Who Is Charlie Gordon In Flowers For Algernon

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.

He wears glasses but only for watching T.V. and movies. Charlie has a great motive because all he wants is to be smart for example, "After the operashun I'm gonna try to be smart. I'm gonna try awful hard. (p.11)". Charlie, being intellectually disabled, doesn't understand things, making him constantly happy. This is because he doesn't think about life. Charlie gets bullied but thinks they're being nice to him when they do things like "He really pulled a Charlie Gordon that time. I don't know why they say it but they always laff and I laff too. (p.23)". After the operation, he had a different outlook on life. He wanted to become smart so that he could talk with his coworkers about intelligent things like politics. Although, the operation made him too smart. His way of thinking was based on facts and intelligence, rather than emotion, feelings and instinct. Charlie was a genius and they weren't. He didn't know how to control his emotion because he never knew he had them, often making him go into depression and be

He is motivated to learn before the surgery, which is why Miss Kinnian suggested him for the surgery. Charlies main goal is that he wants to be smart like everyone else. In “progris riport 6th Mar 8,” Charlie says, “and he [Prof Nemur] said that meens Im doing something grate for sience and Ill be famus and my name will go down in the books. I dont care so much about beeing famus. I just want to be smart like other pepul so I can have lots of frends who like me” (Keyes 12-13). He is trying so hard because he wants to fit in. Fitting in is a big deal to Charlie because he has always felt outside, especially with his family. He wants his mother to be proud of him, he wants her to know how smart he is. After the surgery Charlie’s intelligence increases so much over a period of time that he is now at what is considered the genius level. Ironically, when Charlie’s intelligence increases his relationships and friendships start to be harmed, which is the exact opposite of what Charlie believed would happen. Charlie found his dad’s barber shop and decided to go see him. When Charlie started talking to him though, Charlie knew his father Matt did not recognize him. “I wasn’t his son. That was another Charlie. Intelligence and knowledge had changed me, and he would resent me—as the others from the bakery resented me—because my growth diminished him. I didn’t want that” (Keyes 188). Charlie starts to realize that

Charlie Gordon, a mentally compromised man, should not have received the surgery to increase his numerical intelligence-as judged by an IQ-and to become a normal man. While Daniel Keyes in “Flowers for Algernon” conveyed hope for psychologically impaired individuals, the surgery failed with countless devastating consequences. In all actuality, the complications that Charlie faced were genuine. As far as society was concerned, Charlie-having a lesser IQ than the average person-was regarded as unacceptable. The surgery was seen as a cure for this; nevertheless, it did not amount to any change in the way he was treated. Harnessing the insights from Algernon’s case and his own cognitive abilities, Charlie deciphered the effects and predicted the

The result of gradually becoming more intelligent causes him to become over-confident and arrogant. Additionally, in the text, a quote by Charlie states, “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. That hurts the most”(Keyes 199). This quote displays his callous behavior towards an innocent boy, who was in fact, very much like Charlie.

To begin with, when Charlie is smart everyone avoids him and acts almost scared of him. For example, people are avoiding Charlie he “guess[s] it’ll take a little time for them to get used to the changes in me. Everybody seems to be frightened of me.” Charlie really wants to be smart to fit in but in the process everyone avoids him. Along with people avoiding him, when he is smart everyone begins to see that Algernon is getting hostile and it foreshadows what will happen to Charlie. For example,“they’re all pretending that Algernon’s behavior is not necessarily significant for me. But it’s hard to hide the fact that some of the other animals who were used in this experiment are showing strange behavior.” After Charlie realizes what will happen to him he regrets ever having the operation

Donner. Charlie thought of the men who also worked at the bakery to be his friends. One day the men at the bakery asked him to attend a party with them; gladly Charlie accepted. When the men took Charlie to the party they mistreated him. They finally decided they were done teasing Charlie and so they abandoned him." I don't remember how the party was over but they asked me to go around the corner to see if it was raining and when I came back there was no one their. Maybe they went to find me. I looked for them all over until it was late." (Keyes 30) When Charlie went to the parties with the men from his work he did not realize they are laughing at him instead of laughing with him. Soon after Charlie's operation he progressively becomes smarter. After he became smart his friends found no pleasure in teasing him, so they ignored him and would not talk to him. Mr. Donner thought it would be best to let Charlie go so he could find a better job. When Charlie's operation faded he went back to the way he was before the operation. Mr. Donner offered him his job back at the bakery and Charlie was glad to accept. Now that all the men from the bakery knew why Charlie suddenly became smart they decided to treat Charlie fair. When Charlie went back to work there was a man who was very rude to Charlie, " But then Joe Carp came in and grabbed Klause by the

Charlie values kindness, intelligence, and simply wants to feel like he belongs, but by changing him as a person, will he achieve to be the person he always wanted to be? Charlie’s procedure may have not been the best option, and Charlie does not live in a humane way. Through personality change, a different

Many people have seen kids or adults with some disabilities. But whenever we do see them, they usually seem happy. Like they don’t have a care in the world. Yes, it is very tragic when we think about what may be wrong with them, but when ever you to talk to them they are always happy to see you and talk to you. Many people can get to find out how these type of people think and feel by reading the short story Flowers For Algernon. This book takes you through journal entries written by a man, Charlie Gordon, who has a learning disability. But reading through the story you might start to believe that ignorance is bliss for Charlie Gordon.

Charlie's emotions swing throughout the story. At the beginning he is just a happy guy living life. Although his one desire is to become very smart. He is still just an average person that may not be as intelligent as the rest. I believe that Charlie is in fact more happy at the beginning of the book than after the operation.For example, in the text Charlie Gordon is upset after the operation because he does not see a significant difference in his intelligence level, he says, "Nothing is happening. I had lots of races and different kinds of tests with Algernon. I hate that mouse." This shows that Charlie is upset about Algernon and all the tests he has to go through, he feels as if he is not making any progress. Although he reaches his goal

He feels as if Charlie is a different person following him around. He says, “Charlie may not interfere if I wanted to make love to Fay. He would probably stand in the doorway and watch. But the moment I came close to Alice, he panicked.” (Keyes 203) This shows that he doesn’t feel like the person he was before the surgery. He feels as though he is two different people and the old Charlie is stuck in the back of his mind. He has trouble getting close to people. He feels a panic as soon as he gets close to a woman. He feels as if old Charlie is prohibiting him and watching his every move. He says, “But then I think Charlie is waiting at the window. His life is not mine to throw away. I’ve just borrowed it for a while, and now I’m being asked to return it.” (Keys 278) After the surgery Charlie can’t sleep, “I know I should sleep, but I begrudge every second of waking time. It’s not just because of the nightmares; it’s because I’m afraid of letting go.”(Keys 278) This shows that Charlie is afraid to sleep. He has nightmares, he feels like he will lose his high IQ because he’s now so dependent of

Charlie Gordon, a once naive but curious boy grew up with the obsession of becoming smart. As a child, Charlie’s mother gave him the mindset that he would never be as smart as all the other kids because he was considered different. This obsession and negative mindset is what motivates Charlie to push himself and makes sure that one day he can become as smart as everyone else. In addition, the key past event that ultimately changes Charlie’s mind set is when he underwent surgery that promised him a higher IQ. From this moment on, Charlie was a completely different person. Due to Charlie becoming smarter, he would soon find out that intelligence comes with a price. Charlie Gordon’s conflict with an experiment that makes him smarter teaches the reader that intelligence does not always bring positive outcomes in life through Charlie losing his job/coworkers, losing those close to him, and being depressed due to being smarter than everyone else.

We always have something constantly telling us that we need to change something about ourselves. So why isn't Charlie able to change himself like the rest of us. Charlie should be able to change himself according to the way he wants to

Throughout the novel Charlie’s personality and intelligence level changes a lot. In the beginning Charlie is happy, has friends, he’s retarded, and can’t remember a lot of things. “I fergot his last name because I dont remebir so good.” (Keyes 2),

     Charlie Jordan words at a bakery in New York City. But there is something a little different about Charlie--he is mentally retarded. He also attends evening classes at Beckman College. Here he submits his “progress reports” to the research team at the college. In these reports