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Flowers For Algernon Literary Analysis

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The Meaning of Intelligence
In many instances in everyday life, we always ask this question to ourselves,“What if I were smarter?” Daniel Keyes answers this question well, showing the benefits and hazards of intelligence. In the science fiction story Flowers For Algernon, 37 year old Charlie Gordon goes through a precarious and risky situation in order to improve his 68 IQ intelligence to fit in with others. Struggling through the everyday necessities that others may find effortless, such as reading and writing basic phrases, Charlie is desperate to undergo a surgery that will triple his IQ. After the surgery, Charlie opens his eyes to the colorful world and sees a new perspective of life, full of emotions and morals. He discovers the true …show more content…

When Charlie meets up with the one and only person who didn’t sign the petition to fire Charlie. Together, they reflect on the drastic transformation in Charlie, and compares it to the bible. Reflecting on his radical change, Charlie thinks to himself, “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved. Before, they laughed at me and despised me for my ignorance and dullness; now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding” (Keyes 16). In other words, from the surgery, Charlie realizes that Charlie wants to please people and make them happy, and therefore thinks his knowledge will help him build stronger friendships. However, he realizes that his surgery has distanced himself from his coworkers and friends. People are afraid and do not trust him, thinking he has done something evil and dishonest. From this experience, Charlie realizes that what people look for isn’t just intelligence but also personality. If he didn’t have the surgery, Charlie would always yearn for intelligence and not perceive that honesty and dependability are often more valued than his intellectual

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In “Flowers for Algernon” and “The Scarlet Ibis” pride has a big impact on Doodle’s brother and Rose. Rose and brother manipulated and mistreated Charlie and Doodle There are many examples of Charlie and Doodle being mistreated by Rose and Doodle brother in both of the stories. In both stories, Charlie and and Doodle both felt unwanted and unloved by Rose and his brother. For example, In “The Scarlet Ibis” Doodle’s brother had a lot of pride and could not accept him as he was.

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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

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I think that Charlie should have the surgery because of these 3 reasons, he is super smart, he realizes a lot more things in life , and that he can power through depression. The first reason that Charlie should have the surgery is that he is

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Charlie was a man young aged at thirty-seven with an IQ score of sixty-eight. All he wanted was to be intelligent. Charlie finally got this opportunity when two doctors decided he was a perfect candidate for a surgery that would greatly improve his intelligence. However, Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery

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The author uses this device to show the character’s realization of how American society values intelligence and education. As Charlie’s intelligence grows, he is able to understand and connect with his peers, as shown when he says, “I am beginning to understand Algernon’s behavior, and it’s beginning to make sense to me” (Keyes, 23). This quote highlights how knowledge can foster empathy and understanding, which is

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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.

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He has a good natcher hes interested and eager to please,” on page 185.   This quote is what the doctors were saying about Charlie. This quote reveals that his perspective is surprising because most people of his level of of intelligence are hostile and do not want to

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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

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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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“Power is dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” When the young boys first gathered after the crash, they were civil, mostly well behaved boys until the need for power took advantage of them. Two crucial symbols from the novel are the sow’s head and the conch shell. Each of these symbols represent power however, their powers have different meanings.

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After the surgery happened Charlie started to understand more of what was going on around him. For an example ,he would read a book and then he would understand what he was reading about. Also, he started to spell better, you can see a big difference of writing from the first journal to the seventh or eighth journal. Charlie also could understand the feelings that people could express, for example, later in the book he started feeling things for Mrs Kinnian, and he started expressing them in his own form.

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

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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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Although, if Charlie did not have the surgery, he would not have had the experience of becoming super smart. Charlie would agree with me that he did not feel happy with himself that he had the surgery. He decided that he wanted to leave New York because he was so embarrassed about pulling a “Charlie Gordon.” Charlie should not have had the surgery because, before the surgery, he had the motivation to become smart, and after the surgery, he became depressed and realized that the world plus the people in it are

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I dont care if it herts.” He clearly does not fully grasp the implications of the surgery. Charlie only understands the operation may hurt, missing other risks like surgical complications. Failing to understand what the surgery will do to his brain, he only knows it will make him “smart”. He cannot comprehend what smart means, only wishing to be the same as others.

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