Why Is Flowers For Algernon Ethical

IQ or intelligence quotient is said by some to be one of the best ways to measure a person’s intellectual capability. Similarly, in the short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, a mentally challenged man named Charlie Gordon undergoes a surgery to triple his IQ of 68 to 204. As the story progresses, Charlie slowly but surely starts to become smarter and gains more self-awareness for his surroundings, making him angry and often frustrated with his doctors. At the peak of his intelligence Charlie is paranoid and too smart for his own good, causing him to lose his job and friends. Eventually, he figures out that he will die from a rapid decline in brainpower and in the end, Charlie is dumb again. This shows that it was not ethical for the doctors to …show more content…
The surgery on Charlie is unethical because the gain in scientific value does not compensate for the risks. For instance, during Charlie’s mental decline he becomes depressed, isolating himself in his apartment for days on end often experiencing “awful headaches”, to the point where a doctor is sent to see him and he knows that he “was going to die” (17). As a result of the surgery, Charlie experiences physical pain, and even faces death. These symptoms highlight the imbalance of scientific gain in contrast with a person’s state of being because a human’s life is more important than any experiment. An alternative solution could have been to minimize the risks of the trial before conducting it, or waiting to see the full results of the surgery on Algernon. Additionally, a more suitable approach would be a favorable