Happiness In Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

Research shows that accomplished, more educated people have a higher chance at being less satisfied with life. This article interviewed an author who wrote a book about the correlation between happiness and intelligence. It goes to say how happiness is a state of mind and intelligence is scope of mind. Also, he states that once your intelligence increases, how you see life will change dramatically and affects your happiness. To support that, it states that less- intelligent people are found more happy and satisfied with positive changes in life. This claim that one’s intelligence does not define someone’s happiness appears in Daniel Keyes’ novel Flowers For Algernon. In this book, a man named Charlie undergoes a groundbreaking surgery to increase in IQ and intellectual levels. At first, this surgery is working great but then Charlie discovers that his intelligence will decrease just as fast as it increased. By the

Charlie’s sudden academic growth has frightened people at the bakery and his co-workers are resenting him. Mr. Donner, his boss says to him: “Everyone has been talking about it. They’re upset Charlie, I got to let you go.” Mr. Donner mentioning that everyone was ‘upset’ suggests that other people are mad and angry must bounce back to Charlie. Charlie is growing intellectually, but he is upset with his life because everyone else is upset with him. At the same time in the book, Charlie is pondering about what he did wrong at the bakery: “By my astonishing growth I had made them shrink and emphasize their inadequacies. I betrayed them, and they hated me for it.” Charlie saying him betrayed them suggests that he was friends with them in the first place. They weren’t Charlie’s friends but he was their friend and he was happy about it. Now that Charlie betrayed them, he is angry and upset. Charlie’s change in intelligence shows that you don’t need intelligence to be