Human Testing In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

702 Words3 Pages

In America, there have been many debates about human testing. In the story, Flowers for Algernon, a mentally disabled 34-year-old man takes part in an experimental procedure to boost his IQ. It is Charlie's dream to be intelligent and he is willing to do what's necessary for his dream to come true. Charlie takes quizzes for them to determine his IQ to see if he is qualified for the surgery.

In the story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon does not realize that boosting his IQ will only be temporary. “ They dont know if it will be periminit but theirs a chance.” (Keyes 185) Charlie worried about it not being permanent but he just wanted his dream to come true about being intelligent. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur, the scientists …show more content…

“Im taking a cuple of books along and even if I cant reed them III practise hard and maybe I wont forget every thing 1 lerned. If 1 try reel hard maybe III be a littel bit smarter then I was before the operashun. 1 got my rabits foot and my luky penny and maybe they will help me.” (Keyes 305) Charlie was starting to deteriorate and had amnesia from the side effects of the surgery. Although Charlie passed away, he also made a scientific in human experiments. The “Algernon-Gordon Effect,” argues that the more artificially induced intelligence one gains, the quicker it will …show more content…

He doesn't realize that when they laugh, they are laughing at him, not with him. He doesn't understand that they are making him the cruel butt of their jokes. For example, once they have Charlie show some girls at a bar after work how he uses a mop to clean out the toilets. They also get him drunk and abandon him to get home on his own. Nevertheless, he still believes they like him. As he gains intelligence, Charlie realizes his co-workers, including Joe and Frank, seem afraid of him and are not so friendly anymore. Finally, Charlie recognizes that Frank and Joe used to laugh at him and never were his real friends. He feels foolish for being deceived by them. It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say "to pull a Charlie