Ethics In Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes

In the story, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon makes a decision to allow doctors to do an operation on his brain to ¨make him smarter¨. Because of Charlie being mentally handicapped, I think that most of the decision making for Charlie was based on hopes and dreams, and not medical arguments, therefore nobody made the right decision.

The story Flowers For Algernon is about a man named Charlie. He has a low IQ of 68. He wants to be chosen to under go an experiment to make him smart. Ethics is what is right and wrong, mainly right. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the sugary to make him smarter. They were unethical by not telling him the risks

“It’s a good feelings to know things and be smart. I wish I Had it right now, if I had I would sit down and read all the time. Anyways I bet i'm the first dumb person in the world who ever found out something important for science”. The operation was for Charlie to become smart permanently. It didn’t work so I agree of the operation being bad.

The idea of changing someone's IQ is an interesting thing but Charlie a thirty seven year old man who struggles with learning and wants to be smart will become smart as a doctor gives him this chance by having a brain operation, Charlie should not have had the operation performed on him. “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes is a great sci fi short story that you can learn a lot from. Although I think Charlie should not have had the operation, some might say that he should have had it because he wanted to be smart so it gave him a taste of what being intelligent is all about. The operation done on Charlie had a negative impact on him in the end, poor doctor choses, weak animal testing and bad knowledge of the situation could leave many other

To begin, one of the biggest reasons that Charlie would’ve been better off having never gotten the surgery is so he wouldn’t have to deal with knowing what great intelligence is like, but then having to go back to being naïve and dumb again. In the story Flowers for Algernon, Keyes says, “I learned so much so fast. Now my mind is deteriorating rapidly. I won’t let it happen. I’ll fight it. I can’t help thinking of the boy in the restaurant, the blank expression, the silly smile, the people laughing at him. No- please- not that again…” (303) This shows that Charlie realizes his mental capabilities are deteriorating and

First of all, why Charlie shouldn’t have gotten the surgery is because he started understanding everyone and how they felt. This stressed him out a lot. He felt like he didn't belong with others. “Now I know what it means when they say “to pull a Charlie Gordon.” I'm ashamed.” (209). In this sentence, Charlie recognizes why his friends liked having him around so much. It was so that they could make fun of him and play tricks on him for their own fun. Also Charlie had felt bad about a kid at a restaurant. “I jumped up and shouted, “Shut up! Leave him alone! It's not his fault he can't understand! He can't help what he is! But for

Charlies doctors acted unethically when they asked if Charlie wanted to do the operation. The doctors didn’t ask Charlie these questions. "Has the patient been informed of benefits and risks, understood this information, and given consent? Is the patient mentally capable and legally competent, and is there evidence of incapacity? If mentally capable, what preferences about treatment is the patient stating? If incapacitated, has the patient expressed prior preferences? Who is the appropriate surrogate to make decisions for the incapacitated patient? Is the patient unwilling or unable to cooperate with medical treatment? If so, why?"(Siegler). The doctors just told Charlie that the operation will make him smarter. This was very unethical by the doctors who kind of took advantage of Charlie just for research.

Daniels Decisions are made by people every day across the world. Some are even made by thousands of doctors across the world. Some of these decisions are considered ethical decisions. Ethical decisions are well-founded standards of right and wrong, and development and study of standards. In the book, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon-the main character-has an IQ (intelligence quotient) of 68. Since Charlie has an extremely low IQ, his one wish for him is to be smart. Charlie's doctors, Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss, have come up with a special operation that will help Charlie become smarter. But did they act ethically in a way? No. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter, and here's why.

Charlie may have had some disadvantages to his tripled IQ, such as the struggle of talking to regular people, but he was better off with the surgery; everything was easier for Charlie. If the surgery’s effects lasted forever, he would have had everything easy. He’d have a good life, a better job, and he would be with Ms. Kinnian rather than see her as just a teacher, like his former self did. He would notice whenever someone made fun of him, or bullied him. Charlie was much more aware of various things after the surgery, so in general, Charlie was better off with the effects after the

Throughout our lives, we are plagued by the notion of ‘ethics’ or morals - the basis of our everyday behavior. The medical field is no exception, with doctors constantly reminded of the ethical duties they must carry out for each of their patients. An example of unethical doctors is demonstrated in Daniel Keyes’s short story, Flowers for Algernon. The story features Charlie Gordon, a man with an intellectual disability who strives to become smarter. He is a candidate for a new surgical procedure that is used to triple one’s intelligence which was directed by Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur. Although the procedure holds promise for helping a vast amount of people, Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss acted unethically by selecting Charlie to undergo the operation because they did not finish testing the procedure and because Charlie was unable to make a proper decision.

Charlie Gordon's doctors did act ethical when they performed the surgery to make him smarter. States in Flowers for Algernon, "A week since I dared to write again. It's slipping away like sand through my fingers. Most of the books I have are now too hard for me now. I get angry with them because I know that I read and understood them just a few weeks ago." (Keyes 82). Symbaloo research evidence, "When Charlie went to sleep, he had to sleep with music on."

Even though it was Charlies idea to do the operation it was not an ethical decision perform the experiment to enhance his intelligent by 3. the doctors knew about the all the risks of doing the experiment but still the did it any way without informing Charlie. That is the reason that the doctors ruined Charlies life. And that is the reason that Charlies doctors did not make an ethical

Every day, people go through operations and sometimes experience unpredicted and unwanted outcomes. The story, Flowers for Algernon, is exactly like that. In this story, a 37 year old man, named Charlie Gordon, has a mental disability and participates in an operation/experiment to increase his knowledge. After taking part in the operation, Charlie’s intellect gradually escalates to a genius status. Charlie, the man who had an IQ of 68, was slowly maturing mentally and he started seeing the world with a whole new different perspective. However, near the end of the story, his brain regresses back to where he started from. Charlie shouldn't have taken part in the operation: he started seeing the world in a different perspective, he

Another piece of evidence that Charlie's doctors weren't ethical when preforming on Charlie is the question "Has the patient been informed of benefits and risks, understood this information, and given consent?" (Seigler). Even though both Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss told Charlie the benefits, and Charlie understood the information and gave consent, the doctors didn’t inform Charlie of the risks. They didn’t tell him that not only he would lose all of his intelligence in a short matter of time, but most likely die. Charlie found that information on his

In the story "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes, Charlie Gordon had a brain operation that would boost his IQ by 3x the amount he had already had. Charlie, being a man with an IQ of 68, had a major change in thought. He not only grew intellectually, but he grew emotionally too. That is what I am here to prove to you today. Now there may be some controversy on this topic but, based upon the context we can only assume that over all, the operation was more beneficial to Charlie than it was harmful, this is mainly because it gave Charlie a chance to have a taste of intelligence, which is what he had always wanted, and it strengthened his friendships, that is beneficial because any strong relationship is worth so much more than a simple one.