Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

832 Words4 Pages
Many people in our society today change themselves to feel accepted by others. When in reality, they do not need to change themselves to be accepted. If one takes that chance, undesirable consequences can be a result. Losing friendship, losing self esteem, and maybe even depression. In order for one to be happy, one must accept themselves for who they are. Change is not needed. As George Orwell once said; “ Happiness can only exist in acceptance.” It is said that one's biggest desire in life is to be happy. In the story, “ Flowers for Algernon,” written by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon should not have gotten the operation to increase his Intelligence Quotient (IQ) because, it damaged his relationships,it damaged his self esteem, and it had life…show more content…
Miss.Kinnian has been Charlie’s teacher for a while now. During the time that Miss Kinnian was teaching Charlie, they developed a happy relationship. One day, Charlie finally realized that he is in love with Miss.Kinnian. Due to the stress of Charlie knowing that his IQ will only be high temporarily, his and Miss.Kinnians relationship started to part away. Charlie does not want this to happen, but as his IQ decreased his social ability decreased as well. He rejects Miss.Kinnian; “ Miss.Kinnian came to the door but I said go away I dont want to see you...Thats not true,” (243). This shows that the thought of Charlie’s IQ decreasing, is causing him so much frustration, he rejects the one he loves [Miss.Kinnian]. According to the quote, the way he treats Miss.Kinnian is not the way he truly feels about her. At the end of the quote it states; “ ...Thats not true.”(243) Which means that he[Charlie] still loves and respects Miss.Kinnian, but the frustration is causing him to behave this way because, he does not want her to feel sorry for…show more content…
Charlie has been a janitor in Mr.Donnegans Plastic company even before he got the operation. Since he had a low IQ, he did not understand that Joe and Frank were socializing with him for their own entertainment. They made fun of him and made jokes about Charlie. After the operation, he finally realized who Frank and Joe really are. In fear of Charlie finding out, Joe and Frank make a petition to get him fired. Before they can present the petition to Mr.Donnegan, Charlie quits; “I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others like to have me...to make fun of me...I’m ashamed”(231). Before the operation, Charlie was a happy man. Now that he has gotten the operation, he realizes the true nature of Frank and Joe. Charlie learns that he was being used as entertainment, and humiliated. If he never got the operation he would not have been able to realize that, and he would have remained happy. Since he knows now, he feels ashamed of himself, which eventually leads to
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