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Charlie was Better off Before the Operation in Flowers for Algernon

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In this novel, Flowers for Algernon, written by Daniel Keyes, a man named Charlie Gordon has an operation done to increase his intelligence. He started as a mentally retarded man and slowly became a genius. He seemed to soak up information like a sponge and he was able to figure out the most complex scientific formulas. The only problem with the operation is that it does not last for ever and in his remaining time he tries to figure out why it is not permanent. He will eventually lose everything he learned and become worse off than when he started, so Charlie was better off before he had the operation. Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because …show more content…

?When I was retarded I had lots of friends. Now I have no one. Oh, I know lots of people. Lots and lots of people. But I don?t have any real friends. Not like I used to have in the bakery. Not a friend in the world who means anything to me, and no one I mean anything to.? (174). This quote explains Charlie?s life at the peak of his intelligence. No one listens to him because they get bored and do not understand, but on the other hand Charlie is impatient while someone else is talking. ?I?m jealous of every moment away from the work-impatient with anyone who tries to steal my time.?(165) The reason that he has no friends may be that he does not make time for them and does not treat them properly. He tries to make love to Alice and he has to pretend she is Fay for it to work. Therefore, since Charlie had friends before he received the operation and no friends after the operation, Charlie was better off before he had the operation. Charlie had a very bad memory span before the operation and could not remember anything from his childhood. After Charlie has the operation preformed on him, he is able to recall memories from his past. Almost all of his childhood memories are ones he would probably rather forget and not have uncovered. ?He can?t learn to read and write, but he knows enough to look at a girl that way. I?ll beat that filth out of his mind.? (78). In Charlie?s childhood, his mother pushed him hard to learn but Charlie could

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