Increasing Intelligence In Charlie Gordon's Flowers For Algernon

Flowers for Algernon Essay In the story Flowers for Algernon scientists found a way of increasing intelligence. In this story the main character is Charlie Gordon who has problems retaining knowledge. He was offered a surgery to increase his intelligence. 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. During the story they trick Charlie

Although he was motivated before, now that he knew what it was like to be smart he wanted to try even harder to have that feeling again. Although he doesn’t remember much of what happened at that time, he has reminders like certain books. This is evident when Charlie says, “ I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and I am grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit … I remember a little bit how nice I had a feeling with the blue book” (Keyes 215). This shows how even though he lost it all he still wants to try again. This shows how he still has hope left in him and if anything that hope has grown. Although there is evidence that he is better off after the story, some people believe he is better off before the surgery. They believe that he was better off with his friends even though they were mean because he didn’t realize it. Although his friends made him happier before, it is good to be aware of what people actually are thinking and saying about you. Another reason that he is better off after the surgery is that he believes that the surgery was a good thing for