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Charlie Gordon's Option In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

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Approximately 16% of people in the world have an IQ below 85, which is considered below average(Dana Foundation). In the story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68 and undergoes surgery to triple his IQ. He writes in a notebook throughout the whole story. So, we get insight into what goes on in Charlie Gordons mind. Including feelings for Ms. Kinnian, his adult school teacher, emotional maturity, and so much more. Though in the end, it was only temporary and the story concludes with Charlies death. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur chose Charlie Gordon as their test subject, though multiple ethics laws were ignored. Therefore, Charlie being chosen was not the best option. One reason is that the doctors did not wait for their first test subject, a mouse named Algernon, to show signs of regression. In the story it reads,“They’ve been feeding Algernon, who now refuses to work the shifting-lock problem”(Keyes 16). Algernon started showing signs after they had already done the …show more content…

“I want to be smart”(Keyes 1), and “I hope they use me”(Keyes 1), were things Charlie said in the beginning of the story, so it proves he did not think about the precautions. Charlie only wanted to do this in hopes to be smart and smart only, he did not know what he was getting himself into. Others may say that Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur told Charlie all the results, though while all the conditions were stated, they all went in one ear and out the other, Charlie only had one thing on his mind. Charlie wrote “ He rote somthing down on a paper and I got skared of faling the test”(Keyes 1). So, is only worry is not getting chosen, not death, not amnesia, he only wants to be smart. Charlie never once stated anything about the outcome of the procedure, which proves it wasnt on his mind. Charlie should not have been chosen since he should not make medical choices for

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Charlie did not even benefit that well from being a test subject in the experiment. Similarly, the treatment of Charlie was not very ethical because he was not treated specially for his mental state of disability. Lastly, this surgery did not provide enough benefits to even dent the weight of his unethical death. In the story Charlie was used because of his inferior intelligence and not treated well enough as he should have which led to his wrongful death. This story was fictional, but the use and abuse of human test subjects is

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The doctors didn’t inform Charlie about the surgery anything what so ever. They didn’t tell him about the risk or what could go wrong doing the procedure. They treated Charlie as a lab rad, which he is not. They had no respect for Charlie or his well being and only cared about their research. Charlie as a patient has the right to be treated as one, not a test subject.

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Charlie was a likable person before the operation, all the doctors came to wish him luck: "lots of people who gave me tests came to bring me candy and wish me luck"(314). This shows Charlie was loved and liked by many people in his life before the operation. After the operation, he was not that liked by the doctors who were angry at his unwillingness and for missing two weeks of journal entry's, "Dr.Strauss is very angry at me for not having written any progress reports in two weeks"(329). He also started to lose respect of the doctors after learning they only knew two languages:"I realized Dr.Nemur is not all genius. . . . Dr.Strauss on the other hand might be called a genius, although I feel that his area of knowledge are to limited"(330-1).

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His intelligence came with a price that made him rethink his entire situation. Charlie was happier with an IQ of 68 because he was oblivious to what was going on around him, people would treat him differently after the surgery, and he struggled with his identity. Charlie was happier when he was oblivious to what was going on around him. Being oblivious and ignorant is not a good thing, but in Charlie's case, not knowing

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But when Charlie got the surgery, he realized when his intelligence was wearing off, he got super depressed but he powered through the depression. One quote from the book that indicates depression is “please... please let me not forget how to read and write.” (keyes 25). Even though he is forgetting how to read and write and he is getting depressed, he powers through the depression. On the last page he says “im taking a cuple of books along and even if i cant reed them ill practise hard and maybe i wont forget every thing i learned.

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They certainly made a prediction about the effects the surgery would have on Charlie. The doctors very clearly had their own feelings about going through with this surgery. As for the next question, the doctors probably thought if Charlie died during this situation, it was a life devoted to science and not a life

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Although he is aware of the potential dangers and risks of the surgery, he is willing to go through the surgery because he believes that the benefits of the surgery far outweigh the risks and he wants to reach his goal, getting smarter and having a lot of friends. Another showcase of his determination is how he persists in his studies, determined to master the new knowledge that he has acquired as his IQ slowly increases. Charlie writes, “...from now on Ill look up all the words Im not sure how to spell”(Keyes 39). He works hard to master grammar and he takes the action to look up words he does not know, all showing his will power to reach his goal of becoming smarter and having a lot of friends. Finally, he shows determination as he regresses back to his original state.

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It can be seen that the more intellect one has, the more likely they are to suffer unhappiness. In the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon — a man with an IQ under 70 — undergoes an operation to increase his intuition. As his brain power grows, the fact that he gets progressively more sorrowful supports this fact. It is clear that sadness is brought by intelligence because Charlie was happy and ignorant in the beginning, he became suicidal

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However, after the surgery, Charlie finds intelligence was a nice treat but was far from an importance in life and only took him away from what truly mattered. One could believe Charlie was wrong to undergo the surgery because of the side effects that came with the surgery such as physical and emotional instability, and amnesia, the depresion it came with, and how he lost all of his friends and loved ones with his extreme intelligence. First off, one reason Charlie should not have gotten the surgery is the depression and suicidal thoughts it came with for

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In “Bones”, the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, also known as Bones, has many similarities to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is an intelligent human machine who is detached from society with the exception of his occupation. Although Sherlock Holmes does have a family, he isolates himself from them. In both the books and television shows, Sherlock Holmes is represented as the best of his kind. Not to mention he loves and feeds on the intellect and excitement of a new case.

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His doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. When Charlie volunteered to be the patient, the doctors or any one else did not tell him what the side effects could possibly be. Even though he did benefit from the surgery for a few months he didn’t stay intelligent. He was able

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Lastly, nobody wants to die. After Charlie experienced all of these fascinating things, it will all be taken away not only by progressive amnesia, but by death, the worst cost from his adventure. Algernon the mouse died because of the surgery, and Charlie will soon come to the same fate. Charlie states, “I’ve got to try to hold on to some of it.

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Although, if Charlie did not have the surgery, he would not have had the experience of becoming super smart. Charlie would agree with me that he did not feel happy with himself that he had the surgery. He decided that he wanted to leave New York because he was so embarrassed about pulling a “Charlie Gordon.” Charlie should not have had the surgery because, before the surgery, he had the motivation to become smart, and after the surgery, he became depressed and realized that the world plus the people in it are

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He should not have gotten it because his innocence protected him, he was happy, and he was motivated to complete his daily tasks. Charlie’s innocence when his intelligence was low kept him safe from information he would be better off knowing.

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920 Words | 4 Pages

There is a lot of evidence that Charlie will die. This is shown because Algernon went through the same side effects and died. Charlie also understands this and he writes ’Everyone identifies me with Algernon in a way we’re both the first of our kind.’ This shows that because of the relation towards the surgery they will come out with the same result and that means that Charlie will also die. During the end of the story, Charlie understands that he will most likely die from the surgery also because he has been through the same side effects and surgery as Algernon, he died and this shows that Charlie will do the same Charlie explains that ’ guess the same thing is or will soon be happening to me’ this proves that he will die because Charlie is smart enough to know what will be happening to himself because his IQ is about 200 and he is very smart so his prediction must be correct.

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