Artificial Intelligence In Daniel Keyes 'Flowers For Algernon'

Have you ever heard of artificial intelligence? Well “Flowers for Algernon” written by Daniel Keyes is about just that. When Charlie Gordon is chosen for an operation to triple his IQ he is ecstatic. But he knows it may not last forever and he is prepared for that. He ends up getting the operation and it worked! But not for long. After a few weeks he sees signs of loss of intelligence just like a mouse named Algernon with the same operation. After the mouse dies Charlie loses all hope and he knows he is losing intelligence day by day. In the end he ends up worse off then when he started as he has absolutely nobody to care for him and he loses his life’s meaning. As there were a few positive outcomes to the operation I feel as if Charlie would have been better off without it.

A very important reason that Charlie was better off without the operation is that he realized the truth about his life and it saddened him to think that his friends were only there to make fun
After a few weeks of Charlie becoming a genius he begins to notice signs of Deterioration, emotional instability, and forgetfulness. The first signs of the burnout. He had also noticed similar signs in Algernon as his brain had decreased in weight and there was a general smoothing out of cerebral convolutions as well as deepening and broadening of brain fissures. This proves to be the same fate for Charlie as he also experiences similar symptoms, AKA losing his intelligence. This sends him to a severe state of depression as he is once again back where he started, as everyone feels sorry for him for becoming so “dumb” all of the sudden. He decides it would be best if he was no longer around. “Evry body feels sorry at the factery and I dont want that eather so Im going someplace where nobody knows Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good.”