In the novel, Flowers for Algernon the question of morality comes to mind. There are many immoral issues that appear throughout the novel. Three examples of this would be the treatment Charlie was receiving, the experiment itself, and Hilda the nurse talking about “Gods Play”. During the time period the novel takes place people did not feel any sympathy towards special needs people. They were not treated like everyone else would be. Looking at Charlie’s progress reports it shows the difficulty Charlie faces in his life everyday, how the experiment is not moral, and how the nurse Hilda symbolizes other immoral issues that are known in the novel.
Charlie has difficulty completing simple tasks such as writing down his progress. In Progress Report 1 he says “I cant think anymore because I have nothing to rite so I will close for today…”(Keyes 1). This shows how hard it was for Charlie to write about his progress in the journal before his operation. Charlie also has difficulty understand tasks other people assign him. An example of this would be in Progress Report 3 when Gimpy asks Charlie to put the tray of rolls in the oven. He has a difficult time attempting to do so and drops the tray. “Gimpy hollers at me all the time when I do something rong, but he reely likes me because hes my friend. Boy if I get smart wont he be surprised”(Keyes 4). Other people seem to get frustrated with Charlie when he does not do things right. Another issue of morality that can be seen through Charlie is how he is treated like an animal. In order to get Charlie to relax Gimpy gives Charlie a “bright shiny object”. This is so that he can play with it like a person would give their dog. “The pendant is a brightness that Charlie remembers but he do...
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... punished for his actions. Another example would be the experiment itself. The experiment was kept a secret because the scientists were unsure if it was going to succeed or not. In the begging of the novel Charlie believes the scientists know what they are doing and puts his faith in them to make his smarter. As the novel progresses he comes to the realization the experiment was a sham and that he will eventually deteriorate like the mouse. The last example given was about the nurse Hilda. She brought up some interesting moral issues in the novel. She talks about how the experiment is immoral because the scientists are playing with the works of God. This leads to the question about if human beings with special needs should be fixed. Charlie went from being mentally retarded to smart and then back to the way he was. The moral issues in the novel remain questionable.
Through the experience of the young character, Bobby, the short story Catapult by J. A McLeod is a good example in which characters in texts are constructed to represent the best and worst qualities in human nature. In this short story, Bobby is constructed to convey just how easily we are able to destroy our innocence and to represent some of the uglier qualities in human nature, like how we crave power, are greedy and how easily we are able to kill if given the power paired with a lapse in judgement. It shows how we would rather pin the blame on something innocent rather than accept our faults and also suggests that our lack of judgement could be our downfall. At the same
I see Charlie attempting desperately to act out of character. Adept at business he has shown ability, humility and perseverance. However, he seems to be out of touch with the manifested feelings of others his path has crossed.
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.
Firstly, Charlie's operation turns him into an extremely intelligent person. Charlie becomes much smarter as the novel unfolds. A little after his operation Charlie's IQ slowly starts to increase. He finally beats Algernon after losing to him in a race repeatedly. After the victory Charlie says, " I beet Algernon. I dint even know I beet him until Burt Selden told me…But after I beet him 8 more times. I must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon."(Keyes 30). Algernon is a smart mouse, who has undergone the same operation as Charlie. Charlie victory shows his increase of knowledgeable. This also shows that his brain is developing. Charlie then gains more knowledge. After writing a few more progress reports one can see a huge change in Charlie's writing, especially in his grammar. While having a conversation with Joe, Charlie says, "Everybody on the floor came around and they were laff laughing…you been here long enuff enough."(Keyes 34). By correcting his own mistakes, Charlie shows that he is progressing towards a more educate...
The first example of a character whose morals are destroyed is Myrtle. Myrtle's attempt to enter into the group to which the Buchanans belong is doomed to fail. She enters the affair with Tom, hoping to adopt his way of life and be accepted into his class to escape from her own. Her class is that of the middle class. Her husband, Wilson, owns a gas station, making an honest living and trying his best to succeed in a world where everything revolves around material possessions. With her involvement in Tom's class, she only becomes vulgar and corrupt like the rich. She loses all sense of morality by hurting others in her futile attempt to join the ranks of Tom's social class. In doin...
... mistakes. Charlie is not ready, to change himself, since he repeats his past misdeeds. It seems like he will never be able to change or be happy about what he has or had in his past. There is no money in the world, which can help him. The story "babylon revisited" has anticlimax end, and Charlie left empty handed. In life any person, who tries change has to put a lot of efforts and time, to do it. If a person wishes to change himself, the first step he has to take is to remember his past mistakes and stay away from them. A past of a person will be always a part of him. He can never escape or ignore it, but he can learn from it and change himself. Every person has to learn how to use his/her unpleasant experience of the past as an advantage, to stay away from his past misdeeds, to build a bright future.
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.
There are consequences to people who decide to write their own rules. The preceding are examples of individuals who had to obey the social norms of their surroundings. These characters chose not to endure the further challenges as a result of non-conformity.
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
The novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is a work of fiction that breaks the ethics of science. Ethics is defined as rules of conduct or moral principles which are ignored in the story. The story is about a person named Victor Frankenstein who creates an artificial being. Victor abandons the being out of fear and the being is left to discover the outside world on his own and be rejected by people making the monster go on a violent rampage. Victor’s decision would affect him later on by the monster killing his loved ones causing Victor to suffer. Then Victor chooses to seek revenge on the monster and this choice will bring him to his death. In novel Frankenstein one might say that the main character, Victor, breaks the ethics of science when he plays God by creating his own being.
The story of Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley is revered as one of the greatest novels to be formulated. It takes the point of view of a scientist named ‘Victor Frankenstein’ who is fuelled by an insatiable thirst of expanding his knowledge. His interests draw to that of being able to give things life where he takes the seat of god feeling that he has the power to do all he envisions, which in the end destroys him. Almost 150 years later the book Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes and published in 1959, manages to recreate the conflict between science and ethics and the implications of ungoverned scientific experimentation. The book observes a young man named Charlie who has a mental disorder, he continuously seeks to “become smart” and is attending a special school to achieve his goal. While visiting this school he is
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.
The three characters who have moral or immoral conversions are Sydney Carton, Dr. Alexandre Manette, and Madame Defarge. By ending his life to rescue the life of Charles, Sydney reaches the climax of morality, Dr. Manette grows morally and he is no longer the hermit stuck in the prison cell, Madame Defarge converts to immortality which in the end kills her. In conclusion, it is evident that in this novel those who had a moral conversions were rewarded with true happiness earthly or otherwise, while those who had immoral conversions were doomed to eternal damnation.
“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.
Man’s immorality is expressed in the steady decline of human decency in the civilization that the boys create on their island. In the few weeks after their plane crash which strands them on a paradise-like island, Ralph organizes the boys into an ordered civilization. However, the boys soon realize that nobody is around to reprove them if they hurt, bully, or even kill each other and the animals on the island, and start following the sadistic Jack. He encourages them to become savage by showing them the joy of hurting and killing lesser animals. The actions of the boys show that Man’s morals were not imbedded in his being, but bred into him by the pressures of civilization. Without civilization to keep people in check, they start to run wild, because nobody is restraining them. This property is shown especially by Roger in Lord of the Flies. In the beginning ...