Medical operations are carried out everyday, but for

some, an operation can change a person's life. One

experiment was done on a mentally retarded person to try to

raise his intelligence. The experiment worked, but after

months, the patient regressed dramatically. In the book,

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, this intelligence

operation was preformed, and the patient was Charlie Gordon.

After the operation, Charlie was very bright, but experienced

psychological traumas, loneliness, disillusionment, and

social inadequacies.

Charlie's psychological traumas or emotional upset was

caused by his memory recalls. After his operation, he

remembered every aspect of his childhood, whether it was good

or bad. "...He's normal! He's normal! He'll grow up like

other people. Better than others..." Charlie had dreams of

how his mother was ashamed of him. His mother always thought

her son was normal and would grow up and be somebody.

"...He's like a baby. He can't play Monopoly or checkers or

anything. I won't play with him anymore..." Charlie's

sister also ignored him. To her, Charlie was dumb and could

not do anything. Charlie had dreams of his sister yelling at

him and making fun of him. He also had memories of the night

his parents took him to the Warren Home. He was terrified

and his dad would never answer his questions. Charlie

remembered his childhood and through his memories, he felt

guilty for hurting his family.

After the operation, Charlie also suffered from

disillusionment. In the bakery he used to have friends.

Friends that would talk to him and care about him. "...Why?

Because all of the sudden your a bigshot. You think you are

better than the rest of us..." Charlie then realized that he

had no friends but merely knew people that made fun of him.

The bakery employees just liked him because they could blame

their mistakes on Charlie. Then, they could not do this

after the operation, so they all turned against Charlie.

"...I had to find out just how much they knew. I found out.

Nothing..." "Both frauds" Charlie also found out about

Nemur and Strauss. He realized they were not professionals,

but two men that were taking a shot in the dark. Charlie

felt like an expendable lab specimen. Thus, Charlie had lost

his friends and knew now he was just a like a lab rat.

Charlie had lacked faith in his fellow man.

"...Thoughts of suicide to stop it all while I am still

in control..." Everyday Charlie lost a piece of himself. He

was starting to regress and thought about suicide to end his

up and down life. He became irritable and edgy around people

at the university. He would become mad at people very

quickly and then yell at them. His self-centered and

arrogant personality was a symptom of his regression. People

stayed away from him because he was becoming a madman and was

unpredictable. Because of this, Charlie became lonely in his

last weeks before he regressed totally.

"...Intelligence without the ability to give and receive

affection can lead to a mental breakdown..." Charlie experienced

social inadequacies while he was intelligent.

"...You know as well as I do, you don't need to work here

anymore..." Charlie lost his job because he was to smart to

work in a bakery. He could not socially interact with people

he worked with and the people he met. Also, Charlie could

not perform with Alice or Fay. "...I saw him watching me

with his eyes wide open. I couldn't do it..." He

experienced illusions when he tried to make love with Alice.

The "Charlie" inside of himself emerged and started to regain

control of his mind. All in all, Charlie suffered from the

pain of not knowing how to deal with his peers and decisions.

Therefore, after the operation, Charlie became a smart

man but he had to pay the price for it. He had psychological

traumas, suffered from loneliness and illusions, and did not

know how to act with his peers. Charlie regressed and

finally went to the Warren Home, but he at least experienced

the world through normal eyes. On the other hand, Charlie

might of been better off without the experiment. He would

still have friends and a job, but most important of all, he

would have a life.