Charlie Gordon's 'Flowers For Algernon'

Words: 511
Pages: 3

Flowers for Algernon Essay

Did you know that a man named Charlie Gordon was used in an experimental theory on tripling human intelligence? The doctors that conducted the experiment and developed the theory are Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. The two doctors had chosen Charlie Gordon for the experiment because Charlie had astonishing motivation and had a mental handicap in low intelligence. The doctors had no absolute right to experiment on a person that had no idea how to maturely decide for himself. Both doctors turned a deaf ear to the Hippocratic Oath.

Charlie Gordon was in fact the best test subject to choose but the fact that the doctors had chosen Charlie for a dry run is out of line. Doctors like Dr. Nemur and Strauss have to pledge and
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In Flowers for Algernon, Two doctors had shut their eyes to the Hippocratic Oath and played at God and chose a patient's fate. Dr. Nemur and Strauss couldn’t even apologize for ruining Charlie Gordon’s life. Anyone in the medical field would know that they must live up to the Hippocratic Oath and give ample care and respect to their patients. In the Hippocratic Oath it states, “ I will not be ashamed to say ‘I know not,’ nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.” The quote from the Hippocratic Oath means that when something goes wrong then the doctors must tell the patient the truth and they cannot fail to bring in their helping doctors and nurses. In the passage “Flowers for Algernon” it talks about how when the experiment ricocheted that Dr. Nemur and Strauss were given an inferiority complex and both doctors eighty-sixed Charlie and weren’t there to aid Charlie with the side effects from the experiment. Dr. Nemur tried to argue with Dr. Strauss and tried to claim that it was all his theory and only he deserved fame. Dr. Nemur was notably in error because not only did he manipulate a mentally handicapped patient and put him in a dress rehearsal but Dr. Nemur also tried to keep Charlie quiet so only Dr. Nemur had the theory to himself and turning a deaf ear to Charlie’s needs so he could become