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Flowers for algernon essay introduction
Flowers for algernon literary essay
Flowers for algernon essay introduction
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Imagine walking through the cafeteria and seeing a kid sitting alone and wondering if there is the possibility that they are just like you. Charlie Gordon in Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon, had an unusually low IQ and found himself without any friends. Nobody accepted him nor did they respect him. His peers made fun of him and laughed at him. As a citizen living in a free society, it is everyone’s responsibility to accept others, respect everyone, and to sacrifice your time and energy for anybody.
Accepting people for who they are is important. There are so many people who would agree that being unique is important. Even those people secretly judge someone who is different. There is a mold that society has created for what a person should be. Michelle Maros, a certified health coach and has a degree in journalism says, “Acceptance of where other people are means ditching judgment and expectations of how you think people should act”. In the book Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie was not accepted by others for who he was. The scientists tried to change Charlie because he was different than everyone else. Keyes says , “‘It’s easy to have friends if you let people laugh at you.’” (311). This quote explains that Charlie did not have any true friends. He thought that the people around him were his “friends”. A citizens in a free society, the people Charlie
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Assad Schultema says, “ Respect is an essential part of human life. What we do when we respect someone is that we recognise their value”. Charlie’s peers did not respect him for who is was. They always seemed to treat him like he was less of a person than they were. “Joe Caro said hey look where Charlie had his operation what did they do Charlie put some brains in” (22). The people who worked with Charlie did not respect him either, they made fun of him. If they would have respected Charlie, in the long run he would’ve been better
“Ignorance is bliss,” is an old saying used throughout time and can be applied to the tragic yet inspiring (5) story know as Flowers for Algernon. Author Daniel Keyes creates a mentally challenged character, Charlie Gordon, who has went through his life completely unaware of his disability is given an opportunity to change everything. As the story progress Charlie is faced with a constant battle between intellect and emotion or happiness, which leads to some dire situations and choices he may not be ready to make.
People often judge others by certain characteristics. Intelligence is one of the most important ones. It is like the difference in talking to a three year old kid versus talking to an adult. People also behave differently. In the story “Flowers for Algernon”, the statement “Ignorance is bliss” is proven true.
Charlie's too smart for them now. He's even smart enough to assist with the research on intelligence enhancement. He's smart enough to suddenly perceive Miss Kinnian with new eyes...and fall in love. Everybody is Charlie Flowers for Algernon is such a beloved classic that it has remained in print since 1959 and is now in its 58th edition. It has received science fiction's highest honors, the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
This story is written in the form of journals to convey Charlie’s personal thoughts to the reader. This form of writing shows the thought process of Charlie before, during, and after his operation, and it explains how people shouldn’t change for anyone else. In Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes presents the idea that self-acceptance is important in life along with staying true to who you are.
Charlie Gordon is the main character of Flowers for Algernon. Charlie is a mentally retarded, 33 year old adult. He desperately wants to be smart, especially after a very troubled childhood in a family who had a hard time adapting to his illness. Charlie has a great attitude about changing his life, and was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish the task of becoming smart. Charlie partakes in a surgery to boost his intelligence that has only been tested on rats, specifically one named Algernon. 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.
Everyone would love to be intelligent and get good grades and a good job, maybe even invent something new and get money from it. If you had a chance to raise your IQ score by three times what it is now, would you do the operation? Would you take the risk of dying, having mental disabilities, not knowing the consequences? Most people would love to get smarter, but they do not want to get harmed during the operation.
To begin with, as Charlie matured mentally, he started seeing the world in a whole new aspect. After the operation, Charlie lost his positive outlook on life. He was oblivious of most negative things in life because as a mentally challenged person, they think laughing is laughing and dispute is dispute but they never know why. He was so oblivious because he couldn’t infer different people’s emotions. Charlie also started to realize that there is a difference between laughing and mocking. Before, Charlie always thought that his “friends” were always laughing with him, now that he understands human nature and sees the cruelty in our world; he understands that his “friends” were actually laughing AT him. After seeing a mentally challenged dishwasher at a local restaurant dropping dishes and making a mess, he saw people...
Is it not better to do your best than to be the best? Charlie Gordon was a motivated man who always put forth as much effort as he could! He struggled for independence and freedom in a world he desperately wanted to be a part of. A statement such as, "Im gonna try awful hard" is often heard spoken by Charlie. Everybody notices how hard Charlie tries to be what he considers normal. Dr. Strauss described Charlie best when he said, "But most people of his low mentality are hostile and uncooperative. They are usually dull, apathetic, and hard to reach. He has a good nature. He’s interested and eager to please". If a person is doing the best they can for the circumstances, isn’t that the best? Why should a person feel pressured to be what he isn’t capable of being? After the operation, Charlie first doesn’t even want to try, then can’t remember what it means to try, and finally, doesn’t have hope enough to try. His statement changes from, "Im gonna try awful hard" to, "maybe its just easier not to do what I say Im going to do"! the thought to try his best never even occurs. He lost one of his most valuable qualities due to his need to conform.
Charlie's surgery to triple his intelligence had three significant events. Although certain events may have affected his life, I believe that this surgery was mandatory for Charlie. Not only did this operation help with Charlie's low IQ, but he also helped science by being their test-subject. This surgery made Charlie's life worth living and he could relate to others and share his opinion about the natural world. Charlie should be thankful for the operation and its affects, otherwise he would've lived a mediocre and meaningless
Even though Daniel Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon in 1966, its messages about humanity still are true today. One of these themes is people treat people with mental disabilities poorly. The main character Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled adult with a low IQ. Charlie is constantly being picked on by others, but he doesn’t realize it because he’s too slow to figure it out. Later on in the story, however, Charlie is chosen to get an operation to have his IQ is raised. I think people today are still picking on others who are less smarter than them.
In the end, Charlie is returned to his previous mental state proving that scientific experimentation leads to a destructive nature of man. In Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes shows the reader a destructive nature of man through stereotypes, absence of family, and the various IQ levels needed to mature. Therefore, science experiments should be left for chemicals and labs not humans and animals.
The plot of both the novel and film version of Flowers for Algernon share common similarities. They both feature a retarded middle-aged man, Charlie Gordon, who receives an operation to heighten his intelligence. Charlie’s IQ eventually surpasses human normalcy to reveal that the experiment did prove successful. In both the film and novel, Charlie became even more intelligent than the professors who worked with him. In the film, Dr. Strauss was embarrassed to reveal that Charlie was smarter than him. That played a milestone event in Charlie’s identification of himself. Slowly his intelligence began to decrease and he eventually returned to his original state of mind. Throughout the story, Charlie encountered many different emotions that he had never experienced before because he didn’t have the common knowledge to understand them. The episode when he was at the nightclub with his co-workers gave him the opportunity to experience betrayal and anger. “I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me” (Keyes 30). The plot for both versions also carefully depicted Charlie’s psychological traumas that he suffered after his operation. These outbursts were often caused by romantic anxiety and the painful memories he would recall. Whenever Charlie got intimate with Alice he would tend to get extremely nervous or have a hallucination, causing him to ruin the moment. “I dropped a fork, and when I tried to retrieve it, I knocked over a glass of water and spilled it on her dress” (56). One of Charlie’s most painful memories was the one about the locket incident. Both versions did a great job of emphasizing this particular moment. “His clothes are torn, his nose is bleeding and one of his teeth is broken” (38). These flashbacks occurred many times in the novel yet the f...
People who are different are treated less in society. In the novel Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner the social setting develops the theme because, society treats Standish Treadwell the Protagonist, badly because he is dyslexic. The school Standish goes to makes him sit in the back his classmates and teacher beat him up. He believes he is not bright because his society has treated him like that. As Standish is thinking in the back of the classroom he says to himself “can't read, can't write Standish Treadwell isn't bright” (Gardner 3).
Many people in our society today change themselves to feel accepted by others. When in reality, they do not need to change themselves to be accepted. If one takes that chance, undesirable consequences can be a result. Losing crucial relationships, losing self esteem, and maybe even depression. In order for one to be happy, one must accept themselves for who they are. As George Orwell once said; “ Happiness can only exist in acceptance.” In the story, “ Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should not have gotten the operation to increase his Intelligence Quotient (IQ) because, it damaged his relationships, it damaged his self esteem, and it had life threatening symptoms.
Others may say that charlie wouldn’t have been fired from his job but i argue that he still got his job back still. Another may say that he realized he was being bullied but i argue that his friends came back around and helped him out at the end for instance”the new men who came to work there after i went a way made a nasty crack he said hey charlie i hear you're a very smart fella a real quiz kid.Say something intelligent.I felt bad but joe carp came over and grabbed him by the shirt and said leave him alone you lousy cracker or I’ll break your neck…”. (keys,243) and that’s my