Don’t Change for the Worst As we have come to understand there are different types of smart such as school smarts (math, English etc.) but there is also social smarts. Someone could be amazing in one but not so bright in the other. The book “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes is about Charlie Gordon, a 37-year-old man, who has been an outsider his whole life because he did not have “school” smarts. He believes that if he can be in a lab and have a bunch of tests done on him, that he will eventually be smart. He does not even know the outcome of this surgery. The surgery does work for a little while before it starts wearing off and he goes back to his old self. Charlie Gordon should have never had gone through with the surgery because it …show more content…
Charlie was always able to talk to people easily about a topic that everyone could enjoy and when he was at work with his friends he could talk to them, but all of a sudden he was smart and he cannot enjoy a normal conversation. When Charlie is talking about his communication problems he states “I tried to avoid all discussions of intellectual concepts and to keep the conversation on a simple, everyday level, but she just stared at me blankly and asked what I meant about mathematical variance equivalent in Dorbermann s Fifth Concerto [sic], (Keyes 18). Charlie tries to keep his communication to a limit because he finds he can’t have a conversation with bringing up a hard topic. Charlie’s being school smart has taken away his social abilities. He says that Miss Kinn looked at him blankly showing him that this is not a light topic. He finds the need to avoid conversations after this encounter. In life, being able to have a normal conversation is a necessity because everywhere you go there will be people that you might need to talk to. Doing the surgery has made it impossible for Charlie to talk with someone proving he should not have had the …show more content…
Charlie was a happy person. He loved his job and his friends, so I think that it is safe to say he loves his life. After the surgery, he had no one to talk to or anything to do all day. He admits to himself that he can “feel the darkness closing in. It’s hard to throw off thoughts of suicide (Keyes 23). In this quote he states that he can “feel the darkness closing in” and he can not seem to shake off the idea of killing himself. This shows that he is in a super depressing place and he wants it to end. He says that he can physically feel the bad taking over his body. Charlie would not have been experiencing these terrible feelings if he had not done the surgery. If Charlie had known how much pain this surgery would have given him and all for nothing, then he would not have done it. The fact that this surgery left Charlie depressed and distraught proves that he was better off
There was no point to the surgery in itself knowing that it was probably gonna ware off. The scientists who thought that the surgery was gonna wear off should’ve at least tried there best to perfect the surgery before preforming it. Most of Charlie’s heartbreak came from the wear off of the surgery. The surgery was a complete lose-lose situation for the lab, and Charlie. After the surgery, Charlie stated “I don’t know why Im dumb agen or what I did wrong maybe its because I dint try hard enuff”.
Charlie was better off after the surgery. After the surgery, he had real friends, loved Miss Kinnian, and beat Algernon. After all what happened after the surgery, at least he knew what it felt like to be
But, the reason why was all because he was starting to feel things. Emotions are normal and that surgery made him feel like that. Itś honestly not a bad thing. Other readers may also think he shouldn't have had the surgery because it led him to get fired from his only job, however, it wasn't his fault. The other guys were uncomfortable and were afraid only because if they tried to pick on him, that Charlie would out-smart them all. One last reason people with my opposite idea believe that he shouldn't have had the surgery because in the story, Charlie says he didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him, so he left New York. However, most people wouldn't want anyone to feel bad or sorry for them and Charlie made a good choice because if Miss Kinnian was going to cry when she saw Charlie, he wouldn't want to hurt her more even though he was hurt by himself
Charlie had a chance to learn and do things that most people wouldn't have a chance to do in a lifetime, even if it was for a short time. After Charlie's regression he continued to try to become intelligent again, however, Charlie had said himself that he was grateful when he said, "Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a little bit (Keyes 245) [Sic]." You have to understand that, with a mindset like this, you know you have done the right thing. Charlie was grateful for his chance to be smart and was thoroughly pleased with his decision. Nothing can be more favorable than the joyous feeling of gratitude. It can be compared to getting the gift you always wanted for Christmas, or when someone gives you a sincere smile that will brighten any bad day. This must have been what Charlie had been feeling in order to be this grateful. Another piece of evidence to prove this point is when Dr Nermur had said that Charlie was, "trying to cram a lifetime of research and thought into a few weeks (Keyes 238)." Both Charlie and Dr. Nemur both know that he was capable of this, and so much more. After the operation Charlie was super intelligent and grew the ability to understand more things socially, which is what he wanted the most, to be able to understand his friends and be smart like them, two of his greatest desires in one stone.
Charlie said that he wanted to “get smarter” so that he would fit in with all of his friends. Charlie wanted the operation but I think he wanted it for the wrong reasons and he didn't fully understand all the risks that it could have on his life. He didn’t even think about what would happen if something went wrong or if it didn't work, he was only focused on the fact that he was going to be smart. Charlie’s agreement to get the operation done was based off of his hopes and dreams, which was to be smart, and that was all Charlie was thinking
Charlie was able to choose between what’s good and what was bad. In his goodbye letter, Charlie explains that “That is why I’m going away from New York for good. I don’t want to do nothing like this again. I don’t want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry for me. Everybody feels sorry at the factory and I don’t want that either, so I’m going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genius and now he can’t even read a book or write good (July 28).” Charlie would have never left for New York if he hadn’t have had that surgery. Also, his “friends” Joe Carp and Frank Riley would have continued to use Charlie for humorous
First of all, why Charlie shouldn’t have gotten the surgery is because he started understanding everyone and how they felt. This stressed him out a lot. He felt like he didn't belong with others. “Now I know what it means when they say “to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I'm ashamed.” (209). In this sentence, Charlie recognizes why his friends liked having him around so much. It was so that they could make fun of him and play tricks on him for their own fun. Also Charlie had felt bad about a kid at a restaurant. “I jumped up and shouted, “Shut up! Leave him alone! It's not his fault he can't understand! He can't help what he is! But for
To begin, one of the biggest reasons that Charlie would’ve been better off having never gotten the surgery is so he wouldn’t have to deal with knowing what great intelligence is like, but then having to go back to being naïve and dumb again. In the story Flowers for Algernon, Keyes says, “I learned so much so fast. Now my mind is deteriorating rapidly. I won’t let it happen. I’ll fight it. I can’t help thinking of the boy in the restaurant, the blank expression, the silly smile, the people laughing at him. No- please- not that again…” (303) This shows that Charlie realizes his mental capabilities are deteriorating and
Charlie is better off before the surgery because he is more friendly and social. Charlie is more friendly and social before the surgery because he doesn’t have the ability to comprehend or understand how depressing the world is around him, so he just focuses on what happens to him and the job at hand. However, after surgery Charlie is so depressed and down with his intelligence declining that he doesn’t want to do anything. Charlie stated in his progress report that, “I lie in bed for days and I don’t know who or where I am.” Before the surgery Charlie never got so depressed that he just lied around all day not wanting to do anything, so that is why he is better off without the surgery.
The surgery made Charlie see the things his friends did to him. Before Charlie had the surgery people at work picked on him and he didn't understand what was happening “Sometimes somebody will say hey look Joe or Frank or George , he really pulled a Charlie Gordon. I don't know why they say that but i always laff.” (Keyes 227) if Charlie wouldn’t have had the surgery he would have been made fun of and picked an and even hurt by his so called “friends”.
After the surgery, Charlie’s mind thought completely different than what it had before the A.I. surgery, obviously,
If Charlie would have accepted himself the way he was before the operation, he would have avoided all the trouble. His loved one Alice could not stand him anymore because he made her feel uncomfortable and strained due to all the absurd things he was talking about, for example neo-Boulean mathematics and post-symbolic logic. He realized that having a high I.Q is not just a bed of roses. For example, While arguing Alice told Charlie that, “There’s more to it than just having a high I.Q” (300). This shows how much Charlie had actually changed since the surgery, and not necessarily in a good
After the operation, in only a couple of months, Charlie starts showing signs of new intelligence. His grammar, improved, and he is able to reflect on what his does in the past something he wasn’t able to do before. He had finally gotten something use had always desired. Then, everything and everyone turned on him. In “PROGRESS REPORT 12” April 30th (pg. 60) Charlie writes: “now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding. What in the name of god do they want of me? They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I more alone than ever before…” Charlie got what he always wanted, and now he lost everything he had. It was a sacrifice it sounded like he didn’t want to make. I can tell just be the tone of his writing. This shows that we should embrace everything that we have. Charlie didn’t embrace everything, although he appreciated most of the thing he never became happy not being able to just enjoy life as it is.
Some people argue that the doctors were selfish in their actions and took advantage of Charlie's innocence or that they were completely heartless after Charlie relapsed and started to become mentally handicapped once again. When Charlie began to relapse back to his mentally handicapped state of mind, he didn't blame the doctors; he understood all of the risks of the operation and faced them head on. He used what time he had left to expand the research that the doctors had done. His research would help the doctors to further expand their work and help other
He had the operation and it would not be permanent, it will make people not expect him to be the Charlie he was, and he then had no friends, or jobs, and he put his life in danger. Will Charlie ever change his mine? . I think that it's hard to do things, or pick something that may be a dream at first, and then have it become something that wasnt expecting. When Charlie thought that the operation was going to make him smarter, it turned out that everything he cared about, or was close to him,all slipped through his