Characters
Who is Charlie?
Main character, he was initially dumb, but he took a surgery that made him smarter but over time he went back to his old self.
Who is Algernon?
A rat who competed against Charlie in a maze. Algernon was a test subject for the operation.
How do the relationships in Charlie’s life change as his intelligence increases? What does this say about human connections?
Charlie has better relationships with people. The smarter you are the better you understand people.
Surgery?
Charlie gets a surgery that triples his intelligence. He improves in spelling and has a bigger vocabulary.
Who is Mrs.Flynn?
She is the landlady who helps take care of Charlie.
What is the importance of relationships?
Relationships are very important because it affects how we interact with people. Relationships can entirely change how we treat others and ourselves. Charlie had a great relationship with Algernon. Charlie and Algernon were very similar. They had both gone through surgery.
In what ways does the story challenge our understanding of what it means to be “normal”?
Charlie wasn’t normal at first. He had a low IQ. Everybody made fun of him.
Rising Intelligence
He gets his own lab. He has his own research. He uses bigger words. Charlie notices things in people that he didn’t notice before. He can speak multiple languages.
Who did the operation on Charlie?
Dr. Strauss
Who is Dr.Nemur?
He was one of the doctors working on Charlie, and he did some work in India and China.
Discuss the ethical implications of this experiment. Do you think the potential benefits justify the risks?
We shouldn’t use animals just to find out if something works. If they die then it’s our fault. We must know if the animal will survive to test it. It must be for a good cause and beneficial.
Algernon's Decline
Algernon’s brain weight decreased and there was smoothing of cerebral convolutions and deepening/broadening of brain fissures. Algernon later dies.
Who is Charlie's teacher?
Miss Kinnian. She said Charlie was the best choice for the operation, and Charlie really cared about her.
What is intelligence? Do we have multiple intelligences?
Intelligence is the way you gain knowledge in certain areas. We do have multiple intelligences. Some of us are smarter in some areas than others.
Ethics of Science
I agree with testing but only if it works and is beneficial. It must be for a good cause. Animals have lives just like us. They also have families. We should care more about animals and not just think of them as our test subjects.
Charlie's Realization
Charlie realizes he is getting dumber. He starts to forget things. He trips on things, and he has difficulty typing.
Who are Joe Karp and Frank Reilly?
They are Charlie’s friends from the factory. At first they made fun of him, but they later regretted it, and they became great friends with him.
What is the Identity and Self-Discovery in the story?
Charlie finds out that he has a good “motor- vation” Charlie starts to get angry when he realizes that he will go back to his old self.
What does Charlie’s journey teach us about the value of intelligence versus emotional understanding?
You gotta have the motivation to get smarter. It doesn’t just happen with a snap of a finger. Sometimes you have to stick to being yourself and not just having some surgery or anything else that completely changes you.
Conclusion
Charlie decides to move away, so he doesn’t bother anyone. He doesn’t want anybody to know that at some point he was a genius and know he’s back to being a dummy.