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Lack Of Intelligence In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

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Daniel Keyes's science fiction story “Flowers for Algernon” is about a 37-year-old man that was born with a lack of intelligence. He has always been teased and made fun of for his problem. As an adult, he chooses to go to learn at school. He doesn't learn much but chooses to undergo a risky never before done surgery. The surgery promises to triple his IQ of 68 but it may not be permanent. The surgery goes will and Charlie has now gained his intelligence. But then his co-workers despise and fear him for becoming smart and get him fired. Charlie then starts to rethink his decisions of the surgery. The mouse that was the original animal that underwent the surgery. Starts to lose his intelligence and the dies. The same thing begins to happen to Charlie where he forgets everything and because just like before or even worse. He decides to move to New York so people wouldn't feel bad for him. One theme that emerged in the text is by not accepting someone you could end up pushing them to …show more content…

One example of this is when Charlie realized his so called friends only like to have him around to make fun of him. He feels very ashamed and embarrassed he did not realize this sooner. This is significant because from that moment Charlie realizes he wants to have friends and be accepted. Consequently, the co-workers have driven Charlie to think he is not normal since he lacks intelligence. When someone feels unaccepted they will most likely feel different and choose to change. This sort of thing was seen in Charlie's behavior. When he chooses to learn a lot very fast and try to get intelligent like to others. Charlie will ultimately end up regretting it.The theme acceptance is highlighted many times in the story. As you can see in this evidence Charlie's co-workers had a big impact on how accepted Charlie felt and why he felt he needed to

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718 Words | 3 Pages

But you have a chance to have a surgery that would triple your IQ. But there would be a risk that you could die. Would you do it? Flowers for Algernon is a story about a guy named Charlie Gordon, who has an iq of 68 he also had the chance to have his IQ tripled. He had a choice either becomes smart or stay the way he is.

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196 Words | 1 Pages

In “Flowers for Algernon”, a short story by Daniel Keyes, ignorance is shown not to be bliss when Charlie cannot understand he is being made fun of. In one of the earlier progress reports, Joe Carp, one of Charlie’s “best friends,” states that a cop beat Charlie up because cops beat drunks sometimes, “I think maybe I fell but Joe Carp says it was the cop they beat up drunks some times.” (Keyes 63). Charlie does not understand that they are the ones that are the cause of his being beaten as they have been continuously unkind to Charlie. There is another instance where he is being made fun of when Joe and Frank invite him to a saloon for some drinks and Joe suggests that Charlie show the girls how he cleans toilets in the factory (Keyes, 62).

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704 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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Anton Tompert Mrs. Veitch 3rd Period 2.15.18 Balance of Awareness Would it be worse to have an IQ of 204 or 68? Would it be worse to know everything but not be able to talk with anyone without frustration or know nothing but not be able to talk of anything more complex than third grade level? In the short science fiction story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon with an IQ of 68 and has a difficult time learning anything as simple as reading or writing is given the option to triple his intelligence with a suspicious surgery. Charlie, ignorant of the suspicion or risk that comes with this surgery is desperate to become intelligent as it is his only wish and nothing is more important to him. His teacher, Miss Kinnian recommend him for the surgery out of anyone in the class due to his egre and positive outlook on intelligence.

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894 Words | 4 Pages

Flowers for Algernon Argumentative essay Intelligence is a valued aspect to many people, but it can be achieved in options that aren’t labeled “intelligence-altering surgery”. The doctors, Dr.Nemur and Dr. Strauss do not follow the ethics of fieldwork. They chose the wrong person, Charlie Gordon, to do the surgery on, and didn’t wait to find out that the side-effects include death. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, the doctors made a bad choice by choosing Charlie Gordon for the intelligence-altering surgery.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

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

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436 Words | 2 Pages

One of these ideas is blind acceptance. Blind acceptance is accepting people around you even though you don’t know their flaws. When Norman realized that his brother had a gambling problem he still accepted him as a brother. Even when Norman helped Neil ‘fish’ and Neil messed up he still showed acceptance. Lastly, when

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Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence

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1735 Words | 7 Pages

This then spreads amongst other people. This forces other personalities to die out. There is a large variety of people who are open minded. This is primarily achieved once they grow older, though. There is still struggles people have to face through their school

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Should Charlie Have Had the Operation “ I want to be smart and I’ll try real hard”. This is Charlie Grodman he is the main character I will be talking about today. He is from the book “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. I will tell you why he should of had the operation. I think that it was substantial for him to get a taste of being normal.

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521 Words | 3 Pages

Flowers For Algernon Person Vs Society. Our day to day lives force us to interact with people everyday, as a result, people must interact with those with less intelligence. Throughout the book people look at Charlie differently because he has a lower intelligence. Later in the book, as he is getting smarter, people start looking at him like he’s a human being and not some type of alien. This is because Charlie gets a special operation that makes him smarter and smarter each day.

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576 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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662 Words | 3 Pages

Flowers for Algernon explores themes of ethical dilemmas in scientific research. Charlie Gordon is the first human to undergo an experimental operation to triple his IQ from 68 to 204. His mental capacities dramatically increase, but the consequences are drastic when the operation fails and he regresses. Under Charlie’s circumstances, the operation was unethical. Charlie, mentally disabled, cannot give informed consent.

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920 Words | 4 Pages

The book "Flowers Of Algernon" by Daniel Keyes is a science fiction short story based on a man named Charlie, who has a learning disadvantage. He gets a chance to mend himself by getting surgery. The surgery was a dangerous idea which leads to his death. Charlie was better off before the surgery because it changed Charlie's life by making him a miserable and grievous person. One of the reasons Charlie felt this way was because the knowledge he obtained from the surgery was short-term.

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1380 Words | 6 Pages

Teachers play a vital role in the society. Their impacts are felt by the lives of all children from different backgrounds, including those children with varying levels of understanding, abilities and those from families that exhibit wide range of cultural and linguistic diversity. Teachers are educators or instructors saddled with the responsibility of educating children by grooming and helping them to discover their talents (Rahman, Nabi, Akhter, Saeed & Ajmal, 2011). According to them, teachers have long-lasting impacts on the lives of students who live to enjoy the knowledge they avail to them. They have good classroom management skills, ensure good student behaviour, effective study and work habit (Tehseen, 2015).

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