ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Park City Utah Student [January 2008]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (2) Bouncing Egg Hider (Poetry) Poem by Graham Reynolds [51 words] The Unheard Of Name (Essays) Graham, it’s not a name you here everyday now is it? In fact I have only met one other person with the same name in my entire life. But that is just how I like it, because if I had a common name like... [235 words]
Intelligence Gained, Innocence Lost Graham Reynolds
When the US started the war in Iraq they thought they had reason to believe there were weapons of mass destruction. The US gained intelligence when it went to find the weapons and they were not there. This ruined their reason for being in Iraq in the first place and tarnished their reputation in the world (Global Security Organization). This real world topic is a great example of my thesis. It has been shown in Flowers for Algernon that when intelligence is gained innocence is lost (Keys 1966).
Charley, a character in the book with low intelligence, underwent an operation to provide him with higher intelligence. After gaining this intelligence, he realized everything he thought of as true really wasn’t. For example, in the book Charley says, “They’ve driven me out of the factory, now I am more alone than ever before.” (Keyes 216-217). At this point Charley realizes that he does not have any real friends. He is really sad about that and at some points in the book he preferred to be at the same level of intelligence as he was before he had the operation.
As a person gets older they start to see things more clearly. They learn that they might not be as good an artist as they thought or they cannot play basketball as well as they thought they could. When I was five I thought I was so good at basketball until I joined a team. Some of the other kids on the team were so much better than I was and I learned how good you could really be at basketball. As people get older they start to get more common sense and see things as they really are.
Another example of this theme is shown in the movie Snow Dogs when a man finds something out that he really didn’t want to know.
He gained intelligence that he was adopted and lost his innocence of not knowing in the first place. Some times you find out things you don’t really want to know but people will just have to face the facts and live with it. That is what happened to this very unlucky man, but as he went to find his true dad he learned some meaningful things about himself that he wouldn’t have ever known (Snow Dogs 2002).
My thesis is also revealed in literature, in the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry Potter is a wizard, but he does not know it yet. One day a giant comes to take him to a wizard school and reveals to him that he is a wizard (Rowling 1998). When he gains this intelligence he loses his innocence.
My thesis can also be seen in a current event everyone has heard about and that is global warming. Before anyone knew about global warming they were innocent. But once they found out about it they lost their innocence and they had to do something about it. For example they are using their intelligence to find out solutions for this outrageous hazard. Right now they are working out fuel alternatives like vegetable oil or even cars that run on water (An Inconvenient Truth 2006).
No one has the right to deprive people of the opportunity to gain intelligence but they can insist on giving them the kindness, friendship, and sincerity instead. There are opportunities to gain intelligence in life but it is up to you to decide to act on it or not. Sometimes the people who act on them benefit from it and sometimes they do not. It has been proven in Flowers for Algernon that when you gain intelligence, innocence is lost.
READER'S REVIEWS (1) DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"You need to stop watching stupid movies and reading pop culture crap. If you believe that man is significantly contributing to global warming than you are the one losing intelligence, not gaining it. Try reading my essay entitled "Save the Planet, More Fiction than Fact," which I researched and wrote more than five years ago. You might learn something. " -- Richard.
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