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How Does Charlie Change In Flowers For Algernon

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“In Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is a middle-aged man that has the inability to become smart because of his low IQ of 68. However, he is anxious to learn and agrees to an experiment that is planned to triple his intelligence. Charlie is the first human ever to have this test done, but a mouse named Algernon had it done previously with “successful” results. Without even considering the consequences, Charlie undergoes the operation after Dr. Strauss convinces Dr. Nemur that he is motivated and eager to learn. As Charlie’s IQ begins to grow, so does his ability to understand how cruel the world really is. When Charlie’s knowledge grows, his attitude along with those around him change. Charlie Gordon was better off not …show more content…

In “Progress Report 9---April 3”, Charlie is oblivious to his “friends” making fun of him, but he “had a good time” getting drinks. This shows, that Charlie was happy to be around people, even if he didn’t realize they weren’t his true friends, and that he enjoyed his job before becoming smart. As soon as he realized they were being mean to him, he felt “ashamed” of himself and it brought down his self-confidence. Instead of going to work where he was the most “happiest” he only focused on increasing his intelligence. The surgery also caused his co-workers to become scared of him. Eventually on April 30th, everyone at the company agreed it was best to fire him. Charlie was left without a job and felt abandoned by his “friends”. He had lost two of the most meaningful things of his previous life just to be smarter. Also, when Charlie wrote in his journal on June 15th, it was obvious that he was upset about losing the knowledge he had gained. He was even considering suicide because he could feel the “darkness closing in.” This evidence proves, that the surgery brought up Charlie's hopes of always staying smart, and it made him feel desperate to stay intelligent just to live a “happy life” as long as he

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