Motivation In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

In the sci-fi story, “Flowers for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon partakes in an experimental surgery to manipulate his intelligence. The experiment ends up backfiring, and his brain begins to deteriorate at triple the normal rate, but he doesn’t let that stop him from trying to be smart again. Despite him trying so hard, he still doesn’t understand what he once did when he was so brilliant. And so the question arises: is intelligence more important than motivation? Motivation is far more critical to possess than intelligence. Motivation is more critical because intelligence is useless without it. For example, intelligence is very helpful today with dealing with world issues, but if someone doesn’t have enough motivation

He is good at his job, as Progress Report 9-April 3, mentions, “[…] Mr Donnegan said I was the best janiter he ever had because I like my job and do it good […]” Though Charlie is only a janitor, he has motivation to try his best, so he does-and it pays off. He may not be intelligent enough to have a big job, but that job would require a lot of work, so someone who is intelligent but lazy couldn’t do it. Many disagree with the arguments used in this essay. Some value intelligence over motivation, and could argue that Charlie is the perfect example. Before his surgery, Miss Kinnian said he tried very hard, but in the first few,“progris riports” (page 190), he does not spell greatly, despite his motivation to do so. It is only when he gains intelligence, that he can. However, all these arguments aren’t valid, because without motivation, Charlie wouldn’t have even been chosen for the surgery. Overall, though some may disagree, possessing motivation really is far more important than intelligence. If someone doesn’t have motivation to use it, intelligence has no purpose, and is therefore useless. Charlie doesn’t have intelligence, but he does have motivation, and ended up getting a huge opportunity because of