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Flowers for algernon summary essay
Flowers for algernon narrative essay
Flowers for algernon narrative essay
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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.
1 Westinghouse Alexandra Westinghouse Professor ? Interdisciplinary Studies 101 ? February 2017 An Analysis of Gladwell?s ?
¨ The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.¨ - Albert Einstein. Charlie throughout the book changed a lot from where he started at. From the beginning he was innocent and could not write very good, or had an understanding of what everything meant. Near the middle of the book Charlie had a better understanding of his feelings were. Near the end of the book Charlie had changed a whole lot.
His intelligence came with a price that made him rethink his entire situation. Charlie was happier with an IQ of 68 because he was oblivious to what was going on around him, people would treat him differently after the surgery, and he struggled with his identity. Charlie was happier when he was oblivious to what was going on around him. Being oblivious and ignorant is not a good thing, but in Charlie's case, not knowing
But when Charlie got the surgery, he realized when his intelligence was wearing off, he got super depressed but he powered through the depression. One quote from the book that indicates depression is “please... please let me not forget how to read and write.” (keyes 25). Even though he is forgetting how to read and write and he is getting depressed, he powers through the depression. On the last page he says “im taking a cuple of books along and even if i cant reed them ill practise hard and maybe i wont forget every thing i learned.
Although he was motivated before, now that he knew what it was like to be smart he wanted to try even harder to have that feeling again. Although he doesn’t remember much of what happened at that time, he has reminders like certain books. This is evident when Charlie says, “ I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and I am grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit … I remember a little bit how nice I had a feeling with the blue book” (Keyes 215). This shows how even though he lost it all he still wants to try again. This shows how he still has hope left in him and if anything that hope has grown.
His I.Q. during childhood and in the beginning of the novel is slightly less than 70. Charlie does wind up being chosen for the experiment and he receives brain surgery. The surgery is a success and Charlie’s intelligence quickly soars. He is happy for a while being able to learn many new things and have mature, adult conversations with others. However, this quickly takes a turn for the worse when his I.Q. surpasses everyone he can have a relationship with, which makes his life more boring and sad: “I am just as far away from Alice with an I.Q. of 185 as I was when I had an I.Q. of 70” (126).
In addition, Charlie writes in “progris riport 1- martch 5 1965”, ” Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to be smart,” page 182. This quote reveals that Charlie is motivated and determined because because he has the want to be intelligent as he explains in his first “progris riport.”
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
In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon, the main character, demonstrates great determination throughout the novel. Charlie starts off the novel as a grown adult at the age of 32 with an I.Q. of 68. He gets nominated by his teacher, Miss Kinnian, to get a surgery done that will increase his intelligence level. Throughout the story, Charlie shows great determination, as he wants to be smart to prove his family wrong, since they kicked him out of the house. In progress report 7 Charlie shares, “Mabey they wouldnt send me away no more if they see how smart I am.
Have you ever wondered if experiments meant to increase people's IQ are possible? Within his novel Flowers for Algernon, the author Daniel Keyes tells the story of Charlie Gordan, a 32 year old man who has been mentally challenged since childhood. Shortly after Charlie’s 33rd birthday, he is given an operation meant to increase his IQ, and the operation is successful in boosting Charlie’s IQ. But, after obtaining his newfound IQ, Charlie starts remembering parts of his childhood, and later starts to see his mental health worsen, along with having to deal with recurring hallucinations. In his novel Flowers for Algernon the author, Daniel Keyes, uses diction and figurative language to display how inequality can drive people to cause change within
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
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.
Was Charlie Better Off Before or After the Surgery? In “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes wrote that Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68, and is in Mrs. Kinnian’s night class for slow adults. Charlie may be dumb, but he was so happy before the surgery and he had a job and “friends.” The reason that Charlie Gordon was better off before the surgery is because he had the motivation to become smart, and after the surgery he becomes depressed and realizes that the world plus the people in it are cruel.
