Charlie Gordon Character Analysis

Henry Miller

Mrs. Veitch

Period 7

2/15/18

The Charlie Gordon Effect

The weather is crisp and you can feel your hairs slowly rising throughout your body, trying to grasp onto any heat that they can find. Your teeth start chattering, while you breathlessly shiver for warmth. Your breath looks like your very own ice storm forming right in front of you. You look down at your shivering body and realize the sole reason for your sharp chills. Out of shock, you find yourself wearing shorts and a tank top in this 5-degree weather. You desperately look around you and struggle to find ways for warmth. You are relieved when you see a friend nearby. You gradually wade

The main character, Charlie Gordon the mentally retarded 32-year-old man, has the opportunity to triple his IQ of 68 by utilizing a brain operation. This operation has never been tested before, and Charlie will be the first human to go through with this experiment. Charlie decides to go through with the operation. The state that pre-surgery Charlie is in only allows him to fit in a society like a puzzle piece, but it prohibits Charlie from forming worthwhile relationships with the people around him. Most people make fun of Charlie for his lack of intelligence, while others feel sorry for him and see no clear reasons to form a meaningful friendship after the surgery. Charlie then becomes aware of how severe his mental illness is, making Charlie furious and sour about his operation. This operation has many effects on Charlie that can be argued to be positive or negative. It is considered in the short science fiction story ¨Flowers For Algernon¨ by Daniel Keys that Charlie Gordon was worse off after the operation. It’s proven to be this way as a result of Charlie 's behaviors; mental cost after the experiment/the effects of the surgery compared to the

He still remembered things that you would be surprised that somebody would still want to hold on to. He remembers his family 's discomforting feel; his so-called friends constantly mocking him, taking advantage of him. His agitation as a result of the ethically questionable experiment is apparent and deeply felt: “Why can 't I remember? I’ve got to fight. I lie in bed for days and I don 't know who or where I am. Then it all comes back to me in a flash. Fugues of amnesia. Symptoms of senility-second childhood. I can watch them coming on. It 's so cruelly logical. I learned so much and so fast. Now my mind is deteriorating rapidly. I won 't let it happen. I’ll fight it. I can’t help thinking of the boy in the restaurant, the blank expression, the silly smile, the people laughing at him. No-please-not that again…” (Fleischman 1) Charlie clearly does not want to go back to the old life he once had. Once he experienced the potential that mankind has to offer he now sees his very meaningful previous life as worthless. After the deterioration process charlie became unmotivated and depressed, had less self confidence, had terrible anxiety. Before charlie worked hard in mrs kinneans classroom, and tried his best to be a functioning member of society. After the