Flowers for Algernon is a novel written in a series of progress reports on the protagonist Charlie Gordan. From the beginning author Daniel Keyes makes it very clear that Charlie suffers from mental disability. Barely able to read and write, Charlie is forced to make a decision that will affect his life forever. Scientists from Beekman University, Harold Strauss and Prof. Nemur needed a volunteer to test experimental science on improving intelligence. Charlie was specially selected by the “Learning Center for Retarded Adults” after being recommended by his longtime teacher Alice Kinnian. Charlie, couldn't wait to have the surgery and become smart, but first they needed permission from someone in his family, Charlie is still unable to remember memories, he doesn't remember where his family is, or if he has any someone still alive. Norma Gordon, Charlie's sister, was found by University staff and given permission to perform the surgery. Even though Charlie didn't have a full understanding of what a friend was, once he arrived at the lab he made an unlikely friend. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "I Think I Will Become Algernon's Friend." Algernon, the white laboratory rat who has learned to solve complex mazes, escape from almost any cage, and show emotion through his actions. This is a sign of hope for both the doctors and Charlie, as this is the first time the surgery has stalled and the intelligence gained from it has not dissipated quickly. Let's face it, he lives in a cage and runs through mazes looking for food. Most importantly, Algernon couldn't exactly give his permission for mind-altering surgery. Being a defenseless animal, it is totally at the mercy of scientists. And he's not the only one. Charlie also has almost no ability to say no to Strauss and Nemur, let alone give his consent to all the things they do to him in the name of science. While Algernon and Charlie experience a similar task and a similar test, Algernon's is a foreshadowing of Charlie's future. As Algernon begins to lose his intelligence, it's a chilling sign that Charlie's psychological additions will begin to disappear as well. Algernon also symbolizes Charlie's status as a subject of the researchers, protected and confined, forced to undergo all tests according to the researchers' wish. Charlie relates to this mouse, as he understands that both are simply laboratory investigations for the researchers examining them. Although he is saddened by Algernon's death, a special request is made that flowers be placed on his grave, symbolizing mourning and memories with him. Within the first 4 months of surgery, Charlie's IQ increased by more than 50 points and is only increasing faster. becomes taller. Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur keep Charlie constantly learning, and Charlie's motivation has not diminished. In the first month of the surgery Charlie had difficulty sleeping, the doctors realized that Charlie's learning ability is similar to that of a child, absorbing information, so they reproduce the complex speeches of different regions of the world, and Charlie becomes quickly multilingual. However, with this intelligence, Charlie begins to have memories of his tragic childhood family life, and also realizes that all his life he thought he had friends, but in reality they were just making fun of his tardiness. “People always havetalked and acted as if I wasn't there, as if they didn't care what I heard." Recalling past memories of the bakery, Charlie recounts specific times when his friends would try to teach him new things and what wasn't obvious before, is that now they weren't teaching Charlie, they were making fun of his lack of understanding for your own entertainment. . Now Charlie has come to the conclusion that he doesn't have the friends he thought he had, but this motivates him even more to prove everyone wrong... his family that he is slowly starting to have memories of. “Don't look at your sister in a sexual way! It's wrong! Get him out of the house now!" were Charlie's first memories of his mother's words. Charlie remembers it for the first time, describing it as an out-of-body experience, as if there were two Charlies there and he was stuck in the background watching His mother beats him and young Charlie soils his pants, further enraging his mother, causing her to get a belt, but before he is beaten, he wakes up. Now that Charlie's IQ has increased and his intelligence is rapidly increasing, he is starting to feel emotions he has never felt before, anger, hatred, love, confusion, Charlie is starting to understand his troubled past and the exclusion he felt from his parents his IQ having surpassed 100 and they explain to him that he is the fastest learning human ever. Charlie is now becoming as intelligent as these doctors and begins to question the way they treat him. “It may seem like ingratitude, but this is one of the things I resent at the University: the guinea pig attitude, or the constant references to having made me who I am, how can I then make it clear that they did it? don't create me. Charlie begins to question his humanity and whether the doctors understand that he is human too, before and after the surgery. As Charlie's intelligence continues to increase, his faint memories become more apparent and he is starting to realize that his previous ignorance caused him less stress and anxiety than it does now. Meanwhile, Dr. Strauss and Prof. Nemur informs Charlie about the psychological science press conference being held in Chicago and is excited to attend. It is at this point, when the press conference begins as the world opens up, that Charlie realizes how people see him once the conference begins. "We who worked on this project at Beekman University have the satisfaction of knowing that we have taken one of nature's mistakes and with our new techniques we have created a superior human being" Prof. Nemur continues to explain how Charlie was not part of society before the surgery and had no contact with the present to live a normal life. These statements have caused Charlie, from a wandering and incompetent man, to have all this stress on him; Charlie had to do everything he could not to defend himself. “I'm a human being, a person – with parents and memories and a story – and I was before you even took me into that operating room!” Charlie thought. Since the duration of the surgery was unknown, Charlie knew that the doctor's conclusions had been premature, both for him and for Algernon. “Like Algernon, I found myself behind the mesh of the cage they had built around me.” From this point on, Charlie is determined to get out of there, with Algernon, who he discovers is his only trusted friend nowadays. Surreptitiously, Charlie opened Algernon's cage, and as he escaped, chaos ensued in the conference. Algernon's intelligence, along with Charlie's, helped them escape while everyone frantically tried to find them, as theProfessor Nemur, if we don't find him, the entire experiment is in danger. Through the commotion Charlie had an epiphany. Through his multilingualism, Charlie has read up on the progress of Hindu and Arabic research, has found a tragic flaw in the doctor's research and knows that not everything is as he hoped and his intelligence may dissipate faster than expected. «I have to see my parents first. As soon as I can. I may not have as much time as I thought I would.” When Charlie reunites with his parents, he knows that things are no longer as they once were, or as his brief memories serve them to be. Charlie struggles with the fact that his parents may not remember who he is, or don't care enough to know, but he is determined to uncover his past and find out who he really was before the surgery. After visiting his father at his barbershop and his mother with his sister, he now realizes that neither of them were always worried about him, simply overwhelmed by what others thought and represented the perfect family to anyone who neglected them. It is at this point that Charlie begins to question what his happiness truly means, and realizes that his rapidly growing intelligence has made him no happier, other than to reveal all the problems and stress occurring in his life. life, together with others. Since the theme that intelligence does not bring happiness, there are many clues throughout the novel that allude to Charlie's experiences. Charlie discovers that friends he had always thought had exploited him regularly before the surgery. This causes Charlie to become suspicious of the general population around him. He now realizes that his colleagues were simply using him to continue playing pranks. Likewise, he was fired from the bakery he loved so much, since his new acquaintance made the workers around him feel subpar compared to Charlie. This sends him into a brief depression. He had no one to identify with in light of the fact that now Charlie's knowledge has just surpassed that of the scientist who tested him. He had no one to relate to because by now Charlie's intelligence had already surpassed that of his teacher and doctors. Before Charlie became intelligent, even the simplest experiences in life were good enough for him. Being a genius, none of these things mattered to him. His mind was more complex, he needed more. For Charlie, happiness is determined both by his level of intelligence but also by his level of human connection. In his short time as a “normal” person, Charlie discovers great pain, both within himself, but he also discovers great joy. When he finally manages to make love to Alice, he describes it as an extraordinary experience. He sees “how important physical love was, how necessary it was for us to be in each other's arms, to give and receive. The universe was exploding... As when men, in order not to be swept into the sea by the storm, clasp each other's hands to resist being torn to pieces, so our bodies melted a link in the human chain which prevented us from being swept away into nothingness." Even after Charlie regresses, he still remembers the happiness he experienced during the time spent with his friends and loved ones; he asks not to feel bad for him, because he says: “I'm happy to have discovered everything about my family and about myself… now I know that I had a family and I was a person like everyone else”. Keyes demonstrates this in two important ways. Contrary to my thesis, it shows how intelligence can be happiness. Because his intelligence was rapidly increasing, Charlie devoted himself to research and greatly enjoyed learning while he could.,.