The book Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes follows provides many lessons and themes for the reader. The main character Charlie is either the cause of the lessons or provides insight on the lessons themselves. Charlie 's Conflict with his past experiences with his mother 's treatment of his mental illness teaches the reader that even if someone is different mentally they are still human through Charlie constantly being abused and experimented on, and his recorded thoughts of just wanting a friend to see him as an actual person.
Through Charlie’s journal the reader gets an in depth look at what he truly feels. This is clearly shown whenever he makes a note of him being treated as something inhuman, even after he becomes intelligent.
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These event although traumatizing to Charlie have also taught him many lessons and have defined his personality. One personality trait that Charlie gained throughout the book was his sympathy for other mentally ill people. “I jumped up and shouted: “Shut up! Leave him alone! He can 't understand. He can 't help what he is… but for god 's sake have some respect! He 's a human being!” (Keyes 199). Outbursts such as this one have happened multiple times in the book, and show how angry he gets when he sees the mistreatment of other mentally ill people. Another trait would be his enthusiasm for learning. His mother wanted him to be normal at any cost, and this lead an imprint on Charlie to try and reach normalcy through hard work and determination.
To conclude, throughout this book both Charlie and the reader were taught many valuable lessons. Charlie 's lessons were taught to him by his past experiences with his mother. They taught him perseverance and gave him his constant need for improvement, but they also affected him negatively by giving him a fear of intimacy. The reader however gains another lesson, which is people who are different in any way are still human. This lesson is gained because of Charlie 's journals and his own experience with wanting to be