Direct Characterization Of Charlie Gordon

“There is a story for every person. There is a reason why they are the way they are. Think about that, and respect them for who they are.”(Marcandangel). Charlie Gordon was born with a below-average IQ of 70, and because of this his childhood and adulthood were full of bullying and beatings. But one day he gets the opportunity to become smart through an experimental surgery he does it no question, and his intelligence rapidly increases over the span of about 5 months. This seems like it would increase his quality of life however he realizes that everyone doesn't see him as Charlie, they see him as a lab rat. When Charlie realizes that the surgery is only temporary through studying a mouse named Algernon he knows he only has little time as a

In the novel, Keyes writes, “He tells Hymie to write ‘ Dear Harriet, I think you are the most prettiest girl in the whole world. I like you very much and I love you. I want you to be my Valentine. Your friend, Charlie Gordon’. . . Charlie got a licking! Charlie got a licking!... I guess I was pretty dumb because I believed what people told me. I shouldent have trusted Hymie or anyone”(Keyes, Flowers 53-55). Furthermore, Charlie is talking about a story from his childhood about how every boy liked this girl named Harriet, he didn't understand but in pursuit of being like everyone else, he asks a girl named Hymie to write a Valentine's letter to her, however instead of writing what he wanted her to she says some bad things and Charlie ends up being beaten up by her two older brothers. This story is just about his childhood however, it is a symbol for the guys at the bakery, constantly bullying him and pranking him. This causes Charlie to lose what he believed to be friends, causing him to lose his social life with da

In the text, the author writes, “The problem, dear professor, is that you wanted someone who could be made intelligent but still be kept in a cage and displayed when necessary to reap the honors you seek. The hitch is I'm a person too”(Keyes, Flowers, 247). So, because Charlie has now surpassed the doctors that gave him this surgery he now sees the truth about how people see him post-surgery. Instead of people now seeing him as normal and like them, they now see him as a lab rat, causing him to become more isolated and