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James Rosenzweig Putman Hour 6 15 November 2016 Argument Paper Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction novel/short story written by Daniel Keyes. It is about a man named Charlie Gordon. In it, Charlie is chosen by two scientists to participate in an operation to make Charlie smarter. Charlie has an IQ of 68, and goes to a night school for mentally retarded adults. If the operation works, Charlie's IQ will triple. At the lab, Charlie is prepared for the operation. But did the doctors act ethically or not? Truly, they did not act ethically. The reason why they did not act ethically is because they did NOT check with Charlie about possible effects of the surgery, and did not talk to him about the risks. In this way, it appears they are more
I Dr. Strauss, chose Charlie for the surgery, it got me a lot of grief from Dr.Nemur but I knew it was the right choice. Charlie is a man of low intellect but he is very cooperate, motivated, and not hostile. These traits are exceptionally rare in a man of 68 IQ. Another reason that Dr. Nemur and I chose Charlie was that he worked extremely hard in Miss Kinnians class. Working hard got him to be the best because he picked up spelling and writing faster than others in the class. Some other reasons I chose Charlie was because he did all the tests without much complaint. We almost lost Charlie when he tested against Algernon in the maze and didn't write the progress reports for 2 weeks. When the tests were to
The famous quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson, “'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” is particularly relevant to the story “Flowers for Algernon.” Charlie Gordon is a 37 year old man with an I.Q. of 68 his one goal in life was to become smarter so he could be normal. This chance comes to him as he is selected to undergo an operation that should in theory increase his intelligence. This procedure has already been performed on multiplies animals most notably on a mouse named Algernon. After undergoing the operation, Charlie rapidly gains intelligence until he reaches an Iq of about 200 or more. Then tragedy strikes when Algernon starts to mentally regress to his former state after which he dies. From this Charlie learns that soon the same will happen to him all of the things he’s learned will soon disappear soon Charlie finds himself in a downward spiral as he quickly forgets everything he’s learned after the operation. In the end
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.
Charlie Gordon is the main character of Flowers for Algernon. Charlie is a mentally retarded, 33 year old adult. He desperately wants to be smart, especially after a very troubled childhood in a family who had a hard time adapting to his illness. Charlie has a great attitude about changing his life, and was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish the task of becoming smart. Charlie partakes in a surgery to boost his intelligence that has only been tested on rats, specifically one named Algernon. After the surgery Charlie learned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and that many of his old friends wouldn’t see the same person in him. Charlie suddenly had to experience drastic changes in his lifestyle and the story revolves around these complications.
Although Charlie was a thirty seven year-old man, his understanding and comprehension of a situation was far too low to understand such consequences that the surgery could come with. In the article, "Five Steps to Better Ethical Decision Making", it says to ask yourself if you could understand making that choice (Dobrin). The doctors in "Flowers for Algernon" did not ask themselves if they were lacking as much intelligence as Charlie, could they make the choice to have the surgery? Charlie didn't know what could happen to him if the there were side effects until it was too late. Therefore, the doctors did not act ethically when choosing Charlie as the test
Even though Daniel Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon in 1966, its messages about humanity still are true today. One of these themes is people treat people with mental disabilities poorly. The main character Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled adult with a low IQ. Charlie is constantly being picked on by others, but he doesn’t realize it because he’s too slow to figure it out. Later on in the story, however, Charlie is chosen to get an operation to have his IQ is raised. I think people today are still picking on others who are less smarter than them.
In the story "Flowers for Algernon", the main character, Charlie Gordon is a mentally retarded 37 year-old man with an IQ of sixty-eight. Although he might not have been smart, I believe that Charlie was the definition of happiness. He worked happily as a janitor, was motivated to learn, and had a great time with his so called ?friends.? After Charlie undergoes an experiment that triples his IQ, his life changes for the worse. With intelligence does not come happiness.
In the end, Charlie is returned to his previous mental state proving that scientific experimentation leads to a destructive nature of man. In Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes shows the reader a destructive nature of man through stereotypes, absence of family, and the various IQ levels needed to mature. Therefore, science experiments should be left for chemicals and labs not humans and animals.
Many popular novels are often converted into television movies. The brilliant fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes, was developed into a dramatic television film. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded man who is given the opportunity to become intelligent through the advancements of medical science. This emotionally touching novel was adapted to television so it could appeal to a wider, more general audience. Although the novel and film are similar in terms of plot and theme, they are different in terms of characters.
Have you ever felt stuck? Wherever you are, it’s the absolute last place you want to be. In the book Into the Wild, Chris McCandless feels stuck just like the average everyday person may feel. Chris finds his escape plan to the situation and feels he will free himself by going off to the wild. I agree with the author that Chris McCandless wasn’t a crazy person, a sociopath, or an outcast because he got along with many people very well, but he did seem somewhat incompetent, even though he survived for quite some time.
Tan includes a direct quote from her mother in paragraph six of the reading, and she does not shorten it for an important reason. Tan decides to keep the entire quote instead of paraphrasing to add an effect that a reader can only understand with the full quote. It shows that even though some people speak the language of English it is hard for others to understand based on the person’s full understanding and comprehension of the language. In Tan’s case she is used to the way her mother speaks and uses the language, but to others it is almost impossible to understand. If it were not for Tan summarizing what the quote meant before putting it in the text, few readers would have understood what the mother was trying to convey with her use of the language. Tan’s strategy in including this direct quotation is to show that language differs from person to person even if they all speak the same language. She is implying that the whole world could speak English; however, it would not be the same type of English because of how everyone learns and how others around
In this novel, Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, a man named Charlie Gordon has an operation done to increase his intelligence. He started as a mentally retarded man and slowly became a genius. He seemed to soak up information like a sponge and he was able to figure out the most complex scientific formulas. The only problem with the operation is that it does not last for ever and in his remaining time he tries to figure out why it is not permanent. He will eventually lose everything he learned and become worse off than when he started, so Charlie was better off before he had the operation.
Many people in our society today change themselves to feel accepted by others. When in reality, they do not need to change themselves to be accepted. If one takes that chance, undesirable consequences can be a result. Losing crucial relationships, losing self esteem, and maybe even depression. In order for one to be happy, one must accept themselves for who they are. As George Orwell once said; “ Happiness can only exist in acceptance.” In the story, “ Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should not have gotten the operation to increase his Intelligence Quotient (IQ) because, it damaged his relationships, it damaged his self esteem, and it had life threatening symptoms.
Was Charlie better off without the operation? Through Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes sends an crucial message to society that man should never tamper with human intelligence or else the outcome can be personally devastating. After Charlie's operation, he felt isolated and lonesome, change in personality made him edgy around people or (lack social skills), and suffered from traumas due to past memories.
“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.