Nothing Changes In Daniel Keyes Flowers For Algernon

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Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
If given an opportunity, most people would do anything to boost their intelligence. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes, a mentally handicapped man named Charlie Gordon is given the opportunity. Charlie undergoes an operation that will triple his low I.Q. of 68 and he begins to see the world in a whole new way. As Charlie gains more and more knowledge of the changing world around him, he effectively transforms from a feeble-minded man to a man of high brilliance. Sadly, Charlie learns that the operations effects only last for a few months and the memorable feelings and thoughts he collected will soon be forgotten. Many may argue that the operation done to Charlie is both …show more content…
within months. For one thing, Charlie wins a maze race against Algernon, the mouse. He begins to see his intellectual improvement and says that he “must be getting smart to beat a mouse like Algernon.” This proves that the operation takes effect because Charlie, initially, is not able to beat Algernon no matter how hard he tries. Another instance of improvement is his advancement in his spelling skills. Initially, Charlie spells his each of his progress reports as “progris riport” but after the operation, he spells this, and many other words, correctly. Additionally, his grammar skills also increases significantly. In the beginning, Charlie makes many grammar errors but after the operation, he understands the rules of grammar and applies them correctly into his progress reports. Overall, the amount of skills Charlie gains after the operation is truly remarkable and positively affects his …show more content…
Most of these people consist of Charlie’s friends and colleagues, including Fanny Girden. Fanny tells Charlie that the experiment done to him is “not right” and he did not gain intelligence in a truthful way. This is just an opinion and not all of Charlie’s friends feel this way. Ms. Kinnian believes that the experiment is wonderful and can truly help Charlie’s condition. The experiment also causes Charlie to feel suicidal as his gained intellectual abilities quickly deteriorate. He loses his self- confidence and finds it difficult to “throw off thoughts of suicide.” This shows that the procedure can affect the patient’s emotional well-being in a negative way. Although this is a negative side effect, the flaw can simply be fixed and improved so the next experiment can be
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