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Essay about flowers for algernon by daniel keyes
Flowers for algernon essay introduction
Flowers for algernon essay introduction
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From his normal life and he didn’t understand everything to knowing more sophisticated language then before, learned how to read faster, found out that there were people that liked him a lot and he got to live several days being almost 4 times as intelligent as he was before. “If you ever reed this Miss Kinnian dont be sorry for me im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.” Charlie remembers the beginning when Miss. Kinnian says that he always has a second chance if he doesn’t want to be tested on. which is why he most likely said yes to be tested
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
Will the same happen to Charlie? Through the novel Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes demonstrates that despite the obstacles and hardships, hope drives that person to continue doing things through Charlie’s journey to increasing intelligence, Algernon’s decline, and Charlie’s decline at the close of the novel. Initially, Keyes utilizes Charlie’s motivation for going through with increasing intelligence to illustrate that hope drives those who might otherwise give up due to the obstacles and hardships. For example, Charlie, the disabled adult, while he conveys his hope to increasing intelligence, simply states, “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 13).
Overall, though some may disagree, possessing motivation really is far more important than intelligence. If someone doesn’t have motivation to use it, intelligence has no purpose, and is therefore useless. Charlie doesn’t have intelligence, but he does have motivation, and ended up getting a huge opportunity because of
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.
His IQ goes down because he wants his old life back and his old friends, no matter what they did to him in the past. Another quote, which demonstrates and reinforces the second argument is the following, “I figured out a new way to set up the mixing machines in the bakery to speed up production.” (p.59). In this quote, Charlie Gordon says that he found a new way to set up the mixing machines in the bakery to speed up production. This happens in the middle of the book when Charlie has an IQ of 185.
While reading the story “Flowers For Algernon”, one would realize the operation the main character, Charlie, was isolated socially by the procedure ment to increase his intellect. This is evident in the fact that Charlie feels that he has been isolated. This is particularly obvious in the passage “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved”. This is equally as evident in the part in the story when charlie is forced to quit his job because of this intelligence. This is stated in the sentence “ Mr donnegan showed me a petition.
Daniel Keyes betrays the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are. Before the operation, Charlie has a motivated characteristic and it is still there after the operation when he was getting more intelligent. I know this because in the passage it says, “ I’ll show that mouse I can be as smart as he is (Keyes p. 352),” which shows that Charlie is motivated before the operation . The test also says, “ Miss Kinnian teaches me to spell better (Keyes p. 358),” which shows that Charlie was still motivated and still working to get smarter after the operation. Charlie is a motivated character and that doesn’t change after the operation.
His I.Q. during childhood and in the beginning of the novel is slightly less than 70. Charlie does wind up being chosen for the experiment and he receives brain surgery. The surgery is a success and Charlie’s intelligence quickly soars. He is happy for a while being able to learn many new things and have mature, adult conversations with others. However, this quickly takes a turn for the worse when his I.Q. surpasses everyone he can have a relationship with, which makes his life more boring and sad: “I am just as far away from Alice with an I.Q. of 185 as I was when I had an I.Q. of 70” (126).
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
Like everybody around here’s been saying, Charlie, it’s not right.” Charlie’s response to that was, “But how can you say that, Fanny? What’s wrong with a man becoming intelligent and wanting to acquire knowledge and understanding of the world around him?”Charlie was disappointed in Fanny when she said that it wasn’t very possible for Charlie to become smart that quickly. This is another very important event that happens in this story because Charlie tries to change himself to fit in and then realizes that’s not what matters. What matters is that he’s happy and it doesn’t matter what other people
Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence
Flowers For Algernon Person Vs Society. Our day to day lives force us to interact with people everyday, as a result, people must interact with those with less intelligence. Throughout the book people look at Charlie differently because he has a lower intelligence. Later in the book, as he is getting smarter, people start looking at him like he’s a human being and not some type of alien. This is because Charlie gets a special operation that makes him smarter and smarter each day.
Was Charlie Better Off Before or After the Surgery? In “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes wrote that Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68, and is in Mrs. Kinnian’s night class for slow adults. Charlie may be dumb, but he was so happy before the surgery and he had a job and “friends.” The reason that Charlie Gordon was better off before the surgery is because he had the motivation to become smart, and after the surgery he becomes depressed and realizes that the world plus the people in it are cruel.
At an IQ of 68, it may not be possible for his brain to make an informed decision. It is unethical to perform a potentially harmful experiment on someone who is unable to give permission. Charlie’s logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences skyrocket,
