By the conclusion of Flowers for Algernon Charlie has gained an understanding of what it is like to have superior cognitive functioning. While at the start of the story Charlie is limited in his ability to process, rationalize, and understand complexities, once he has the surgery his world is opened up. This gain, however, ultimately causes his greatest loss. At the end of the story the procedure reverses itself, and Charlie loses all of the functioning that he had gained through the course of the story. This loss is made even more profound since he is now aware of the possibilities. Whereas in the beginning of the story/book Charlie "did not know what he didn't know," at the end he is keenly aware of all that is lost and all that he does not have.

By the conclusion of the story, when Charlie has returned to his former cognitive state, he is forced to find a place to live that assists disabled adults. Whereas before the procedure this ending would not have felt particularly tragic, in light of all that Charlie has gained and then lost, the ending feels bleak.

In "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, how has Charlie changed since the operation? What has he gained and what has he lost?

After his operation, Charlie quickly gains great intelligence but loses his innocence.

Before his operation, Charlie was mentally handicapped. He worked as a janitor and was semi-illiterate. He took night classes to try to improve his intelligence. He looked up to and respected all the people around him.

After his operation, Charlie attains an exceptionally high IQ and quickly masters multiple languages on top of acquiring advanced mathematical skills and superb reading comprehension. But his intelligence comes at a price. He also can now perceive that the coworkers he thought liked him were actually making fun of him and treating him badly. He also begins to see that the scientists performing the experiment on him, especially Dr. Nemur, aren't the godlike figures he once thought. Dr. Nemur is in some ways intellectually limited, is aging, and wants to make a name for himself before he dies. Charlie begins to be uneasily aware that he was used, just like the the lab mouse Algernon, and that Dr. Nemur might have jumped into the operation too quickly in order to try to secure his reputation.

In "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, how has Charlie changed since the operation? What has he gained and what has he lost?

In Daniel Keyes' story "Flowers for Algernon," a mentally handicapped man named Charlie is given an operation to increase his intelligence. Charlie has worked at Mr. Donnegan's factory for some years at this point, and he feels as though he has many friends there. As his intelligence increases though, he realizes that what he took for friendship was really one sided. He loved his co-workers, but what they loved about Charlie was the fact that they could make fun of him and use him. Even though he now knows that many of them never really were his friends, he misses what he believed was a certain camaraderie with them. The workers also begin to resent Charlie because he is now so much smarter than they are. He comes up with ways to save the factory money, but instead of being happy for Charlie, his co-workers dislike him more and more. Charlie also eventually becomes even more intelligent than his doctors. His intelligence far surpasses his teacher, Miss Kinnian, and the relationship he once hoped for with her becomes impossible.