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Daniel Keyes's 'Flowers For Algernon'

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Claire Aguilar-Hwang Mrs. Veitch 2 2/15/18 Endless Possibilities Entering a rocket, risking life, exhilarating adventures waiting. Travelling to the moon, to the endless possibilities in outer space, just like what 37 year old Charlie Gordon feels in the science fiction short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. He has a surgery, risking his life. There are highs and lows waiting for him the minute the surgery is complete. The operation is meant to increase his intelligence and with intelligence he can touch the sky. With education, there are endless possibilities. In the story, Charlie does not know how to read, write, or spell. After his surgery, he meets …show more content…

Charlie makes a discovery for science and he wants Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur to appreciate his discovery. They had been previously researching artificially increased intelligence, and Charlie wanted to research it too because he wanted to find out what had happened to Algernon. He became smart enough to research the topic of increased artificial intelligence and come up with a full report explaining artificially increased intelligence. The words “I feel” show that Charlie has emotions and feelings which make him feel strongly about the hypothesis he concluded from the report, and he feels that it is important. From this report, Charlie makes a lasting mark on the world. His findings also make him feel happy which is great to come from a discovery which he made after the surgery. In Charlie’s last progress report when he is saying personal goodbyes to everyone who helped him on the journey to becoming smart, he mentions, “Evry body feels sorry...I dont want that...Im going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good [sic],” (Keyes 27). Charlie is moving out of New York because he does not want people to feel sorry for him anymore. Everyone feels sorry for him because he lost all the intelligence that he gained. The words “evry body feels sorry” show that he knows and acknowledges the fact that people know his situation and feel bad for him. He wants to solve this difficulty by moving away and having a second chance at life. Charlie wants to go somewhere where no one knows his name or his story so he can have start a new life. He wants to erase everything that has happened to him and obtain a blank slate. This would make him refreshed and have a mental break from all the thrilling adventures he had on the trip to

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It makes the job kind of lonely." (pg. 232, C2, paragraph 4&5). Although before the operation people laugh at Charlie, but in his eyes they're being friendly. While after the operation people tend to avoid contact with him. Earlier in the story, Daniel Keyes foreshadowed Charlie after the operation using the book "Robinson Crusoe".

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He experiences, psychotic behavior, convulsions, paranoia, and more, Leonard eventually goes back to the catatonic state he was in towards the beginning of the film and eventually passes away. As Well as in Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon after the surgery Charlie was using big words and, his IQ was very high, but he started to rapidly decline towards the end of the story and eventually says he is "going away" which can be inferred as the after life and/or death. It can be understood that although the results of both treatments were good at first, the long term effects were not well known and neither of characters had good long term outcomes. A third connection between Algernon's Flowers and the film's awakening is the similarity of medical ethics issues. On page 270 of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Doctors Nemur and Strauss fail to tell Charlie what the operation is, nor does Charlie have any sort of ability to understand what is happening to him.

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As the experiment takes an impact, Charlie’s knowledge expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who prepared his surgery. The

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But when Charlie got the surgery, he realized when his intelligence was wearing off, he got super depressed but he powered through the depression. One quote from the book that indicates depression is “please... please let me not forget how to read and write.” (keyes 25). Even though he is forgetting how to read and write and he is getting depressed, he powers through the depression. On the last page he says “im taking a cuple of books along and even if i cant reed them ill practise hard and maybe i wont forget every thing i learned.

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The artificial intelligence surgery is temporary, but Charlie still wants the artificial intelligence surgery done. Charlie Gordon is way better off having the artificial intelligence surgery because, Charlie became aware of who people really are, he can make advancements in science, and lastly Charlie can understand what is going on around him.

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He also made important contributions to science after his intelligence levels increased. Finally, he was able to feel more complex emotions. What Charlie wanted most in his life was to be viewed

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Although he is aware of the potential dangers and risks of the surgery, he is willing to go through the surgery because he believes that the benefits of the surgery far outweigh the risks and he wants to reach his goal, getting smarter and having a lot of friends. Another showcase of his determination is how he persists in his studies, determined to master the new knowledge that he has acquired as his IQ slowly increases. Charlie writes, “...from now on Ill look up all the words Im not sure how to spell”(Keyes 39). He works hard to master grammar and he takes the action to look up words he does not know, all showing his will power to reach his goal of becoming smarter and having a lot of friends. Finally, he shows determination as he regresses back to his original state.

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The operation on Charlie was a success. He was becoming smarter every day, even outsmarting the doctors and everyone around him. But after a couple of weeks, Charlie starts to forget his memories and slowly starts to lose his intelligence. Charlie Gordon 's decision to do the operation had many negative affects on his life.

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First of all, Charlie finally realized that he was happier being less intelligent, than someone who's more intelligent. For example, Charlie says,”This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved. ”(Keyes,72) This piece of evidence in the story shows us that the intelligence is bringing hurt to Charlie. This also shows us he wants to go back to

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However, after the surgery, Charlie finds intelligence was a nice treat but was far from an importance in life and only took him away from what truly mattered. One could believe Charlie was wrong to undergo the surgery because of the side effects that came with the surgery such as physical and emotional instability, and amnesia, the depresion it came with, and how he lost all of his friends and loved ones with his extreme intelligence. First off, one reason Charlie should not have gotten the surgery is the depression and suicidal thoughts it came with for

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Charlie got to have a taste of what the ‘smart life’ was like and was tired of it. He wanted to be the old Charlie Gordon again, he knew that he was happy that way. Charlie got to work at the bakery and loved it every second that he was there, but after he got operated on, he dreaded going to the bakery because he got treated differently than everyone else. As the ‘smart Charlie’ slowly faded away, he went back to the bakery and again, started to love every minute of it, he went and gave all of his true friends a hug and proceeded to work once again. Even before going back to the bakery, when he was in Chicago, Charlie realized who his true friends were.

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Your Choice or Mine? Mattie Speicher 8A In “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel keyes, Charlie Gordon has a severe learning disability. Charlie goes to classes everyday to try and become even the littlest bit smarter.

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Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence

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After the operation however Charlie starts to have conflicting feelings “I told her I didn’t like her...that is not true I love her. ”Charlie doesn’t know what he is feeling in love, sad, happy, with losing his brain. Losing his cerebral superiority Charlie starts to get confused but first he is sad. The operation changed the word sad into a lifestyle and happy into an

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Although, if Charlie did not have the surgery, he would not have had the experience of becoming super smart. Charlie would agree with me that he did not feel happy with himself that he had the surgery. He decided that he wanted to leave New York because he was so embarrassed about pulling a “Charlie Gordon.” Charlie should not have had the surgery because, before the surgery, he had the motivation to become smart, and after the surgery, he became depressed and realized that the world plus the people in it are

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