Intelligence and Happiness in Flowers for Algernon

395 Words1 Page

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.

For Charlie, Ignorance is bliss. He realizes that his so called ?friends? were just using him to entertain their perverse humor. Also, he was also fired from the job that he loved so much because his new intelligence made those around him feel inferior and scared. This sends Charlie into a short depression. His life was better before the experiment because he had a job he looked forward to and ?friends?.

"Now I'm more alone than ever before," Charlie says on April 30th. He had nobody to relate to because at this point of the story, Charlie?s intelligence has already exceeded that of his teacher and the doctors. Before Charlie became smart, even the simplest things in life were good enough for him. As a genius, none of those things mattered to him. His mind was more complex, he needed more and he wanted more. As a result, he felt alone and buried himself in his work.

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.

In conclusion, I believe that Charlie?s life was better before the surgery. Although ?

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis: Flowers For Algernon

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning Charlie had very bad mental problems, he didn't have the experience everyone had. He couldn't spell well, talk well, etc. After he decided with Miss Kinnian to get the surgery he started getting smarter and smarter. Towards the end he lost his job and his girlfriend. After that he started slacking and then he went from getting smarter and smarter to getting dumber and dumber to a point where he got worse than he was before. I found the end of the book inspiring because no matter how smart you get if you start slacking and never go back to trying again you life can go upside

    Read More

  • Charlie Gordon's Hope In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charlie was used, opportunists only looked after Charlie for their own well-being. These doctors knew Charlie was the ultimate person, he had no family. Additionally, the surgeons superseded Charlie’s life, nobody was definite of the side effects, yet they agreed on performing this experiment. No heart was given to Charlie, he was just an item for Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur. Moreover, Algernon was not the only lab mice, there were hundreds more! Tons of these animals probably died; however, the specialists prepared this analysis with one victorious lab to rodent. All the people working with Charlie on the study were conscious on the side effect; despite that, nobody informed Charlie. Over the months, Charlie was only a gadget to benefit the opportunists, the human himself. Not being aware of all the circumstances, Charlie was an investigation to fix

    Read More

  • Examples Of Nurture In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    1730 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the operation, he exhibited some clear strengths such as determination, a positive attitude, friendly with people and some weaknesses such as education and inability to understand the adult world. After the operation, he begun to change in numerous ways. Charlie started out as being not really intelligent. Being around with “smart” people made him want to change and became “intelligent” just like his “friends.” I think its all crazy. If you can get smart when your sleeping why do people go to school. That thing I don't think will work. I use to watch the late show and the late late show on TV all the time and it never made me smart (Keyes 118). This part of the book led Charlie’s flashbacks takes place of how he was raised or nurtured through his childhood, Of how he wanted to try to become smart. However Dr. Strauss believes that his sleep would help Charlie be able to learn. However in his nature, his disability cannot help him at all, doesn’t matter how much he tries to watch TV and tries to go to sleep, I wouldn’t allow him to learn anything at all. The nurture of this is having the doctor recommend Charlie to do this. His disability also not just affects him but his family as well. His disability kind of makes his sister miserable as well, jealous over how the parents focus on Charlie due to his disability, despite the successes the sister achieves in school. Thus Charlie’s nature towards others has a negative effect which is towards his sister. Charlie was raised by his parents but through a condition that would then follow him probably for the rest of his life as well as being mainly raised through this experiment, which possibly wouldn’t help him at all in the near

    Read More

  • Charlie Gordon

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    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. Charlie’s story began with the surgery, the biggest decision he made in his life. Although he was a guinea pig during 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.

    Read More

  • Flowers For Algernon

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    The experiment starts to work and Charlie gets smarter and he starts realizing new things. Before the operation his imagination and his brain weren’t working that well. His imagination started to work for the first time when he got this operation. Now that he was smart, he could quit his old job of working as a janitor at a bakery and start working for the hospital full time.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Charlie's Intelligence Operation

    620 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to experience with technological advancements, we have learned that there can be several drawbacks to something that may seem like a way to make our daily lives easier. This is especially true in the case of Charlie, as the operation did not give him the exact results he was expecting. Although he did get everything he wanted out of the procedure, Charlie's intelligence was not permanent like everyone had hoped. Instead, he lost all the knowledge he had gained which returned him back to square one. However, we know for certain that much thought was put into deciding whether Charlie should undergo the operation and the pros and cons of the procedure.

    Read More

  • Who Is Charlie Gordon In Flowers For Algernon

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    One interesting fact about Charlie Gordon is that he is determined and when he puts his mind to be smart he would do anything. In result of his determination, he gets an operation which makes it easier to learn and soak up all of the information around him up like a sponge. “Anyway, now I’m getting smarter every day” (Daniel Keyes, 67) this proves that he was getting smarter and that the operation was successful.The operation was a complete success and he ended up being as smart if not smarter than the doctors. Charlie learned several different languages and loads of intelligence on things such as writing and science. In my opinion Charlie gained a lot from the surgery but ended up losing all of it, but even after losing his intelligence he gained so much.

    Read More

  • Flowers For Algernon

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Flowers For Algernon

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The scientists first try this experiment on a mouse to see if it might work. The mouse did improve on how fast he learned and was made smarter every time the scientists taught the mouse something new. Since the experiment was a success they decided to begin to test Charlie to see if he was the right type of person . They begin with tests such as inkblot, raw shok test, and they had him race the mouse named Algernon, by seeing who was able to complete the same maze first. 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 willing to care or learn. On the contrary of things, Charlie also experiences and learns a lot from this experiment. He experiences love, freedom, being able to read and write, and the ability to be able to remember what has happened to him all of these years.

    Read More

  • Intelligence And Happiness In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, beginning from the first paragraph, Charlie’s intentions are clear; he wishes to become intelligent above anything. Within the very first progress journal Charlie describes his willingness to become intelligent. “All my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb and my mom always tolld me to try …but its very hard to be smart and even when I lern … at the school I ferget alot." (Keyes 4). Charlie indicates his eagerness to become intelligent began ever since he was little yet, his weak memory holds him back, but nonetheless being smart is his one goal. Also when Charlie is talking about why he wants to become intelligent he reveals he believes becoming smart will bring him friends to keep him company. He reports, “if your smart you can have lots of frends to talk to and you never get lonley by yourself all the time.” (15). Charlie believes being smart is the key to popularity and gaining friends who will want to spend time with him, therefore becoming intelligent for him is the key to happiness. In addition when the professor reminds Charlie all the fame he could acquire if he was successful reminds he shakes it off. He reflects “I dont care so much about beeing famus. I just want to be smart like other pepul so I c...

    Read More

  • Enlightenment That Brought Despair

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Charlie is better off without the surgery to make him intelligent because he gains knowledge about the evils of the world, forcing him to realize his past life as a laughingstock and making him depressed. Although he was unaware of being bullied, he still enjoyed his life and happiness, rather than acumen and realism, is vital in an optimistic life. After the surgery, he is alone and even though he gained what he wanted, he lost what he already possessed, leaving him pessimistic. At the end, he even loses his last love, knowledge, leaving him beat up. All in all, Charlie, who had to deal with psychological traumas in the end, was better off before he gained with all these knowledge.

    Read More

  • Playing God?

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story “Flowers for Algernon” the main character Charlie Gordon is going through and experiment to enhance his IQ to make him a genius. Making his intelligence made him smarter but it has made him too smart. He has become too smart for the woman he likes Ms.Kinnian. In the story Charlie lost his job and is getting rejected for his sudden intelligence. He says “This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved.” (Keyes 188-221) He cannot tell anyone about the experiment he went through so everyone thinks that he is a freak. He also now knows how he acted in the past so now he feels ashamed. In the story it says “Now I know what it means when they say “to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I am ashamed.” (Keyes 188-221) He feels bad about how he was before and now he feels worse about himself. So when he becomes mentally challenged again he feels worse about himself then before.

    Read More

  • Charlie was Better off Before the Operation in Flowers for Algernon

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Identity Analysis

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    Charlie struggles with apparent mental illness throughout his letters, but he never explicitly addresses this problem. His friends make him realize that he is different and it is okay to be different from everyone else. This change in perspective gives Charlie new opportunities to experience life from a side he was unfamiliar with. Without these new friends, Charlie would have never dared to try on the things he has. His friends have helped him develop from an antisocial wallflower to an adventurous young man who is both brave and loyal. Transitioning shapes how the individual enters into the workforce, live independently and gain some control over their future

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: The Perks Of Being A Wallflowers

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of the parties he attends with his new friends he has tried using some drugs. These new friends help Charlie see things with a positive perspective, and to be confident in himself. When his friends move away, Charlie experience isolation and has a mental crisis that leads him to be internalized in a clinic.

    Read More

More about Intelligence and Happiness in Flowers for Algernon

Open Document