In the exciting text of Flowers for Algernon, Algernon a lab mouse was undergoing a procedure to get him intellectually advanced. Now, Charlie an intellectually disabled man did the surgery and changed drastically. I strongly believe that Charlie should not have had the surgery for multiple reasons.

Many people would think that Charlie made the right decision in doing the surgery for a number of reasons. Charlie’s intelligence was at its peak after the surgery. Being smart had always been Charlie’s life goal: “It was incredible that someone would steal from such a man. There had to be some other explanation. Gimpy had really made a mistake in ringing up the sale, and the half dollar was a tip” (86-87).Charlie’s intellectual growth is allowing him to pick up things that he did not before. Now that he is smarter he can read better and he knew money. He now figures out that Gimpy was stealing from Mr.Donner all this time. He also figured out that Gimpy was using him to get a chance to steal also. Charlie must now decide what to do.” Another reason as to why the surgery was a success was because Charlie started to see the truth about his life: “I guess i was pretty dumb because i believed what people told me. I should not have trusted Hymie or anyone” (55). As Charlie has flashbacks about being bullied when he was younger he realize that he trusts nobody, especially not the guys at the bakery.It finally came to him that they were teasing him and not laughng with him. He saw that he did not have real friends, just people who taunted him. Lastly, Charlie started having feelings for women: “ I told him one of the things that bothers me is about women. Like dancing with that girl Ellen got me all excited” (43). As Charlie is developing more intellectually each time, he finds that his view on certain things change. Charlie starts to figure out that he is feeling funny when it comes on to women. He gets to understand that he is attracted to the opposite sex. Its a fact that the negative effects over shadows the positive ones.

Charlie lost his social life. One reason as to why I say that the surgery was a mistake is because Charlie lost all of his bakery friends: “People at the bakery are changing. Not only ignoring me. I can feel the hostility. Donner is arranging for me to join the baker’s union, and I’ve gotten another raise” (59) . Charlie’s friends at the bakery are jealous of him. They can see that he is going on to bigger things and he is not the same old Charlie they use to push around. Because of this, they start to ignore him. He now has nobody at all to communicate with. Also, Charlie got fired from his job: “Everyone has been talking about it. I’ve had them in here a dozen times in the last few weeks. They’re all upset. Charlie, I got to let you go. I tried to stop him but he shook his head” (104). Charlie’s co-workers are now jealous of the way he is working and how smart he has become. They all teamed up and told Mr.Donner to fire Charlie just for his high level of intelligence. They think that he will take over and become Mr.Donner’s favourite and most valuable employee. Another reason as to why Charlie should not have done the surgery was because Charlie begins to think very little of people: “They would always find excuses to slip away, afraid to reveal the narrowness of their knowledge” (98). Everyone who he once thought to be educated was not. He now sees that everyone is not as smart as he is or even not smart at all.

Charlie’s behaviour changed drastically after the surgery because he starts understanding what's going on around him. Charlie sees the truth about his life: “I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked having me around just to make fun of me. Now i know wat they mean wen they say ‘to pull a Charlie Gordon.’ I’m ashamed” (30). Charlie finally picked up on what was happening all this time at the bakery, the men were not laughing with him but at him. He feels betrayed and like all this time he had no real friends. Also Charlie becomes very intimidating and ruins the relationship that he and Miss.Kinnian had: “ I review things that i have said and come up with all the bright and witty things I should have said, and i feel like kicking myself because i did not mention them when we were together” (123). Miss.Kinnan now feels inferior to Charlie. She feels that with what he knows; his level of knowledge, nothing she says will make sense to him. She feels that he is more than her now, she is intimidated by him. Charlie should not have done the surgery because he got arrogant: “And phonies and shallowness, I added i see them now as they really are phonies. I suspect it of Nemur. He always seemed frightened of something” (151). Due to charlies intellectual growth, he became an arrogant beast. People who were once smarter than him he started to show off on them and treated them as though he knew it all.

The surgery did nothing but make things worse for Charlie. Charlie was still being laughed at by society: “Laideezz and gentulmennnnnn. Step right this way and see the side show! An act never before seen in the scientific world! A mouse and a young moron turned into geniuses before your very eyes!” (140). After being laughed at and humiliated when he was not smart, even when he was smart he was taken for a fool, the scientists laughed at him as if he was a type of zoo animal, Charlie feels that nobody will accept him , he now feels that all his life he is going to be laughed at. Charlie became dumber than he was before: “I try to read a little bit every day mostly stories but sometimes I have to read the same thing over and over again because I do not know what it means. And its hard to write” (307 ). The effects of the surgery were finally kicking in. His intelligence went through the window, how dumber than a doorknob, he spelt worse than he use to, even read worse . Charlie’s intelligence disappeared completely. Lastly, Charlie became lonelier because he did not know before how isolated he was: “Somehow I’ve separated emotionally from everyone and everything. And what i was really searching for out there in the dark streets- the last damned place” (202). Charlie is now lonelier than he was before, he thought he had actual friends and now he realises they were fake and still he lost them. Charlie is losing his mind, he doesn’t know where else to go.

I close by saying that Charlie should not have done the surgery. He was not even aware of the effects of the surgery; he could have died. Even the mouse Algernon died tragically, that could have been Charlie.