Many times in life, we are forced to make difficult decisions. These decisions will eventually have a huge impact on our life and relationships with others. In the short story, ‘Flowers for Algernon’, the main character Charlie Gordon makes a choice to take part in an operation that will triple his intelligence. This choice impacts his relationship with his co-workers, Ms. Kinnian, and the doctors. Charlie’s relationship with his co-workers changed drastically when Charlie went through the operation. Before the operation, Charlie thought that Joe Carp and Frank Reilly liked having him around because they invited him to parties. In the story Charlie writes that, “...everybody likes me and we have fun. I cant wait to be smart like my best friends Joe Carp and Frank Reilly.” (Keyes 290). This means that Charlie thinks that his co-workers are being friendly with him, when in actuality, they are making fun of him. Then, when Charlie …show more content…
Kinnian from the first class that Charlie took with her. Charlie thinks that Ms. Kinnian is the smartest teacher ever, and Ms. Kinnian thinks that Charlie is the best student in her class because he has good motivation. “ They said Miss Kinnian told that I was her bestest pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardist and I reely wantid to lern.” (Keyes 286). As Charlie becomes smarter, he realizes that Ms.Kinnian is really pretty, and comments on how he never noticed that before. He eventually realizes that he is in love with Ms. Kinnian after his intelligence is tripled which forever changes their relationship. Later on though, Charlie has trouble socializing with Ms. Kinnian because, he talks about too complicated concepts that he learned through his operation. “... she just stared at me blankly and asked me what I meant about the mathematical variance equivalent in Dobermanns Fifth Concerto.” (Keyes 298). Clearly, Charlie’s bond with Ms.Kinnian starts to break after the operation took
If Charlie didn’t have the operation he would not be able to realize that Joe and Frank were making fun of him. Joe and Frank would just keep making fun of him and he would not be able to stick up for himself. Once in the story Charlie said,“It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say "to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I'm ashamed” (page 524). Somebody who has been made fun of before should know that anybody would want to stick up for themselves. This shows that it was a blessing for Charlie to have this operation because now he can stick up for
In the first place, Charlie’s colleagues are taking advantage of Charlie’s disabilities. They call him names because they are aware the he does not know they are insulting him. In one of the progress reports, Charlie stated, “Everybody laffed and we had a good time and they gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a card when hes potted. I dont know what that means but everybody likes me and we have fun” [SIC] (205). Charlie does not know that Joe and Frank are insulting him. If he was intelligent, he would get upset and hurt. After the operation, Charlie started to realize that Joe and Frank were calling him names and made him embarrass himself in front of people. For example, when Joe and Frank made him dance with Ellen, he used trip over someone’s foot. Charlie had mentioned, “It’s a funny thing never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. I’m ashamed,” (209). He was embarrassed and hurt. Before the operation, Joe and Frank used to
Everyone knows that every story has two sides, but the tricky part is figuring out which side to believe. In the short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keys, Charlie Gordon, a 37-year-old man with a mental handicap, has an operation performed on him to artificially increase his intelligence. Before and after the operation, there were drastic changes in the lives of Charlie and all those around him. While the operation caused many twists and turns for Charlie and his peers, the pros far outweighed the cons.
The scientists who performed the experiment now need a human subject to test, and Charlie has been recommended to them by his night-school teacher, Miss Kinnian. Charlie's a good candidate for the procedure, because even though he currently has an I.Q. of only 68, he is willing, highly motivated and eager to learn. He's convinced that if he could only learn to read and write, the secret of being smart would be revealed to him.
Joe Carp and Frank Reilly are Charlie’s coworkers who often make fun of Charlie because of his low IQ. Charlie figured he could resolve this by becoming smarter, so he undergoes an experiment and becomes smarter. Instead of them liking him more, they feared him. Charlie thinks that if he changes and tries to become someone new that he will have lots of friends. He thinks he will have a normal life, like everyone that he works with at Donegan's plastic box company. In the story, the text states “Then Frank Reilly said what did you do Charlie forget your key and open your door the hard way. That made me laff. Their really my friends and they like me” (Keyes page 354). This shows that his coworkers are mean to him but he doesn’t notice and he just wants to be their friends. The story also said, “All the rest demanded I be fired” (Keyes page 336) and this means that his coworkers didn’t want to work
Charlie’s story began with the surgery, the biggest decision he made in his life. Although he was a guinea pig in the procedure, he wasn’t worried at all about the surgery, but rather on becoming smart as fast as he could. Supposedly these doctors were doing Charlie the greatest favor he would ever receive, and he was so eager to learn as much as he could. Soon however, Charlie would encounter challenges he never faced with the intelligence of a 6 year old. Before his surgery, Charlie had great friends in Miss Kinnian and the bakery workers. After the surgery the relationships between Charlie and everyone he knew would take a drastic turn.
Charlie soon becomes aware that his smartness may not stay forever, that he might lose his genius. He starts to research the experiment himself. He studies a little mouse named Algernon who they did the experiment on first. Charlie starts to become attached to the little white mouse. Together they are the smartest of their species. When Charlie and Algernon have to go Chicago for an interview, Charlie gets so frustrated at how all the scientists are talking as if before the operation Charlie wasn’t a real person. In his frustration he accidentally on purpose let Algernon go.
When was the last time you wanted something so much, you would sacrifice your life to have it; even if just for a moment? Charlie Gordon, a 37 year old man with a learning disability, did just that. In the story "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes, Charlie gets a chance to alter his I.Q. substantially through operation. The only drawback to this is, the long-term outcomes of the operation are unknown. The operation does succeed, but later Charlie is sent on a riveting downward spiral into the life he tried to run away from. The operation hurt Charlie in every imaginable way; and did nothing to help him.
As a result of the operations, Charlie gains the experience of what it is like to be intelligent. Therefore, he sees the world as it is. “Only a short time ago, I learned that people laughed at me. Now I can see that unknowingly I joined them in laughing at myself. This hurts most of all” (76.) He can now truly understand how the outside world functions and how he is truly treated.
The scientists finally decide Charlie is the perfect subject for the experiment due to his motivation and his eagerness to be smart. As Charlie's IQ begins to grow, so does his ability to understand how cruel the world around him really is. While Charlie's knowledge grows, his attitude changes along with those around him. Charlie loses his job, friends, happiness, and even his willingness to care or learn. On the contrary, Charlie also experiences and learns a lot from this experiment.
According to Charlie’s log, before Charlie was going to get his operation, Miss Kinnian said, “...dont be scared Charlie you done so much with so little I think you deserv it most of all… [sic].” Through this line we can see Miss Kinnian cared about Charlie. A few days after Charlie beat Algernon at the maze, Charlie went to Miss Kinnian, who said, “I have confidence in you Charlie the way you struggled so hard to read and right… [sic].” The words “I have confidence in you” clearly shows Miss Kinnian’s faith in and care for Charlie. In Charlie’s log, he said to Miss Kinnian, “...all my frends are smart people but there good. They like me and they never did anything that wasnt nice… [sic]” After
Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because they always made jokes about Charlie, but he was not smart enough to realize it. As he gets smarter he loses his friends because they think he is just trying to act smart.
Firstly, Charlie's realizes that his co-workers aren't his true friends after all. When Joe Carp and Frank Reilly take him to a house party, they made him get drunk and started laughing at the way he was doing the dancing steps. Joe Carp says, "I ain't laughed so much since we sent him around the corner to see if it was raining that night we ditched him at Halloran's" (41), Charlie recalls his past memory of him being it and not finding his friends who also ditched him and immediately realizes that Joe Carp was relating to the same situation. Charlie felt ashamed and back-stabbed when he realized that he had no friends and that his co-workers use to have him around for their pure entertainment. It's after the operation, that he finds out he has no real friends, and in result feels lonely. Next, Charlie unwillingly had to leave his job from the bakery where he worked for more than fifteen years. Mr. Donner treated him as his son and took care of him, but even he had noticed an unusual behavior in Charlie, lately. Mr. Donner hesitatingly said, "But something happened to you, and I don't understand what it means... Charlie, I got to let you go" (104), Charlie couldn't believe it and kept denying the fact that he had been fired. The bakery and all the workers inside it were his family, and the increase of intelligence had ...
In the short story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a thirty-seven-year-old man named Charlie Gordon has a low intelligence level. Charlie is chosen for an operation(after taking many tests) that could increase his intelligence level. Algernon(a white mouse) had the same operation done on him. The first test Algernon has to run through a maze while Charlie does one on paper. When Charlie loses to Algernon, he begs for the operation. After Charlie has his operation, he becomes insanely smart and can beat Algernon without even trying. Months after the operation things start to go downhill for Charlie and Algernon. They both experience a decrease in their intelligence level and show aggressive actions. Weeks later Algernon dies because of a brain shrinkage. Charlie is now worried about his fate so he publishes the experiment(The Algernon-Gordon effect) which shows how the operation fails. After the publication, Charlie moves to
“Flowers for Algernon, first published in 1959, is considered a landmark work on both science fiction and disability literature,” (Werlock 2009). The American Library Association reports that this novel was banned as an obscene for its love scenes. When the main character, Charlie Gordon, increases his IQ from 68 to a level that makes him a genius (after received experimental brain surgery), his maturity leads him to fall in love with his teacher, and a sexual encounter ensues. This caused Flowers for Algernon to be banned and challenged in many places (Plant City, Florida- 1976, Emporium, Pennsylvania- 1977, Oberlin High School (Ohio) - 1983, among others). Most people consider the sexual scenes fairly mild, but there are those who consider any mention of sexual behavior inappropriate for teens or pre-teens, hence the attempts at censorship. Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book has occasionally been banned from school libraries including some in Pennsylvania and Texas. Flowers for Algernon has won numerous awards, even for the film, and it is regularly taught in schools around the world; therefore, it should remain on shelves.