In his final entry, a farewell letter to Miss Kinnian and Dr. Strauss he states “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 little bit {sic},” (Keyes 28). Even with all the agony that came with his experiment, from both the rejection of his friends and from his depressing loss of the knowledge he gained, Charlie thinks it was still worth it. Instead of being bitter he returns to the optimistic person in the beginning who believed he could turn smart if he worked hard enough. Charlie wasn’t spiteful to the scientists who performed the surgery or hostile to Miss Kinnian who recommended him for the surgery because of his optimism. He always wanted to be smart and he got his wish.
Because Charlie maybe had not stayed as smart as he was for a long time after, but the surgery was at least able to let him understand more. Charlie changed at the end of the book a lot. Charlie at the beginning had not to be able to write very good, or understand his feelings. He was like a child in a 32 year old man’s body.
In literary terms foreshadowing is a method by which the author uses specific verbiage in a story to tell, or foreshadow, what is going to happen. The reader may feel as if they know what is going to happen before they read it, they could feel like a clairvoyant or that they are having a déjà vu experience. Ambrose Bierce’s story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” has instances of foreshadowing that allude to the death of Peyton Farquhar before the story reaches the climactic point of telling of his fate. The first instance of foreshadowing is when Peyton Farquhar thinks that he can escape the hangman’s noose and swim home.
Have you ever felt dumb and would have done anything to become smarter? This story is about a man who believes a surgery will make him smarter and likable. In the book Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the author shows how someone's expectation of what they want to happen in life can never overcome the reality of what it is actually like. To begin with there are many literary devices used in the story.
What is it like to be perfect? To be smart and exceed at every challenge you come across. What if you were challenged in life and finally got the opportunity to show people what you are made up of, just too within a couple of days lose it all? In the story “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie faces some challenges when it comes down to holding knowledge. Charlie is 37 years old and is incapable of thinking and writing like an adult.
There is an important theme in the story Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes. It is a fiction novel about a thirty year old man who has been battling to overcome an intellectual deficit all of his life and has an opportunity to become more intelligent than he ever had imagined through an experimental operation. He takes the opportunity and in a few weeks he becomes a genius for a short time before his itelligence receded as fast as it increased. The author includes many important themes throughout the passage. Daniel Keyes develops the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are through Charlie’s experiences both before and after the operation.
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
When Charlie is below average no one understands him, his family kicks him out, and his friends at work make fun of him. For example they often say “ to pull a Charlie Gordon” (Keyes 42), when they have done something stupid. When Charlie gains intelligence, still no one wants to be his friend because they do not understand him and they almost fear him. Not only does Charlie’s friends see him change but Charlie, himself, sees himself changing, “ I’m not myself.
As Charlie's intelligence increases to a higher level, the story told me about the changes from Charlie's view point, but also sees the change in Charlie's writing. This jump in intelligence is not really a good thing, however. Charlie is now able to remember things from the past that shaped his life and realize friendships for what they were.
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
Likewise, Charlie’s increased intelligence allowed him to comprehend how quite a few people achieved a sick sort of pleasure out of treating mentally impaired people absolutely terribly. These realizations, combined with his newfound ability to feel more profound emotions equated in him losing joyful exuberance due to ignorance. Consequently, Charlie ended up adapting a more grown and pessimistic outlook on those around him, as wells as society as a whole. Furthermore, Charlie’s spikes in intellect allowed him see how the doctors were using
Charlie has gone through a lot of stress and trouble just to be smart, he then realizes that, “even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men” (Keyes 131). His goal in life is to be normal. Instead of Charlie accepting who is, he wants a change. Even though, he cannot comprehend most things that are given to him he wants to be able to live a standard, ordinary life where no one will laugh at him. Also, Charlie observes that Algernon’s surgery is slowly wearing off, he then understands that, “Deterioration progressing.
Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence
Charlie gains intelligence like he always wanted, but only to have it be taken away in a time frame of a couple months. Charlie states that, “The hypothesis here proven may be described simply in the following terms: artificially increased intelligence deteriorates at a rate almost proportional to the quantity of the increase.” With realizing the cost of the surgery, he states, “Now that it’s definite, I don’t want it to happen.” Charlie experienced emotions such as anger, sadness, and even love with his intelligence. Now all this will be taken away; like taking away a favorite toy from a child.
In the story, two doctors were to use Charlie for a experiment that is to help triple his intelligence level. Thus, human engineering has more benefits than costs. To being with, one of the hardest things humans cannot understand about themselves is their emotions. For example, Charlie had a very difficult time trying to express his opinions and feeling towards others.
