Intelligence… Is It Worth It? Intelligence is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to intelligence. While intelligence was very important to a lot of people, including Charlie, it was not the most important thing in life. Charlie Gordon , in Flowers For Algernon, had the vision that intelligence would help him fit in and become happier. So, when Drs. Nemur and Strauss asked him if he was willing to have this surgery that will triple his IQ of 68, of course he agreed. However, now, one can argue if this surgery is lawful or not. In Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, the doctors made a bad choice by choosing Charlie Gordon for the intelligence-altering surgery because they didn't follow the rules of The Belmont Report, they didn't
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Along with the fact that this is not legal, following The Belmont Report, they should have told him that it was temporary because even with his childish mind, he still would have picked not to have it because he would have thought it wasn't worth it. Charlie is very clueless at this time of the story because he says, “How could that be? It worked didn't it?” (Keyes 198). Charlie is so clueless, he can't even tell if his mental and emotional state is deteriorating or improving, and it would have definitely helped if he knew it was temporary because he would then take advantage of the time he is smart. In spite of the people that may think if Charlie knew it would be temporary he wouldn't have tried to make the most out of it, the hard-headed and stubborn Charlie would have understood and been furious at the doctors a little but still would have tried and made the best out of his short time being smart. When the doctors still didn't say anything about Charlie’s side effects, he began to worry and doubt the doctor's words so he conducted his own research and said, “...I am sorry to say the results must stand…” (Keyes 204). Charlie found out that he dies soon after by himself! This is not fair because the doctors were supposed to follow the ethics of fieldwork and tell him everything they knew about this experiment/surgery. Some people may think that it was better off with Charlie finding out about the surgery being temporary by himself being a good thing, but its really not because now he has lost all confidence in the doctors. The doctors weren't thinking! They knew, before Charlie did, that, “Algernon died two days ago… I cried…” They surely connected death with temporary and temporary with Charlie! Even though people may think that Algernon dying is good for Charlie, so he's not too attached
Along with the fact that this is not legal, following The Belmont Report, they should have told him that it was temporary because even with his childish mind, he still would have picked not to have it because he would have thought it wasn't worth it. Charlie is very clueless at this time of the story because he says, “How could that be? It worked didn't it?” (Keyes 198). Charlie is so clueless, he can't even tell if his mental and emotional state is deteriorating or improving, and it would have definitely helped if he knew it was temporary because he would then take advantage of the time he is smart. In spite of the people that may think if Charlie knew it would be temporary he wouldn't have tried to make the most out of it, the hard-headed and stubborn Charlie would have understood and been furious at the doctors a little but still would have tried and made the best out of his short time being smart. When the doctors still didn't say anything about Charlie’s side effects, he began to worry and doubt the doctor's words so he conducted his own research and said, “...I am sorry to say the results must stand…” (Keyes 204). Charlie found out that he dies soon after by himself! This is not fair because the doctors were supposed to follow the ethics of fieldwork and tell him everything they knew about this experiment/surgery. Some people may think that it was better off with Charlie finding out about the surgery being temporary by himself being a good thing, but its really not because now he has lost all confidence in the doctors. The doctors weren't thinking! They knew, before Charlie did, that, “Algernon died two days ago… I cried…” They surely connected death with temporary and temporary with Charlie! Even though people may think that Algernon dying is good for Charlie, so he's not too attached