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  • Essay / A review of the book Flowers for Algernon

    “A child may not know how to feed himself or what to eat, but he knows hunger. » This is how Charlie Gordon, the main character of this short story, sees himself before going from ignorance to great intelligence. He always believed that his greatest test in life was intelligence. Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction with a philosophical side, written by the famous American writer Danial Keyes, the short story is inspired by events in Keyes' life, starting with a conflict with his parents over his education, and this made him wonder what would happen if it was possible to increase one's intelligence?Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The setting of this short story is Chicago, New York. In the bakery where Charlie works and in the laboratory where Charlie is an experiment for two mad scientists. The story lasts from March 3 to November 21. However, Charlie Gordon is the narrator and protagonist of this book. Charlie starts off as a kind-hearted, mentally challenged man in his thirties, then he gets the chance to become intelligent when he is selected for experimental brain surgery, after which he gains a huge amount of knowledge, but his knowledge is not parallel and this becomes a huge internal conflict for him. Along with Charlie, Algernon is also a main character. This is a white laboratory mouse that was the first original experiment of its kind. Algernon becomes three times smarter than all other mice and can solve very complex puzzles. Mrs. Kinnian is Charlie's tutor in a class for mentally retarded adults. She is impressed by Charlie's motivation and hard work. It is in fact she who recommends that he have an operation to become more intelligent. Charlie falls in love with her even though he is a genius. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur are also main characters, Dr. Staruss is the neurologist who performs the operation, he is much more concerned about Charlie's health than the cruel scientist Dr. Nemur who runs the experiment, and he sees just Charlie like an animal. just like Algernon.Flower for Algernon is a track for Charlie's mental development. It shows progress through changes in sentence structure, vocabulary and spelling. Charlie begins his report by expressing hope that the doctors will use him for the operation because he is so eager to become smart. Because of his motivation, doctors decide to use him. He undergoes several trials against Algernon. The doctors then give him a television-like machine that repeats words, supposed to make Charlie intelligent while he sleeps. However, the progress after the operation is very slow, but soon Charlie defeats Algernon and becomes very intelligent in many fields like philosophy, politics and ancient languages. He reaches a point where he finds flaws in his doctor's experimental calculations. by becoming intelligent, Charlie can now see the true colors of his "friends" and this makes him sad, as in his statement "people find it funny that a stupid person can't do things the same way as them" . Algernon becomes erratic and then dies, so Charlie realizes that his mental deterioration is inevitable. In a report titled The Algernon-Gordon Effect, Charlie explains: “Increased arterial intelligence deteriorates at a rate of time directly proportional to the amount of the increase. » With the time left before he forgets everything, Charlie continues to write his reports, he reaches a point of thoughts..