losing huge chunks of intelligence, he is unmotivated and is overall ashamed. His three stages which include his wanting to be the one for the operation, his super genius self, and his deteriorating self-are important in Charlie Gordon’s character development.

Imagine growing up and being told you will never amount to anything, by your parents, your friends, or people who see you on the street. The book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is a story from the point of view of Charlie Gordon a 32 year old man with an extremely low IQ. He is given an opportunity to become smart and takes it in order to fit in. He becomes the first human test subject for a surgery that raises intelligence. He navigates troubles of family, relationships, work and bad news in a journey to find the real Charlie Gordon. Through “progris riports” Charlie documents his life before and after surgery and the charge that happen when he is shown a little kindness.

In the story Flowers for Algernon by Danel keys a mentaly disabled man gets and operation that makes him extreamly intelligent. As people read the story readers understand the good and the bad as a result of the experiment. The only time the experiment was practiced, was on a mouse. Charlie Gordon was the first human to experiece the operation. The desision that Charlie Gordon made to have artificial intelligence created many negitive impacts on his life.

In Daniel Keyes' novel Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon, the main character, was given something he'd wanted for his entire life, intelligence, only to have it snatched away from him after about three months, leaving him bitter and alone, even regarding what he had achieved with boosted intelligence. Charlie isn't better off in result of the surgery that increased his intelligence because of the changes in his human relationships and his overall happiness of where he currently is in his life.

¨Knowledge is having the right answer. Intelligence is asking the right questions.¨ said Albert Einstein. I wonder what he would say if he saw Charlie Gordon, a 30 year old man who is mentally disabled and undergoes a surgery to make his I.Q. tripled and if what he valued was important or not. Throughout the story ¨Flowers for Algernon¨, Charlie Gordon´s experiences shape and change him for the better.

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

In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes writes about an intellectually disabled man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie’s goal is to become intelligent. Charlie volunteered to be in a medical trial that would help him triple in intelligence. The operation did work, and Charlie’s intelligence tripled very quickly. However, very soon after, his intelligence began to quickly decline. Charlie ended up with the same amount of intelligence that he started with. Charlie Gordon is not better off as a result of the surgery. He was lonely, much more aware of his flaws, and he had much less hope at the end of the story.

Imagine if scientists and doctors can give a higher IQ to those who are mentally challenged? Well, it happened to Charlie Gordon in the novel “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. Charlie is a 32 year old man who has an IQ of only 68. Charlie has always been frustrated because he is not able to remember things or read difficult stories , he believes if he can read and write like everyone else he would be more likeable and will be able to have more friends so, when he is offered an opportunity to go through an operation to become smart he takes it, because all his life he wanted “to be smart like other pepul so I can have lots of frends who like me”.

I gave up on making friends because I felt it was selfish of me to do so when I was needed so badly at home. The times I did get the courage enough to make friends I would go to their houses and I would boil with envy and jealousy. Their parents while very loose with their rules and many of my friends being very unruly children. None the less they were still parents. I often at times felt as though you were my peer and not my mother. I often at times felt betrayed by you because you were supposed to care for me and instead I spend my days caring for you and looking after you and your broken hearts that the many men of your past left in a shatter pile.

Flowers for Algernon” is a story about man named Charlie Gordan, who is of low intelligence with an I.Q, or intelligence quotient, of only 68. He took a choice to undergo a surgery, with the recommendation from his night school teacher, which would cause his I.Q to triple, and go from 68 to 204. This was an incredible decision, and it was a colossal change in Charlie’s life. Charlie made the right choice by having the operation because he helped further scientific knowledge about the brain, and he didn’t regret it in the end.