...Flowers for Algernon Is knowledge the key to happiness? Does the fact that you know almost everything, complete your life? Or does it make you distant to your friends and family? These are some of the main questions Daniel Keys raise in his prizewinning fictional novel “Flowers for Algernon” from 1966. The Novel is about the mentally challenged Charlie Gordon, who will do anything to learn, and become ‘a smart person’. Charlie accepts the terms of an experiment, which will triple his IQ, even though he is not told of the consequences of the experiment. The novel “Flowers for Algernon” is written in the diary form, and the story features a first person narrator called Charlie Gordon. The novel is combined of several progress reports that show the current intelligence of Charlie. As we follow his everyday life, we get detailed information about his increase in artificial intelligence. Throughout the story the reader almost gets a feeling that there are multiple narrators telling the story. Nevertheless the sudden huge growth in grammatical skills is not simply because of another narrator expressing the story, it it’s merely due to the fact that the experiment triples Charlie’s IQ. This experiment takes Charlie’s writing skills to a point, where it’s almost flawless. Having this in mind, the story in a way switches narrator three times. The story starts of with Charlie before his operation, where he’s not exactly mentally gifted. Actually he would be referred to as a mentally...
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...Flowers for Algernon -Mikkel Bæk Rasmussen The way people connect by emotions and similarities, show us the level of intelligence the human race have in comparison to animals. We connect in ways that no other living species does and have time and time again proved that we are the most technical gifted race. But some people aren't as lucky. Some people are born with disabilities, that makes it impossible to understand and communicate normally with other human beings. Should we try and do something about that? or continue to ignore the problem? Charlie Gordon is 37 years old and he's working as a janitor. Charlie has an IQ of 68, which basically means that he is a retard. Because of this, he's having a huge issue understanding the social behavior of other people. He goes to Beekman College Center which is a school for mentally retarded adults. It is here, he met miss Kinnian, his teacher. Miss Kinnian advised Charlie to apply as a test person for some medical research which should make him smarter. It's here that Charlie meets Dr. Nemur and Professor Strauss who is going to perform his surgery. He starts taking a lot of tests, where he is feeling very insecure, because he keeps failing them, what he doesn't know is that failing the tests is what got him in. The tests keeps on coming, and he is competing against a mouse called Algernon, which had gotten the same surgery as Charlie. Suddenly Charlie shows progress by beating Algernon for the first time, and from that point...
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...Keyes’s Experiment: Ignorance to Intellect, and Back Again What would happen if scientists found a way to exponentially increase human intelligence through a simple medical procedure? In his most famous novel, Flowers for Algernon, American author Daniel Keyes not only poses this provoking question, but shares his own answer through the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally disadvantaged man whose IQ skyrockets within a matter of months after an experimental operation. Through Charlie’s eyes, readers are able to experience the ascent from mental incapability to profound intelligence, as well as the range of emotions that accompany it. However, Keyes was a far cry from mentally incompetent, and although he could not relate to Charlie’s IQ of...
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...While Daniel Keyes in “Flowers for Algernon,” portrayed hope for a mentally impaired man, Charlie Gordon, the operation was unsuccessful with devastating consequences. Therefore, Charlie should not have had the surgery; nevertheless, Charlie did not regret the surgery. After the operation, the conflicts between societies developed into something existent for Charlie that he had never experienced before. Charlie was thrilled with the research in effort to make him an ordinary human. What Charlie could not apprehend is that he was merely used as a human experiment to modify other mentally impaired individuals. The failure of the operation permitted Charlie, as a genius, to recognize every individual problem. Following the surgery, impediments...
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...Daniel Keyes's science fiction story “Flowers for Algernon” is about a boy named charlie gordon who was chosen to be involved in an experimental surgery that was said to triple his intelligence. the reason that he was selected for this is because he has an extremely low IQ level. although he faces many hardships throughout the story, he is determined to succeed. That is why I think that the theme of the story is that if you put your mind to something, you can accomplish anything. First, at the beginning of the story, charlie is just an average person with an immense desire to become smart. He was going to school after work every night and his teacher, Mrs. Kinnian said that he is one of the most hard working students in her class. In the story when charlie first takes the Rorschach test, the tester asks...
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...If you had the chance to increase your intelligence would you? In the science fiction story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon had the opportunity to have an Artificial Intelligence surgery (A.I.). Charlie was better off having the surgery because he got to help out many people in the science field, he also got to experience the real world and he got to feel all his emotions that have been trapped before. One positive thing that happened after the surgery is Charlie got to experience the real world with an advanced mindset. He got to see his real friends and he was able to experience interactions with other people outside the lab. “You’re like a giant sponge now, soaking things in. Facts, figures, general knowledge.”(Keyes...
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...In the book Flowers For Algernon, I think Charlie Gordon would be better before surgery rather than typically after At the end of the book (after surgery) Charlie basically lost his mind, almost literally. “Please...please do not let me forget how to read and wright…”(pg.243). He forgot almost everything he did and he also lost the knowledge of different languages, his spelling and writing abilities as well. He refused to see anyone and only after he told the women he loved to get away from him and told her he did not lover her any more, did he only then decide to get a job. “Miss Kinnian came to the door but I said go away I don't want to see you.” (pg.243). Before surgery he was his paying rent hanging out with his friends, “last night...
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...“Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to be smart.” (Keyes, 53) Is what Charlie Gordon tells the readers as he is writing in his progress report. In the story “Flowers For Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68. He doesn’t spell very well and really tries as hard as he can to fix that. There is an operation that helps him and triples his IQ, but there are many side effects. He will eventually die of brain deterioration which ultimately makes him end up moving away so that his teacher, Miss Kinnian, and the doctors don’t feel sad. I really do not think Charlie should have gotten the operation. First and foremost, he will eventually die of brain deterioration. After Charlie triples his IQ, he starts some more research about his operation and the mouse they did it on first, Algernon. After a while, Algernon dies. Charlie gets a little suspicious and does an autopsy. He finds out that he died because of the operation and he lost a lot of brain mass. “Dissection shows that my predictions were right. His brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing out of cerebral convolutions as well as deepening and broadening or brain fissures. I guess the same thing is or will soon be happening to me.” (Keyes, 80) He is realizing that his brain is doing the same thing....
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...From reading the story “Flowers for Algernon” life for Charlie became very worsen after the operation. Through the story the more academically intelligent became the more life became difficult for him. Charlie’s dream of becoming brilliant and intelligent started to be flushed down the toilet. Right after the operation Charlie was excited. He had always the desire of what it is to be smart and this was his chance at it. Therefore he was not expecting the negatives of being intelligent. Day by day his brain began to improve which helped him to understand certain things around him. For example At the factory Charlie worked at he had several friends that he would talk, play, and joke around with while they were present at work. There was...
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...In “Flowers for Algernon” Charlie is a man with a very low intellect. He goes through a surgery as a test subject to triple his intelligence. The surgery works and Charlie’s intelligence exceeds his teacher, the doctors that came up with and performed the surgery, and his friends and coworkers. Charlie’s way of life worsens due to the surgery. There are many reasons why Charlie’s life worsens. His friends Joe and Frank work with him at a plastic box factory and they invite him to lots of parties. In the text it says “It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say to pull a Charlie Gordon.” This shows how Charlie lost all his “friends”...
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...Charlie Gordon is the protagonist in the short story “Flowers of Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes. He is a 37 year old with a mental disability and an IQ of 68. Charlie works as a janitor and although he has quite a low IQ, he has a good attitude about changing his life, and to do whatever it takes for him to get smarter. Charlie goes to Miss Kinnian’s class for slow adults to get better at spelling and writing and potentially get smarter. Miss Kinnian teaches literacy skills to mentally retarded adults because she believes that being mentally disabled doesn’t make you less of a Human. Charlie and Miss Kinnian start out the story with a teacher-student relationship, but soon, it becomes a little more than back, but as the story reaches it’s...
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...The Wrong Choice “Charlie Gordon “wants to be smart.” His is a passion which leads to risk greatly and achieve greatly--at great cost.” (“CAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE BE INCREASED?”). Charlie Gordon from the story Flowers for Algernon had a lifelong goal to be smart, so he decides to take part in an intelligence-altering surgery. Due to the operation, his IQ increases to 208, but this comes with side effects and death. In the story he competes with a mouse named Algernon, later they become friends. The doctors in the story were Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur, and the lab worker's name was Burt. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, doctors Strauss and Nemur made the wrong choice by selecting innocent Charlie Gordon for the intelligence-altering surgery. Dr. Strauss...
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...Charlie Gordon is the protagonist of “Flowers for Algernon”, which is written by Daniel Keyes. He is a mentally retarded man who volunteers to go through a experimental brain operation. It was supposedly going to make him a genius. Charlie is determined to become an astute man, but lots of obstacles get in his way. Charlie is a static character since his spelling, low intelligence level, and his belief in superstitions has stayed the same all through the story. His spelling in the beginning of the story is comparable to his spelling in the end. It is seen through his progress reports. His spelling was terrible at the beginning of the story since he has an IQ, an intelligence quotient, of sixty eight. This number is lower than the IQ of an average person, so a bunch of things in his daily life are affected, such as his ability to learn, and remember things. Having a hard time to learn means that Charlie could not remember how to spell. The quote, “I think I faled it”, is a segment from the beginning of the story, proving his spelling skills are not too strong. His not too strong spelling skills still move on towards the end of the story....
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...Molly Patterson Flowers for Algernon Paper Recreation for Special Populations East Tennessee State University Flowers for Algernon is a short story that has many themes within it. This paper will focus on the theme of the mistreatment of disabled people. The bullying is practiced purposely and accidentally. However, society mistreats anyone who is different and most of the time it happens subconsciously. The main theme of this story is the mistreatment of mentally disabled and even mentally gifted people. Mentally disabled people are mistreated daily just because of their condition. Many cruel people, like the bakery workers in the story, make fun of mentally disabled people just for amusement. Others treat the mentally disabled as inferior and try to help them, but the help they offer is only because they feel superior to the disabled person and view the help as charity. Society in general feels awkward and superior to the mentally disabled due to lack of contact or knowledge of them. Even the main character, Charlie, is unable to show any warmth for the mentally disabled once he gains his knowledge. An example of how society treats people who are different is proven through each person’s level of knowledge. Young children treat mentally disabled kids the same as any other. However as they grow and learn more through society they begin to treat them different. As we have learned in class, society has enough knowledge to know that these people are different but...
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..."Flowers for Algernon" is an insightful book which all students should read at one point in their educational career. The book, which takes place around the 1930s, is about a mentally disabled man. Scientists preform tests on him which raise his mental capability and IQ. The writing style of "Flowers for Algernon" is revolutionary, even for today, as it changes with the main character. The book also provides insight on mental disability and how it was treated in this time period. And lastly, it provides an important lesson about acceptance-- both for others and oneself. "Flowers for Algernon" is an impressive book that changes with the main character himself. Showing a mastery of writing, the author shows the main character's change not only...
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