In the story "Flowers for Algernon", the main character Charlie Gordon has an operation that triples his IQ from sixty-eight to 204. At the end of the story Charlie's IQ returns to sixty-eight. This experiment was the worst thing that ever happened to Charlie. Charlie did not have a high enough IQ to make an intelligent decision on his own, the experiment messed with Mother Nature's path of life and most of all it ruined any happiness or contentment that Charlie ever felt prior to the experiment.
Charlie was forced to make an unfair decision. With an IQ of only sixty-eight Charlie could not have understood the good and bad sides of the operation. All Charlie knew was that he wanted to be smart and this operation could get him his greatest desire in one easy procedure. Because Charlie was mentally challenged, Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur did not take into consideration that it could hurt Charlie badly in the long run, and they did not make sure he thoroughly understood the consequences and side effects that would follow.
There was nothing to let Charlie understand the huge amount of knowledge he would gain and how it would change his life forever. He did not want to be a genius; he did not want to know about "the mathematical variance equivalent in Dorbermanns Fifth Concert". Charlie thought Miss Kinnian was a genius just because she could give him reasons for things like punctuation; he didn't have to become any smarter than that to be happy, not even close. Charlie was convinced that once he had the operation that he'd be like everyone else and people would like him. The doctors did not take that into consideration or explain to him that the operation would not result in more...
The operation was a success but...
You've written a good essay concerning one of the more tragic figures in literature. What happens to Charlie underscores the truth of that old saying about being careful what you wish for. It is ironic that the operation that was successful in making him a smarter person, at least temporarily, also made him incapable of happiness by transforming him into someone who became resentful, self-centered and contemptuous of others. We should take to heart the author's simple but powerful message to be content with what we have if we wish to be happy.
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