Have you ever wanted something, no matter what the consequences were? Charlie Gordon did; he wanted to be smart. Charlie is a character from the story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. It’s a story of a mentally challneged 37-year-old man with an I.Q. of 68. He is experimented on and becomes even smarter than the scientist themselves.
He has no family but many friends and many so called friends. As the story progresses and Charlie becomes smarter he begins to realize who are his friends and who aren’t.
As Charlie becomes smarter he begins to fall in love with Miss. Kinnian, his teacher “I think I’m in Love…” In the beginning he thinks of her only as a teacher, “Miss Kinnian is so smart”. But as he commences to think outside the box, he realizes that he is in love with her. At first, she feels sorry for Charlie and goes on a date with him. Then when Charlie becomes so knowledgeable (he can’t stand how stupid people are) Miss. Kinnian gets scared of him. As he decreases in intelligence, Miss. Kinnian isn’t so scared of him anymore and feels sorry for him again. I think Charlie’s relationship with Miss Kinnian was a cycle that came back to the beginning.
Charlie’s so called friends, Frank Reiley and Joe Carp (also his co-workers) made fun of him while he was dumb. “You pulled a Charlie Gordon,” They laughed at him, and he would think they were laughing with him. But as he grows smarter, he realizes that they were making jokes about him. As he begins to get smart, his co-workers get fearful of him. They get him fired. Near the ending of the tale, when Charlie begins to decline in astuteness, he gets hired again and all his co-workers become his “friends”. This relationship was sort of a change in mind of what people thought.
The Essay on Flowers For Algernon Charlie Smart Friends
... Charlie's too smart for them now. He's even smart enough to assist with the research on intelligence enhancement. He's smart enough to suddenly perceive Miss Kinnian ... the new, sincere friendship and protectiveness shown by his factory friends -- he thinks they " re sorry for him ... Because Charlie wants his co-workers to accept him. And therein lies the tale. Charlie does indeed get smarter. He ...
Mrs. Flynn his landlady doesn’t care about anything before Charlie’s operation. But after Charlie’s increase in aptitude, she fears him. When Charlie becomes stupid again, she feels he’s not ok.
In all of these relationships, people fear him while he’s smart. Except for when he is dumb again they all feel sorry for him. But why be scared of a man who is unbelievably smart? Why not feel happy for him? That he has reached his goal? Why?
