Charlie Flowers For Algernon

Words: 1209
Pages: 5

A lot of people in our world today want to increase their intelligence, some people need it while others don’t but what they don’t realize is that they are not thinking enough of the negative consequences that can be provoked if a solution to this problem was found. Daniel Keyes (Born August 9, 1927 – Died June 15, 2014) was an American author who is best known for his work on Flowers for Algernon and he wrote a totally of eight books. Flowers for Algernon is a book written in progress report form explaining the experiences of a man who had his intelligence artificially increased then suddenly decrease. Charlie didn’t understand that along with his new intelligence there were going to be new emotions, new feelings, and more problems. Charlie …show more content…
After the surgery, Charlie expected to have a brighter world full of opportunities and new friends, no one ever told him that he could be introduced to bad feelings like violence and anger as Charlie says, “Every time I think of Gimpy stealing from Mr. Donner I want to smash something. Fortunately, I don't think I'm capable of violence. I don’t think I ever hit anyone in my life” (Keyes 88), Anger or violence those feelings weren’t a problem before and he acknowledges the fact that now he might just be as capable of violence and anger as anyone else but both of those feelings are pleasant neither do they bring good consequences. Now that Charlie has a better understanding of things he sees the word differently has different social connections and loses friends that resent him because of what he’s become. Charlie starts acting like other people, according to Plato “And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error” (Plato 1) this is just natural for Charlie and acting like other people can be a new flaw in his personality. When Charlie is at the restaurant laughing along with the crowd about the man dropping all the dishes and not knowing how to clean it up he sees himself and that sends him into deep thoughts “How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes—how such people think nothing of abusing a man with low intelligence.” (Keyes 199) Charlie would have never worried about this before, in a way ignorance is bliss if he was back to being “retarded” it wouldn’t have bothered