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NATHAN ADAMS - Flowers for Algernon Culminating Writing Task

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In “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes introduces the protagonist Charlie Gordon as a thirty-seven year old man of low intelligence who is hardworking and extremely motivated to become smart. Charlie is so motivated to increase his intelligence that he agrees to undergo an experimental surgery. While Charlie expresses positive expectations for his future earlier in the text, Charlie’s quality of life worsens as a result of the surgery. As Charlie’s intelligence increases, he becomes isolated from his peers. Charlie feels isolated from his peers because of undergoing an experimental surgery.“They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I’m more alone than ever before.” (Keyes 13). Charlie feels isolated from his peers because everyone voted him out of the factory by a petition. Another reason why Charlie feels isolated from his peers is because when he left the factory he had no one to turn to and
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Unformatted text preview:had no job. As Charlie's intelligence increases, he becomes aware of some painful truths about the people around him. Charlie notices that his so called "friends" laugh at him because of how stupid he is and not because of how funny he is. "Now I know what it means when they say "to pull a Charlie Gordon." I'm ashamed." (Keyes 13). Charlie becomes aware that his "friends" make fun of him when they say "to pull a Charlie Gordon." He is ashamed because he did not know before that all this time his "friends" have been making fun of him and it is all coming to him now. Others could argue that Charlie's quality of life improves because he uses his experience to help others who are like him. However, Charlie's progress is temporary and diminishes quickly. In conclusion, Charlie's quality of life worsens as a result of the surgery.