Flowers for Algernon is a short fictional story that is written in the form of a journal by Charlie Gordon, a man with a clearly illustrated learning disability. In this story Charlie Gordon was picked as the first human and second test subject for an experiment that was meant to triple any ones IQ level. Dr. Strauss tells Charlie Gordon to write Progress Reports about his days and this is how the story is presented to the reader. When Charlie Gordon has his surgery that was meant to make him starter, did he actually get smarter, or does he only perceive that he gets smarter? Since it is said early on that Charlie Gordon has always wanted to be smart, maybe this is his minds way of escaping his everyday life and becoming a genius, just to …show more content…
Strauss and Nemur have Charlie watch while he sleeps. These videos leek into Charlie's subconscious and aid him in perceiving his alternative reality. But then how could Miss Kinnian possibly communicate to Charlie, if he is actually speaking gibberish. Charlie's mind is so heavily attached to Miss Kinnian, as she is truly the closest thing to him. This attachment can be compared to a baby duck and the duck's mother or something that the duck imprinted on. Maybe Charlie has actually imprinted on Miss Kinnian. This leads to my explanation of this question, Charlie's mind can not completely separate Charlie from Miss Kinnian without complete sadness and depression, so his mind instead tries to slowly take away parts of Miss Kinnian, which does not take away a lot of sadness, and does not give him a lot of happiness. If his mind perceived Miss Kinnian to be as much of a genius as Charlie, he would be very happy because there is finally someone to understand him. This might even break his dream state and he would be sad because he has no hope that anyone understands him. So when Charlie perceives that he is talking about complex math theories, he perceives that Miss Kinnian actually replies to him, instead of having her stare at him blankly like almost everyone
The protagonist of Daniel Keyes’ Science Fiction short story, “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie Gordon should not have gotten the experiment. Charlie would have lost everyone he held dear, such as Miss Kinnian because he held a strong bond with her.As well as people he holds dear, his IQ dropped well below what it was before hand. Charlie had made a
Once Charlie was at his full capacity of an IQ of 204, he decided not to let his intelligence go to waste. He chose to study in the field of artificial intelligence. In the text it says “Tomorrow, I will discuss with Dr. Strauss the manner in which I can work in this area. I may be able to help him work out the problems of widespread use of the technique used on me. I have good ideas of my own.” (Keyes 238). This quote goes to show that Charlie was going to and did contribute to the real world and science, by coming up with ideas and solving problems. This saved so many people from disappointment. Charlie really did help many people in science and the real
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.
Charlie getting smarter helps him see Miss Kinnian in a different way. “ I’m in love with Miss Kinnian.” He shows that he can see her differently after the surgery. Before the surgery, he assumed that Miss Kinnian was an older woman that was nice and taught slower people like himself.
Charlie may have had some disadvantages to his tripled IQ, such as the struggle of talking to regular people, but he was better off with the surgery; everything was easier for Charlie. If the surgery’s effects lasted forever, he would have had everything easy. He’d have a good life, a better job, and he would be with Ms. Kinnian rather than see her as just a teacher, like his former self did. He would notice whenever someone made fun of him, or bullied him. Charlie was much more aware of various things after the surgery, so in general, Charlie was better off with the effects after the
In the story "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon had a brain operation that would boost his IQ by 3x the amount he had already had. Charlie, being a man with an IQ of 68, had a major change in thought. He not only grew intellectually, but he grew emotionally too. That is what I am here to prove to you today. Now there may be some controversy on this topic but, based upon the context we can only assume that over all, the operation was more beneficial to Charlie than it was harmful, this is mainly because it gave Charlie a chance to have a taste of intelligence, which is what he had always wanted, and it strengthened his friendships, that is beneficial because any strong relationship is worth so much more than a simple one.
Charlie Gordon made advancements in Science, he was able to read and understand books, and become adult mature. Charlie made advancements in Science. This takes place when Charlie Gordon finds what is happening to Algernon which is going to happen to Charlie too. A support for this reason is, “The unforeseen development, which I have taken the liberty of calling the Algernon-Gordon effect, is the logical extension of the entire intelligence speedup. The hypothesis here proven may be described simply in the following terms: Artificially increased intelligence deteriorates at a rate of time directly proportional to the quantity of increase” (Keyes 240).
Before his brain operation, Charlie Gordon was made fun of due to his low IQ by his coworkers and other members of his community. Whenever anybody had done something they would regard as ‘stupid’, his so-called friends would say they “pull[ed] a Charlie Gordon” [Keyes 293]. Gordon, in his feeble-minded phase of the novel, was the running gag of his neighbours and coworkers. Whenever a member of the community would ridicule Charlie, “they always laft” [Keyes, 289] but he “do[esn’t] know why they say that” [Keyes 289].
Every day, people go through operations and sometimes experience unpredicted and unwanted outcomes. The story, Flowers for Algernon, is exactly like that. In this story, a 37 year old man, named Charlie Gordon, has a mental disability and participates in an operation/experiment to increase his knowledge. After taking part in the operation, Charlie’s intellect gradually escalates to a genius status. Charlie, the man who had an IQ of 68, was slowly maturing mentally and he started seeing the world with a whole new different perspective. However, near the end of the story, his brain regresses back to where he started from. Charlie shouldn't have taken part in the operation: he started seeing the world in a different perspective, he
Why did Charlie want to become smarter? Charlie Gordon wanted to be smarter so he got a brain operation and he learned a lot faster than normal and then started loosing what he learned and what he knew before the operation. In the story, “Flowers for Algernon” Daniel Keyes explains that a person should not compare his/her intelligance with others.
When Charlie was intelligent he often got irritated at the doctors because they weren’t as smart as him. He had also dealt with a lot of emotion with Miss Kinnian, Charlie was in love with Miss Kinnian. When he regressed, he was embarrassed to see her because he thought she would think he was dumb. When Charlie was at a diner, he saw a kid with disabilities, and everyone was laughing at him and so was Charlie. He was upset with himself that he laughed at him because that kid was him before he had the surgery to make him smart.
In Flowers for Algernon, the main character, Charlie Gordon is a 32 year old who is mentally disabled. He has been living his life thus far with an IQ of sixty-eight. Although Charlie is not smart, he is very happy, but being happy does not always mean being content, and Charlie is a perfect example of this. Charlies teacher, Miss Kinnian, explained to him that there is a chance for him to get smarter, and that is through a secret surgery. He wants to fit in and be smart like everyone else, but the outcome of the surgery may not be as planned. Charlie’s increased intelligence causes him to lose his innocence. When Charlie loses his innocent mindset he gains experience, which also brings him emotional outbursts. The sacrifices Charlie makes
Character development is the core for Daniel Keyes endeavor to convey themes to his audience by developing the character of Charlie Gordon. One way to develop his character is through relationships with other characters, which is critical in conveying the themes in the book. Another way through which Keyes develops Charlie Gordon’s character for his audience is through letting in the audience on the thoughts of the character in the book so they get on a ride with his emotion, conflict, and dilemmas. Flowers for Algernon illustrates how cruel the society treats the mentally disabled with the use of literary elements. Daniel Keyes conveys the message that the grass is not always greener on the other side through character development.
Imagine having your dream come true but then regretting it all and not being able to reverse it. The short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, is a tale about a learning delayed adult name Charlie Gordan who is given the opportunity to increase his intelligence by artificial means. It is through the character’s stages of intellectual development that one is able to see the second chance provided to change oneself. Despite any positive outcomes associated with the surgery, Charlie Gordan is better off with his natural IQ.
“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