Flowers for Algernon

This is a storybook that I have just finished reading. It talks about how a mentally retarded person or so called "exceptional" was given a chance to become a genius. Lab results indicates that animals will become smarter after an operation. But no one knows what will happen if it was done on a human being and no one knows how long it will last or what will happen after that.

The main character is Charlie Gordon. He is the "exceptional" person chosen for the operation. Algernon is a lab rat that has already undertaken the operation. Before the operation, Charlie was no where as good as Algernon at going through a maze. His eye cue was 70 something. But after the operation, his IQ steady increased to 180. He became a genius. He was able to master many different language, make argument about different things and challenge previously unchallenged ideas.

Before the operation, he has friends who laughs at him but he didn't know that. After the operation, he knew they used to laugh at him. They even started to fear him because he has become more superior than them.

As time goes by, he researched into the operation he had undertaken. He found that the increased performance of his brain is directly proportional to the deterioration of the brain. The smarter he become, the faster his brain will weaken.

So in the end, he went from "exceptional" in the lower spectrum to "exceptional" in the upper spectrum and back again. He worked hard to gain that much just to know that he will lose it all.

Can you imagine how it will feel like to be worshipping someone like a god, then know that they are just some insecure, insignificant human being, and then fall back down to become worse than them again.........

If you had the chance to go through it......would you want to try it?