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.
¨ 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.
If IQ was measured by kindness, Charlie Gordon would’ve been a genius. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, written by Daniel Keys, Charlie Gordon is a mentally-impaired man that was best friends with a mouse named Algernon. If I was given the opportunity to be Charlie’s friend, I think he would be a great one. I believe so because he is: optimistic, hard-working, and kind-hearted. To begin with, Charlie is a very optimistic man.
In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, the main character, Charlie Gordon, is considered dumb due to his intelligence levels. In the story, he undergoes surgery to try to enhance his intelligence by three times. Charlie Gordon should not have had surgery to triple his intelligence because he can lose what is most important to him and he will lose his friends. The first reason is he can lose what is most important to him. An example of this is in paragraphs 121 and 122 where Charlie states, “I’ve quit my job with the Donnegan’s Plastic Box Company.
Another character trait of Charlie is that he is determined. Charlie is determined because he wants to become smart. Also, when Charlie first started working with
While reading the story “Flowers For Algernon”, one would realize the operation the main character, Charlie, was isolated socially by the procedure ment to increase his intellect. This is evident in the fact that Charlie feels that he has been isolated. This is particularly obvious in the passage “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved”. This is equally as evident in the part in the story when charlie is forced to quit his job because of this intelligence. This is stated in the sentence “ Mr donnegan showed me a petition.
Charlie Gordon was willing to risk his personality and perception of the world. In the story ”Flowers for Algernon,”by Daniel Keyes, he gets an operation to increase his knowledge. Charlie then starts to improve, but he becomes unhappy. He had learned a valuable lesson, that you shouldn’t change who you are. Charlie should’ve got the operation.
Daniel Keyes betrays the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are. Before the operation, Charlie has a motivated characteristic and it is still there after the operation when he was getting more intelligent. I know this because in the passage it says, “ I’ll show that mouse I can be as smart as he is (Keyes p. 352),” which shows that Charlie is motivated before the operation . The test also says, “ Miss Kinnian teaches me to spell better (Keyes p. 358),” which shows that Charlie was still motivated and still working to get smarter after the operation. Charlie is a motivated character and that doesn’t change after the operation.
When Charlie was picked for a surgery to triple his IQ, having an IQ of 68, he was excited. Charlie received intelligence in an unnatural way, and because of that his brain could not hold all the information for long and after a bit intelligence started rapidly decreasing. Even though there were downsides to the surgery, Charlie made the right decision having the surgery, because it was an important experience, he gave purpose to his life, and after it all he still sustains hope for a better life. Charlies’s life after the surgery was an important experience for him. and somethings he enjoyed were not accessible to him before.
When Charlie is below average no one understands him, his family kicks him out, and his friends at work make fun of him. For example they often say “ to pull a Charlie Gordon” (Keyes 42), when they have done something stupid. When Charlie gains intelligence, still no one wants to be his friend because they do not understand him and they almost fear him. Not only does Charlie’s friends see him change but Charlie, himself, sees himself changing, “ I’m not myself.
As Charlie's intelligence increases to a higher level, the story told me about the changes from Charlie's view point, but also sees the change in Charlie's writing. This jump in intelligence is not really a good thing, however. Charlie is now able to remember things from the past that shaped his life and realize friendships for what they were.
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
As Charlie intelligence improved rapidly, he will inevitably lose intelligence quickly. So toward the end of the story “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie Is Showing all the signs of decline that Algernon the
Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence
Why did the door sound so loud when it closed? I cannot believe how quiet it is. I wish mother could treat me the same as everyone else. She treats everyone with a passionate heart but treats me like a child like I don’t know how to look after myself. Why does she hate me but love Margot.
