Charlie in Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes used to be mentally retarded until he became and test rat and had an operation done to help him learn better and raise his IQ. Once Charlie's intelligence began to go up, he became more sensitive to what was going on around him and he began to realize how he was being treated by his "friends." Finding out and realizing that they actually were not his friends hurt him. Charlie was also upset by the fact that Doctor Nemur, one of the scientists watching over him, thought that Charlie was not human until Nemur got his hands on him and changed his life around. Doctor Nemur figured that since Charlie did not have many feeling or much intelligence, he had no individuality and was not human until after his operation. What I am getting at is, Charlie was not descriminated against because of his race, gender or class, but he was teased for his mental disability, which highly effected him, and he began to realize it when he came to his senses after the operation.
All of Charlie's "friends," his parents, and the doctors also had a lot of power over Charlie's feelings. Charlie did not experience feeling much until he got smarter. Charlie began to take a lot of things harshly when he intelligence went up because it was nothing he had ever gone through before.
I agree that Charlie did become more sensitive after the surgery. I believe it is only because the surgery made him become more aware of situations, and the results of the surgery actually made him understand what was going on when people we're talking to him. However I don't agree that Charlie was not a human before the surgery. Charlie may of had troubles understanding situations, but that doesn't give anyone the right to call a human being not human. Although you left out voice in your blog post I feel that Charlie definitely had the most. Also you said Charlie was not discriminated against for his class, gender, or race, and I completely agree. People made fun of him because he was different not any of those factors. And also about the power feelings I do believe that Charlie still doesn't have much control or power over what he thinks. The surgery only made Charlie more confused about his feelings, which pulled him in a million different directions making it difficult for him to have control over his feelings.
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