Did you know that almost 19 million people participate in clinical trials, but it is impossible to say how many are harmed? A character named Charlie was involved in a test to see if we can artificially improve human intelligence. Some say it was for the good of science, but many others can argue otherwise. The argument has arisen because of the side effects of the operation, the fact that the Ethics of Fieldwork were not followed, and the unfortunate death of Charlie. The short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Scientists performed an operation to possibly triple the IQ of the test subject: Charlie. The doctors had good reason for the operation, but when they chose Charlie as the test subject, it was a not a good decision.
In the first place, it was wrong of Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur to choose Charlie as a test subject for the sake that the doctors did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork” and how they took advantage of his position. In the text it states, “Dr. Strauss says I shud rite down what I think and evrwy thing that happins to me from now on. I dont know why but he says its importint so they will see if they will use me.”(Keyes 182). The quote shows that Charlie was not the best at reading/writing and that Charlie is not the most intelligent person. This makes him easily persuaded and can be possibly manipulated. This is probably the reason why they wanted Charlie to be their test subject for no one in their right mind would want to have an operation on them. Another quote from the text that suggests that the doctors should have never operated on charlie is because they did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork”. It states, “The principals of respect for persons… (includes)... two separate moral requirements: the requirement to acknowledge autonomy and the requirement to protect those with diminished autonomy.”(“The Belmont Report”). The doctors did not follow this code in which they should not operate on someone who is “Susceptible to Coercion” meaning one who is easily influenced one way. Charlie Gordon is “Susceptible to Coercion” yet the doctors knowingly used Charlie. Someone might say that the doctors did follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork” and Charlie was fully aware of what was happening. A quote they may use to support their claim is when it states, “Then Dr Nemur nodded he said all right maybe your right. We will use Charlie. When he said that I got so excited I jumped up and shook his hand for being so good to me… After the operashun Im gonna try yo be smart. Im gonna try awful hard”(Keyes 185). Although this claim is evident it is untrue because Charlie still had a low IQ and surely could not understand what was going to happen to him or the possible risks in the operation. Another reason why the doctors made a bad choice in choosing Charlie is by reason of that the few improvements of Charlie were completely reversed and the operation had almost no contribution to science. An excerpt from the text reads, “Deterioration progressing. I have become absent-minded. Algernon died two days ago. Dissection shows my predictions were right. His brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing of the cerebral convolutions…”(Keyes 205). The quote expresses how Charlie did indeed become more intelligent, but also how those improvements of Charlie were reversed in the story. Since they were reversed there was almost little if not completely no point in the operation to increase human intelligence artificially. In addition to the reduction of Charlie’s tripled IQ there was no point whatsoever in the operation. It even states in the text, “I must not become emotional. The facts and the results of the experiments are clear, and the more sensational aspects of my own rapid climb cannot obscure the fact that the tripling of intelligence …show more content…
They wrongly did this because it caused the death of Charlie, they did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork”, and the few improvements were completely reversed, so the operation was pointless. Was a small glimpse of being smart enough to pay the price of death, what is the value of
In the first place, it was wrong of Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur to choose Charlie as a test subject for the sake that the doctors did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork” and how they took advantage of his position. In the text it states, “Dr. Strauss says I shud rite down what I think and evrwy thing that happins to me from now on. I dont know why but he says its importint so they will see if they will use me.”(Keyes 182). The quote shows that Charlie was not the best at reading/writing and that Charlie is not the most intelligent person. This makes him easily persuaded and can be possibly manipulated. This is probably the reason why they wanted Charlie to be their test subject for no one in their right mind would want to have an operation on them. Another quote from the text that suggests that the doctors should have never operated on charlie is because they did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork”. It states, “The principals of respect for persons… (includes)... two separate moral requirements: the requirement to acknowledge autonomy and the requirement to protect those with diminished autonomy.”(“The Belmont Report”). The doctors did not follow this code in which they should not operate on someone who is “Susceptible to Coercion” meaning one who is easily influenced one way. Charlie Gordon is “Susceptible to Coercion” yet the doctors knowingly used Charlie. Someone might say that the doctors did follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork” and Charlie was fully aware of what was happening. A quote they may use to support their claim is when it states, “Then Dr Nemur nodded he said all right maybe your right. We will use Charlie. When he said that I got so excited I jumped up and shook his hand for being so good to me… After the operashun Im gonna try yo be smart. Im gonna try awful hard”(Keyes 185). Although this claim is evident it is untrue because Charlie still had a low IQ and surely could not understand what was going to happen to him or the possible risks in the operation. Another reason why the doctors made a bad choice in choosing Charlie is by reason of that the few improvements of Charlie were completely reversed and the operation had almost no contribution to science. An excerpt from the text reads, “Deterioration progressing. I have become absent-minded. Algernon died two days ago. Dissection shows my predictions were right. His brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing of the cerebral convolutions…”(Keyes 205). The quote expresses how Charlie did indeed become more intelligent, but also how those improvements of Charlie were reversed in the story. Since they were reversed there was almost little if not completely no point in the operation to increase human intelligence artificially. In addition to the reduction of Charlie’s tripled IQ there was no point whatsoever in the operation. It even states in the text, “I must not become emotional. The facts and the results of the experiments are clear, and the more sensational aspects of my own rapid climb cannot obscure the fact that the tripling of intelligence …show more content…
They wrongly did this because it caused the death of Charlie, they did not follow the “Ethics of Fieldwork”, and the few improvements were completely reversed, so the operation was pointless. Was a small glimpse of being smart enough to pay the price of death, what is the value of