Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Flowers for algernon essay introduction
Brain surgery essay
Flowers for algernon narrative essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Flowers for algernon essay introduction
If you had the choice to become more intelligent (imagine you are not intelligent) would you take the risk? It’s only brain surgery some may say! In the story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon takes the risk with the brain surgery. In my opinion, I would say no, Charlie should not of had the operation. There are many reasons I say no too. One reason, I say is the main reason why Charlie should not have had the operation, is it didn’t even work! Charlie did get more intelligent, yes, but how long did it last? One maybe two months? Do you know how much it probably hurt to realize you were becoming “dumber”? Charlie said, “Its a good feeling to know things and be smart.”(Keyes, 85) Charlie said it felt good to be smart, …show more content…
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). My final reason is Charlie decided to become weak again at the end. He says, “Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you,” (Keyes, 86). Isn’t that awful! Let people laugh at you, and then you will have friends. Those aren’t friends if they are laughing at you, but Charlie thinks so, all because of that operation! Charlie was so dependable before hand, he could be counted on! During the operation, Charlie was too busy for anything, all the people that actually liked him saw that, and it changed their minds about him. Charlie was such a great person, and that operation had taken away his friends, new and old. The bad part is, it didn’t even work. It didn’t make him more intelligent, and it took away his true friends. Charlie shouldn’t have had this operation, it might have even ruined his life. He moved away from everyone he loved. This operation did ruin his life, as a matter of fact. Charlie didn’t get what he deserved at
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 first reason why I think this is that the operation makes Charlie realize how mean his friends were and loses them, causing him to feel bad. For example, on page 209 it says, “It’s a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me,” and later Charlie says, “I’m ashamed,” which shows how realizing the truth about Joe and Frank makes him feel.
If Charlie didn’t have the operation he would not be able to realize that Joe and Frank were making fun of him. Joe and Frank would just keep making fun of him and he would not be able to stick up for himself. Once in the story Charlie said,“It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say "to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I'm ashamed” (page 524). Somebody who has been made fun of before should know that anybody would want to stick up for themselves. This shows that it was a blessing for Charlie to have this operation because now he can stick up for
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
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
He is then judged even harsher which is why you shouldn’t try to be someone that you’re not. You should stay true to yourself. In the story, it says “Their going to use me! I am so exited I can hardly write” (Keyes page 351). This implies that Charlie is anxious to undergo the surgery that will make him smart. Another part says “If you volenteer for this experament you mite get smart”. (Keyes page 351) This shows that the operation will make him more intelligent so he can fit in with everyone else. This proves that Charlie is trying to be someone he is not in order to fit
With his simple minded approach to life, he was able to live happily without problems or difficulties that we face in relationships today. Although he was never smart, Charlie was a good person before the surgery.
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.
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
They just wanted him to make fun of him. He lost his friends After the surgery was done. Charlie lived a better and happier life before the surgery. He was living better when he was naive to the world. Charlie mentioned, Mr.Donnegan insisted that it would be better for all concerned if I left.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The operation was averse because it was only temporary. Shortly after Charlie’s intelligence was at its peak, he regressed back to his former intelligence. As he watches his own regression, Charlie writes, “I have already begun to notice signs of emotional instability