Charlie Gordon is a 32-year-old man and he is an enthusiastic man with the desire to learn and become smart. He undergoes an operation that is believed to artificially increase his IQ to a supernormal level. When the operation is complete, it affects his intelligence and subsequent ability to use language, his personality, and his relationship with other people. My essay will provide proof of how his IQ level has been modified by the operation.
Charlie’s intelligence increases to a point where he remembers things that happened in the past and he can reflect on those memories. He remembers an event that happened yesterday when he went to a neighbor’s bar along with his friends and they had too much to drink then his friends ditched him, “Joe Carp and Frank Reilly invited me to go with them after work to Hallorans Bar for some drinks” (Keyes, 2004: 29). Charlie also has a memory of his parents in a big department store, “the same night I dreamed of about my mother and father only I couldn't see her face it was all white and she was blurry” (Keyes, 2004: 30). His ability to remember things from the past resembles his intelligent memory.
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Charlie's brain shows intelligence when he can realize on his own that the mouse is cleaver than him,” I never knew before that I was dumber than a mouse” (Keyes, 2004: 20). Charlie’s use of language is positively developing because he is aware of his spelling mistake and he tries to correct them and his progress reports are now written in third person narrative “ then we’re at the Adult Centre for the Retarded, and she’s reading over my shoulders as I write my compositions compositions” ” (Keyes, 2004: 51). He is using proper language because he reads constantly, I read it in the Hindu Journal of Psychology” (Keyes, 2004: 148). Charlie also consults a dictionary when he is confused or needs clarity on certain words, “anyway that’s how I got the word punctuation right. It that way in the dictionary” ” (Keyes, 2004: 39”)
As Charlie’s intelligence grows, his relationship with other people also changes. His relationship with Kinnian is changing because Charlie no longer sees her as a teacher and a friend but as a woman and her peer. All this makes him fall in love with her, “Why haven’t I ever noticed how beautiful Alice Kinnian is?' ” (Keyes, 2004: 76). The operation makes Charlie see himself as more sophisticated than others. He regards them as childish people whom he cannot have an interesting conversation with. His personality isolates him from other people and he has difficulties making friends because no friend is up to his standard as he is smart and his friends have turned against him, right now. Both of you have been avoiding me, (Keyes, 2004: 105). His relationship with Dr Nemur is slowly being damaged by Charlie’s intelligence because he does not want to be referred to as an object (specimen)” (Keyes, 2004: 113). Charlie can no longer engage with other people.
My essay provided enough facts to prove how Charlie is affected by the operation in both positive and negative manners. The operation has changed him for better and for worse.
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