“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This is something that our main protagonist, Charlie Gordon, of the science fiction book, Flowers for Algernon learned. Struggling all his life with a learning disability, Charlie is given the opportunity to triple his low I.Q of 68 to an astonishing 204 with the A.I surgery. After Charlie takes the to be smart, his life is significantly improved! Because of the A.I, Charlie is able to feel emotions he never had before, he is able to improve his memory, and despite the effects wearing off, Charlie was still very grateful to have been chosen to help with science, and have a second chance to be smart. Before Charlie had gone through with the A.I, he had very limited emotion. He was unable to tell if he was being mistreated, he was unable to feel emotions such as love, he didn’t even have an imagination. However, from the quote: “I’m in love with Miss Kinnian.” (Keyes, 234), we can see that Charlie now holds the ability to love. Emotion the he had never had before, now very existent, and all because of the A.I. …show more content…
Think of I.Q like memory. The capacity of the brain to obtain and keep new information, with such a low I.Q of 68, Charlie would never have the chance to learn and remember. But with his I.Q raised to 204, his memory is near identical. On page 230, of Flowers for Algernon, another piece of evidence supports this. Quote “I’ll look up all the words I’m not sure how to spell. It takes a long time this way, but I think I’m remembering.” (Keyes, 230). What does this quote prove, other than being able to remember the spelling of words? Well, it also proves that charlie now has know how to use a dictionary, a task that he wouldn’t have been able to do before. It just goes to show how much the A.I has really done for