Flowers For Algernon Essay, Research Paper

Medical operations are carried out everyday, but for some,

an operation can change a person’s life. One experiment was

done on a mentally retarded person to try to raise his

intelligence. The experiment worked, but after months, the

patient regressed dramatically. In the book, Flowers for

Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, this intelligence operation was

preformed, and the patient was Charlie Gordon. After the

operation, Charlie was very bright, but experienced

psychological traumas, loneliness, disillusionment, and social

inadequacies. Charlie’s psychological traumas or emotional

upset was caused by his memory recalls. After his operation,

he remembered every aspect of his childhood, whether it

was good or bad. "…He’s normal! He’s normal! He’ll grow

up like other people. Better than others…" Charlie had

dreams of how his mother was ashamed of him. His mother

always thought her son was normal and would grow up and

be somebody. "…He’s like a baby. He can’t play Monopoly

or checkers or anything. I won’t play with him anymore…"

Charlie’s sister also ignored him. To her, Charlie was dumb

and could not do anything. Charlie had dreams of his sister

yelling at him and making fun of him. He also had memories

of the night his parents took him to the Warren Home. He

was terrified and his dad would never answer his questions.

Charlie remembered his childhood and through his

memories, he felt guilty for hurting his family. After the

operation, Charlie also suffered from disillusionment. In the

bakery he used to have friends. Friends that would talk to

him and care about him. "…Why? Because all of the sudden

your a bigshot. You think you are better than the rest of

us…" Charlie then realized that he had no friends but merely

knew people that made fun of him. The bakery employees

just liked him because they could blame their mistakes on

Charlie. Then, they could not do this after the operation, so

they all turned against Charlie. "…I had to find out just how

much they knew. I found out. Nothing…" "Both frauds"

Charlie also found out about Nemur and Strauss. He

realized they were not professionals, but two men that were

taking a shot in the dark. Charlie felt like an expendable lab

specimen. Thus, Charlie had lost his friends and knew now

he was just a like a lab rat. Charlie had lacked faith in his

fellow man. "…Thoughts of suicide to stop it all while I am

still in control…" Everyday Charlie lost a piece of himself. He

was starting to regress and thought about suicide to end his

up and down life. He became irritable and edgy around

people at the university. He would become mad at people

very quickly and then yell at them. His self-centered and

arrogant personality was a symptom of his regression.

People stayed away from him because he was becoming a

madman and was unpredictable. Because of this, Charlie

became lonely in his last weeks before he regressed totally.

"…Intelligence without the ability to give and receive

affection can lead to a mental breakdown…" Charlie

experienced social inadequacies while he was intelligent.

"…You know as well as I do, you don’t need to work here

anymore…" Charlie lost his job because he was to smart to

work in a bakery. He could not socially interact with people

he worked with and the people he met. Also, Charlie could

not perform with Alice or Fay. "…I saw him watching me

with his eyes wide open. I couldn’t do it…" He experienced

illusions when he tried to make love with Alice. The

"Charlie" inside of himself emerged and started to regain

control of his mind. All in all, Charlie suffered from the pain

of not knowing how to deal with his peers and decisions.

Therefore, after the operation, Charlie became a smart man

but he had to pay the price for it. He had psychological

traumas, suffered from loneliness and illusions, and did not

know how to act with his peers. Charlie regressed and

finally went to the Warren Home, but he at least experienced

the world through normal eyes. On the other hand, Charlie

might of been better off without the experiment. He would

still have friends and a job, but most important of all, he

would have a life.

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