Alex Fink
Putman
Hour 2/5
15 November 2016
Argument Paper
Ethics are creation of good standards and well founded sense of right from wrong that governs what we do. In the book flowers for Algernon, Charlie is a 37 year old man who is not as smart as the rest with an I.Q. of 68, he wants to be smart so some doctors tried an operation on him to triple his I.Q., but it is only experimental. Charlie Gordon's doctors didn't act ethically when they preformed the surgery to make him smarter.
The doctors didn't know the effects of the operation and did it anyways. They failed to consider the question of what might happen to Charlie and how it might impact him (Siegler). In the book Charlie sees that Algernon is affected by the operation and does research to see the long term effects of the operation, "I have been given my own lab and permission to go ahead with the research."
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One of the questions in Siegler's article was "will it improve the patients quality of life?" And they tried to help him. A quote from FFA shows they try to help him live better "Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart." And they try to keep him smart so he can have better standards (Keyes 53).
The doctors operating on Charlie acted unethically when they tried to make him smarter. They didn't know the effects of it because he was their first human test subject. Also they never used the ethical decisions listed in Sieglers article. Doctors did try to improve his quality of life but failed in the end though. Overall the surgery was unethical.
"Flowers for Algernon" Symbaloo citations
Siegler, M., and W. Winslade. "Ethics in Medicine." Clinical Ethics. By A. R. Jonsen. 7th ed. N.p.:
McGraw-Hill, 2010. N. pag. Print.
Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon. New York: Harcourt, Brace an World, 1966 Print
Dorbin, Arthur, D.S.W. "Five Steps to Better Ethical Decision Making." Psychology Today. Sussex
Publishers, LLC, 13 July 2012. Web. 10 Nov.
On that day he picked up Algernon like normal but got bit. Charlie watched afterward for some time and saw that he was disturbed and vicious. Burt tells me that Algernon is changing. He is less cooperative, he refuses to run the maze any more, and he hasn't been eating. Burt and others have to feed Algernon because he refuses to do the shifting lock. This a indication that the procedure isn't permanent and Charlie may start to lose intelligence. On May 25 Dr.Nemur and I told Charlie not to come to the lab anymore. Then on May 29 we gave him permission to start a lab and he worked all day and all night on the reason he is losing intelligence. On june 5th he is forgetting stuff which leads up to him becoming absent minded on June 10th. The other indications the procedure wasn’t permanent was once they dissected Algernon who died on June 8th Charlie predictions were correct. Charlie also can’t read or remember books he already read. Soon Charlie can’t remember where he put stuff, forgets punctuation, and spelling reverts back to before. These indications are clear that the procedure wasn’t
Sarah Cullen and Margaret Klein, “Respect for Patients, Physicians, and the Truth,” in L. Vaughn, Bioethics: 148-55
He was able to see the world through the new eyes that he had gained from the operation learning new things about the world and being able to talk and interact with the people around him as a normal person. For a moment in time Charlie was normal ,and even after he had lost everything Charlie still learns in the end that even though he may have lost everything he was still happy to be able to finally fulfill his dream of being normal. In conclusion I still think Charlie should have undergone the operation for these reasons ,because in the end if he hadn’t he would have experience these many great things and finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming smart and
Veatch, Robert M.,"The Normative Principles of Medical Ethics." In Medical ethics. 1997. Reprint, Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 1989 29-56.
Charlie Gordon is the main character in "Flowers for Algernon." He under goes an operation to enhance his level of intelligence preformed by two doctors, Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. Since Charlie has an IQ that is below average and is the first patient to agree to commit to this surgery, his side affects could include loss of memory, unable to complete certain tasks, poor grammar and spelling, and even fatality. Charlie wants to proceed with the operation since he believes that he should as intelligent as normal human beings and he is sick of others making fun of him because of his disabilities. The experimental surgery that Charlie underwent to triple his intelligence had three major effects on his life.
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.
Charlie?s experiment was temporary, and overtime his IQ regressed. Algernon, a mouse that went through the same surgery as Charlie, died. If Charlie?s hypothesis proves correct, then he will die as well. Charlie?s life was better before the experiment because he was not exposed to the risks and consequences of the surgery. Without the experiment, Charlie would still be living his ignorant but happy life.
If Charlie had decided not to do the operation, he wouldn’t of met Algernon, the mouse he had worked with, which in turn wouldn’t have hurt him so bad when Algernon passed away. Algernon was his only best friend, he had almost no other friends, and then he passed away, which made everything worse! Again, no operation, no one gets hurt (besides Algernon).
Though at first glance, many would say increasing one’s intelligence temporarily only to send him back to ignorance combined with a new urge to try to return to intellect with no avail is obviously unethical, but it is an incorrect assumption. The short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes focuses on Charlie, a 35 year old man with an IQ of 68 as his intelligence is tripled due to an operation. The book focuses on how his perception of the world and his personality are completely changed as he moves forward on his journey to intelligence and his fear as he realizes it is only temporary and its loss is inevitable. Though many say the operation was not ethical to Charles, in reality there
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
Steinbock, Bonnie, Alex J. London, and John D. Arras. "The Principles Approach." Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine. Contemporary Readings in Bioethics. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. 36-37. Print.
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.
McGee, Glenn and Arthur L. Caplan. "Medical Ethics." Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1997: Microsoft Corporation. CD-ROM.
Garrett, T. M., Baillie, H. W., & Garrett, R. M. (2010). Health care ethics: Principles and problems (5thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.