Mental Disabilities In Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

“Flowers for Algernon” Persuasive Essay Did you know that people with mental disabilities have a much harder time getting a job, buying a house, owning a car, and living a normal life? In the story “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon is a 37 old man suffering with disabilities, with an I.Q of 68. All Charlie wants is to be intelligent and to act normally in society. Charlie has the chance to undergo a surgery that will triple his current intelligence. That is why Charlie Gordon’s life is much better off having the A.I surgery than not having it. He obtained new feelings he hasn’t experienced before, made important science discoveries, and increased intelligence. Before Charlie had the A.I surgery he had limited emotions and not able to act normally, but after the surgery Charlie is able the feel new emotions like love and anger. “I’m in love with Miss Kinnian.’’ (Keyes pg 234) This shows that Charlie is able to love and feel emotions he wouldn’t have had if he didn’t take the A.I surgery. Therefore it is right for Charlie to have the surgery so he can experience these emotions. Charlie before the A.I surgery could barely do anything with his life. He could barely support himself and working at a job where is was mistreated and bullied. After the operation Charlie is able to make

This is true, but the thing is emotions like anger and sadness only make us more human. Everyone has emotions like these so why is it so bad when Charlie has them. Another argument the opposing side has is that after the surgery Charlie became self aware about his “friends” and was fired from his job. I think it was good Charlie got away from his “friends” because Charlie could have been physically hurt instead of emotionally. It’s shown throughout the book that Charlie’s “friends” were hurting him and going to horrible heights to exploit Charlie’s mental