Charlie In Flowers For Algernon

“dont be sorry for me Im glad I got a second chanse to be smart becaus I lerned a lot of things that I never even new were in this world and Im grateful that I saw it all for a littel bit.” [sic] In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon”, Daniel Keyes tells the story of Charlie Gordon. Charlie is given the option to go through an experimental surgery that is meant to triple his IQ. He is thrilled that he was chosen, and seizes his chance. Charlie changes in major ways throughout the beginning, the middle, and the end of the book. His intelligence, relationships with his friends, personality, and views on the world vary immensely. Maybe Charlie is not the smartest man, but through his experiences, he learns more about the world than many other

The surgery allowed Charlie to learn many things and tripled his IQ, making it over 200. Now that he is “smart,” each time he races Algernon in the maze Charlie is able to win. He is taught many new subjects, including several languages. The operation caused Charlie to realize that Doctor Nemur and Doctor Strauss don’t know everything. When Charlie realizes that other people do not know as much as he does, he becomes frustrated. He doesn’t realize that before his surgery, he knew far less than normal people, let alone the doctors. Charlie said of Dr. Strauss, “I was shocked to learn that the only ancient languages he could read were Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and that he knows almost nothing of mathematics beyond the elementary levels of the calculus of variations.” This arrogance puts a strain on his relationships. Charlie doesn’t realize it, but he is acting conceited. He finds it hard to communicate with people on a lower intelligence level than him, and spends most of his time reading and learning. Even though Charlie is acting superior, he realizes how beautiful Miss Kinnian is and that he loves her. She tutors him until Charlie passes her level of knowledge. Charlie also realizes that his friends might not be as wonderful as he thought. He understands the meaning of “pulling a Charlie Gordon,” and sees his “friends” laughing at him. Charlie feels awful about this revelation. While eating at a diner, he sees people in a restaurant laughing at a waiter and tries to stand up for the boy. Charlie is very angry with the insensitivity of these people, when he realizes that he had been laughing as well. He is furious with