His intelligence came with a price that made him rethink his entire situation. Charlie was happier with an IQ of 68 because he was oblivious to what was going on around him, people would treat him differently after the surgery, and he struggled with his identity. Charlie was happier when he was oblivious to what was going on around him. Being oblivious and ignorant is not a good thing, but in Charlie's case, not knowing
The surgery worked at first, but then he gradually lost his newfound intelligence. Even Though he ended up where he began, his life was very different. Although Charlie had a nice life before the surgery, it allowed him to realize that some parts of his life were different than he thought they were and because of this he was better off after the surgery. Throughout the story Charlie begins to realize that some of his best friends actually are just making fun of him because of his low intelligence.
Charlie then becomes aware of how severe his mental illness is, making Charlie furious and sour about his operation. This operation has many effects on Charlie that can be argued to be positive or negative. It is considered in the short science fiction story ¨Flowers For Algernon¨ by Daniel Keys that Charlie Gordon was worse off after the operation. It’s proven to be this way as a result of Charlie 's behaviors; mental cost after the experiment/the effects of the surgery compared to the
It is very hard to live with forgetfulness, impaired motor activity, depression, and a low IQ without any help. He has to go through the pain of knowing that the temporary intelligence he had received was all going to leave him. Charlie also does not have a stable income so it would be hard for him to learn more through an adult school like Miss Kinnian’s. By comparing Charlie’s mental state before and after the experiment, one can easily see that he was much more mentally stable before the
The change in Charlie is undeniable when Charlie starts beating the mouse Algernon, and he knows that he “must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon” (41). In addition to the reader’s ability to see Charlie’s progression, Charlie himself can see that he is getting smarter. This detail proves that Charlie has changed since the beginning of the story because just nine days after he complained that he was not getting smarter, he can see his own improvement. Later on, in Charlie’s arduous journey, he finds through his own research that his brain is going to regress to the point where he will no longer be able to function. Previously, he had pushed himself to learn as much as he could in a very short time period, causing his brain to retrograde at a rapid speed.
He was the one decided to get the operation. The motivation Charlie had to become smart helped him through the journey. He learned to love miss zinnia and learned to do so many this because of his motivation. Sometimes motivation is all you need to get
Charlie was a likable person before the operation, all the doctors came to wish him luck: "lots of people who gave me tests came to bring me candy and wish me luck"(314). This shows Charlie was loved and liked by many people in his life before the operation. After the operation, he was not that liked by the doctors who were angry at his unwillingness and for missing two weeks of journal entry's, "Dr.Strauss is very angry at me for not having written any progress reports in two weeks"(329). He also started to lose respect of the doctors after learning they only knew two languages:"I realized Dr.Nemur is not all genius. . . . Dr.Strauss on the other hand might be called a genius, although I feel that his area of knowledge are to limited"(330-1).
This is shown when Mr Redmond says, “Charlie. Personally, I’d think twice before messin with ya, after what I saw the other night.” (p.81) Charlie became confident for
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.
One reason that Charlie was better off before the surgery was because he had the motivation to learn. on page 268, Charlie Gordon says, “Mrs. Kinnian told that I was her bestest pupil in the adult nite scool becaus I tryed the hardest and reely wanted to lern.” This means that Charlie had the motivation to learn to be smart and he tried harder than anyone, so that was why she
Here is a quote proving his intelligence increase. “So I still don’t know what I.Q.is except that mine is going to be over 200 soon.” (Keyes 232). That is why Charlie having his I.Q. tripled was a good idea.
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
Before Charlies operation he was not able to express his feelings accurately, but Charlies temporary intelligence
He also became bitter which made him all alone without friends or family at the end of the story. The surgery was a disturbing encounter physical and intellectually and just caused Charlie to feel isolated. If the knowledge was permanent the surgery could have
