Charlie Gordon In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

Being a human is an opportunity of a lifetime that other organisms on the planet could not possibly begin to fathom. Humans are a particular species in which they are not always grateful for their abilities or the life they happen to have. However, humans have certain luxuries that no other organism has on this Earth. In the novel, Flowers for Algernon, the author, Daniel Keyes, writes about a character named Charlie Gordon. Charlie was a mentally deficient adult with an I.Q. below a 70; and his intelligence was enhanced from a surgical procedure. By having his intelligence enhanced, Charlie realizes that his fellow human beings did not treat him like a human being before and after the operation. When Charlie’s intelligence was increased, he understood the importance of being treated like a human rather than being

As stated above, Charlie only realized he was not treated like an individual until after the operation. To most people, the essence of being human is actually taken for granted, but luckily Charlie understood the power and significance of being human. “He makes the same mistake as the others when they look at a feeble-minded person and laugh because they don't understand there are human feelings involved. He doesn't realize that I was a person before I came here,”(Keyes 145). During this point in the novel, Charlie has established his external conflict with Professor Nemur. To provide some background, Professor Nemur initiated the idea of increasing intelligence through a surgical procedure. Nemur was the one who actually helped operate on Charlie to enhance his intelligence. Charlie feels as if Professor Nemur did not view Charlie as an individual before his intelligence was enhanced, when he had an I.Q. below 70. As a result, Charlie’s self-esteem was slightly diminished in a way; and he began to grow choleric in the following encounters with Professor