Human Intelligence In Charlie Gordon's Flowers For Algernon

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination,”(Einstein). Most people do not realize grades do not measure intelligence and age does not define maturity. The short story, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, is about a thirty-seven year old man named Charlie Gordon. He is a mentally disabled man who has an IQ of 68. As the subject of an experiment in human engineering, Charlie earns artificial intelligence that triples his IQ to 200; but this action came with more costs than benefits.

There is an important theme in the story Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes. It is a fiction novel about a thirty year old man who has been battling to overcome an intellectual deficit all of his life and has an opportunity to become more intelligent than he ever had imagined through an experimental operation. He takes the opportunity and in a few weeks he becomes a genius for a short time before his itelligence receded as fast as it increased. The author includes many important themes throughout the passage. Daniel Keyes develops the theme that intelligence doesn’t affect who you truly are through Charlie’s experiences both before and after the operation.

In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled man, is transformed and made intelligent through surgery. As the story develops the reader notices changes and new hardships that Charlie begins to face as a result of the life changing operation. In our society intelligence is seen as the golden ticket to every opportunity imaginable. What people fail to realize though is that it is not through easy access that intelligence is acquired but by experiencing and learning new ideas. Keyes, makes an absolute statement about the role of intelligence in human life, by showing that having immense intelligence is not always ideal because it forces one to realize not only how different they are from others in their society, but also how they are expected to behave with this intelligence.

"I want to be smart," (Keyes 1). Charlie Gordon, a mentally challenged man with an I.Q. of 68 was the first person to undergo a new, controversial operation to make him more intelligent. New technologies like the surgery Charlie had can have positive, negative and a mixture of both effects. Because of the operation, Charlie was able to grow emotionally and intellectually but was also subjected to unknown consequences of the surgery. Charlie going through with the surgery provided new information for the medical and science field but at the same time there is an issue with the morality of the surgery.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it’s stupid.” Einstein's words are crucial to understanding how important it is to use your intelligence in the proper way. Einstein realized that everyone has more than one kind of intelligence, and if we don’t use them in a positive way we would be better off if we didn’t have them at all. Your intelligences are a gift and if they aren’t used properly, they may be harming others.

Two Ends of the Spectrum: Behavioural Isolation It’s a scenario that is common, if not heartbreaking. Someone who is different is ridiculed, taught to try and hide what him or her unique, and grows up hating who they really are. In America, young girls are taught that “beautiful” means light-skinned, blue-eyed, and blond-haired; in China, beautiful exemplifies pale skin, long, glossy black hair, and big eyes- because that is what surrounds us. That is the norm.

Flowers for Algernon Mental illnesses affect one in four people. Two-thirds of them do not seek help. Charlie Gordon, Flowers for Algernon main character, has this problem. Charlie has not seeked professional help, but one of his friends helps him get the help he would need. Miss Kinnian takes Charlie to a testing service that gives him a series of tests to see if he is eligible for a surgery to help him gain intelligence.

Flowers for Algernon is a story that proves that one who changes themself for someone else, will only make their life worse. In various journal entries, Daniel Keyes wrote in the point of view of the main character, Charlie Gordon, to show the thought process behind his actions to change himself. It goes through the process in which Charlie undergoes experimental brain surgery to become intelligent and raise his IQ by 300 percent. In Flowers For Algernon, Daniel Keyes presents the idea that one should always stay true to one’s self, no matter how difficult life can get because the critics in the world will never be satisfied for who someone truly is. No matter what his IQ was, Charlie’s coworkers never appreciated him for who he was.

Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction story by Daniel Keyes that follows the radical change of Charlie Gordon as he is giving a brain surgery that changed him from a man with an IQ of 68 to a genius beyond recognition. This story was originally published as a short story and was later printed as a novel. This book follows the progress reports of Charlie before, during, and after his transformation. The author shows this by changing Charlie’s grammar and sentence structure as well as showing Charlie’s awareness of those around him. Jack Lewis from BrightonLeft points out the change in grammar as well as the lack of change in his emotional intelligence, he also mentions the reliability of this book.

Have you ever looked at your life and thought that maybe if you were smarter or wiser, maybe it could have gone another way? Have you ever wished that you could have natural intelligence that, like other people, could help you through your life? If you could have an operation that could make you smarter, would you do it? Many people think that having intelligence or being a genius is the most important thing to have in life, as if knowledge and wisdom is the only thing that can get us anywhere in this world. But, as illustrated in the story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, it’s the people around us who help us get through our everyday lives because of the happiness and even hurt that they may give us.

Griffin G. Norvell Putman Hour 4 15th November, 2016 Argument Essay Charlie Gordon was a 38 year-old man with a below average IQ of 68. His teacher for reading, writing, grammar, math, and other subjects, Mrs. Kinnian, had told Charlie's doctors about him. They had asked to meet Charlie, and ran a few tests with him. They talked about an experiment to help Charlie triple his IQ to 204.

Artificial Intelligence is wrong. Whether you're smart or dumb defies who you are. Charlie Gordon is a 37 year old man with a mental disability in the story of “Flowers For Algernon”. Charlie Gordon was better off before the artificial intelligence (A.I.) surgery, Before the surgery he has friends, he's happy, and motivated/determined.