Flowers For Algernon Gordon Effect

What if you had the opportunity to triple your IQ, but at a price? In the wonderful story “Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes. Charlie is the main character who has a dream of always wanting to be smart because of his unfortunate mental disadvantage. So when he finds out he can take an operation to become a genius, Charlie is immediately on board. He already goes to night school to seek intelligence, where he is taught by Miss Kinnian. Two doctors named Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss make Charlie take tests for his IQ, such as a maze test with a mouse named Algernon who had already done the operation. After the surgery, he teaches himself better grammar and learns how to spell. Charlie even listens to a TV while he is sleeping. He eventually

Charlie’s coworkers begin to notice this and try to get him fired, which they succeed. Then when Charlie is at his peak of intelligence everything starts to go downhill. Charlie’s highly intellectual brain begins to regress at the same speed it grew. He begins to lose everything he had just gained, such as the person he loved, Miss Kinnian. As it gets worse and worse, Charlie’s friend Algernon starts having symptoms of brain loss that could lead to his passing away. So, Charlie starts to write The Algernon-Gordon Effect. Which is when his brain begins to deteriorate and break down, which at one point would end up in a loss of life. Therefore he eventually moves away from New York and everyone he cares about. So, this brings up the question: Should Charlie really have had the surgery? In “Flowers for Algernon,” Charlie should have had the surgery because he was able to see the world around him truly, able to help others, and he wanted and was motivated to do

For instance, we can see this happen when Charlie writes a report on The Algernon-Gordon Effect because he notices his friend, Algernon, who also took the operation begins to act moodier and has amnesia. Charlie informs, “ I am grateful for the little bit that I here add to the knowledge of the function of the human mind and of the laws governing the artificial increase of human intelligence”(Keyes. 9). By looking at the evidence we can see that Charlie is devoting what left of the life that he has to help others by showing his kind heart. He is proud that others like him will one day be able to have their intelligence increased to help mankind without the deteriorating process. Although, others would say that nobody should take the operation even if there is a chance to increase their intelligence because it’s not worth the price of maybe losing their lives. Nevertheless, they’re many people just like Charlie that would risk their lives to become smart and live normal lives, no matter the cost. Just like Charlie, they wouldn’t care if it hurt. Charlie states, “‘I dont care if it herts’”(Keyes 1). It’s also always better to help everyone with intelligence disadvantages than to just save one