How does Charlie's self-perception change in Flowers for Algernon?

Charlie's view of himself changes in the novel Flowers for Algernon as his IQ increases. His view of himself changes again in the latter part of the story as he returns to his prior IQ level.

Initially, as Charlie gains knowledge after his operation, he begins to see the world around him with a greater clarity. His understanding of people’s motivations in their past treatment of him becomes clearer. Specifically, he recognizes that many people whom he had regarded as friends were, in fact, only mocking him and encouraging him to do foolish things just so that they could laugh at him. He sees a parallel with the young boy who gets mocked and taunted by others and loses his temper, as he recognizes his pre-operation self in the situation.

The irony about Charlie’s intellectual ascent is that while he can see more clearly how the younger Charlie was treated badly and did not understand it, the more intelligent Charlie loses some of his emotional sensitivity. He loses insight into how his greatly increased intellect affects and intimidates others. He embarks on a relationship with Claire only to pass her by intellectually and to lose patience with her inability to keep up with his rapidly ascending mental acuity.

Once Charlie sees what has happened to Algernon and realizes that his progress will also begin to reverse, he feels pressure to complete his work quickly while he still has the mental capacity. Emotionally, he does not want others to pity him as he begins to descend again, although he seems to pity himself. When he blunders by returning to Claire’s classroom, he is embarrassed and chooses to leave so that he can start a fresh life with people who will not know that he once reached a much higher level of intellectual capacity.

How does Charlie's self-perception change in Flowers for Algernon?

Charlie experiences a lot of change throughout the story, so much so that it's fair to say that he's not the same man at the end as he was at the beginning. For one thing, Charlie is so much more worldly-wise, less naïve about the ways of the world.

Having been subjected to ground-breaking scientific experiments, he's become more cynical, recognizing as he does that even what appear to be disinterested scientific advances can be distorted for selfish ends. Not unreasonably, Charlie feels like he's been used by Dr. Strauss and Professor Nemur. Essentially, he's been used by them as a guinea pig, and now that Charlie realizes that, he feels nothing but contempt for the whole process of which he's been a part.

After being chewed up and spat out by the ambitious boffins at the Beekman Center, Charlie gets his old life back. He may not be the same man as he once was, and he may be more intelligent than when he originally worked at the bakery, but at least life was much simpler then.

Even so, Charlie is anything but happy at the prospect of losing the extraordinary intelligence he acquired during the experiment. In fact, he's angry and bitter over it.

How does Charlie's self-perception change in Flowers for Algernon?

Charlie's view of himself changes a couple of times during the course of this classic story. At the start, he is a simplistic soul who has made a straightforward life for himself and is attempting to better himself by becoming literate. He considers himself far inferior to the adults around him.

After undergoing a research experiment that is intended to make him much smarter, he becomes far more self-aware and realizes that his "friends" at the bakery are actually making fun of him. He begins to see himself as somebody who can make a difference, as evidenced by his confronting Gimpy for stealing.

As his intelligence grows, he sees the adults around him as equals and discovers that he is capable of sexual desire. His self-awareness grows in leaps and bounds, and he realizes that Professor Nemur's intention was to prove a hypothesis—not to help him.

In answering this question, I am reminded of the old saying "ignorance is bliss." The more Charlie gains intelligence, the more he understands about his life and the unhappier he becomes. As he realizes how slow he was before the operation, he feels ashamed, and the realization that he has to go back to this way of life fills him with anger and despair.

How does Charlie's self-perception change in Flowers for Algernon?

Charlie starts out viewing himself as a child. He has little self confidence and little self-worth because of his lack of intelligence. He looks up to the adults in his life as godlike people who are far above him in status.

After the operation, as he becomes highly intelligent, Charlie gains self-confidence and begins to see the other adults around him as peers. He begins to perceive that they have flaws. They are no longer demigods that he reveres. For example, Miss Kinnian changes in his eyes from a revered figure to a woman for whom he has sexual feelings. He considers her enough of an equal that he can ask her out on a date.

Likewise, rather than looking up to Professor Nemur as before, Charlie realizes that Nemur took advantage of him out of ambition and used him as no more than a laboratory animal.

When he realizes he is going to lose his intelligence and go back to the way he was (or worse), Charlie experiences deep anger, an emotion he has not experienced before.

How does Charlie's self-perception change in Flowers for Algernon?

Charlie's view of himself changes significantly in Flowers for Algernon. Ironically, the more intelligent he becomes (as a result of the operation on his brain), the unhappier he becomes with his life.

The problem he experiences is that, as he gains intelligence, he becomes aware of several things that he wasn’t aware of before. For one thing, he realizes how slow he was mentally before the operation (or “operashun” as he wrote it). He looks at the man he was with something like disgust or shame. He also realizes that others who he thought were his friends actually took advantage of him and made fun of him at his expense. These realizations make it difficult for Charlie to feel true happiness.

At the end of "Flowers for Algernon," does Charlie feel better or worse about himself?

At the end of the story Charlie feels better, and although he reverts back to his initial state, he knows that he made an important contribution to science. He is also glad that he got to experience different events that were out of reach in his initial condition. Charlie gets an opportunity to read, write, and understand the information he comes across. His intelligence surpasses the average levels, and he is able to help the scientists understand their own work.

Anyway I bet Im the first dumb person in the world who ever found out somthing importent for sience. I remember I did somthing but I dont remember what. So I gess its like I did it for all the dumb pepullike me.

Although at the end his memory is hazy, Charlie knows he did something outstanding.  Charlie is elated, but he struggles with nostalgia, which eventually forces him to leave New York because he does not want to be around the people he was with when he was a genius. He is afraid that they will feel sorry for him. However, he wants to continue reading in hopes of regaining his intelligence.

Thats why Im going away from New York for good. I dont want to do nothing like that agen. I dont want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry for me. Evry body feels sorry at the factery and I dont want that eather so Im going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good.

At the end of "Flowers for Algernon," does Charlie feel better or worse about himself?

Charlie feels even better about himself than he did before the surgery.  Not because he had intelligence, but because he is able to understand others.  He has learned forgiveness, and he has learned that all people face troubles.  The theme here is that intelligence is not vital to a happy life.  Love and personal connections with others are what drive people and make them happy.  Here are Charlie's own words on the subject:

"intelligence and education isn't worth a damn ... all too often a search for knowledge drives out the search for love."

At the end of "Flowers for Algernon," does Charlie feel better or worse about himself?

Even though, at the end of the story, Charlie loses his new found intelligence, he retains a healthy sense of self-worth.

"Even after Charlie returns to his previous subnormal level of intelligence, he has learned to be understanding of the failings of others because they are "not so smart like you once thot they were." Although the experiment has failed, Charlie Gordon has not."

When did Charlie's thought process change in "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes?

After the operation, Charlie expected immediate results, but because the changes were slow, he was unable to notice his developments. The first and major milestone for Charlie was beating Algernon. This also marked the onset of the remarkable changes that he was going through. Soon after, he was able to learn the spellings of different words, and Miss Kinnian introduced him to punctuation. He also found out that Frank and Joe were not his friends, and they only made fun of him.

These changes continued at a rapid rate, and he understood his surroundings much better. He helped rearrange the machines at work and earned a bonus from Mr. Donnegan. In his 11th progress report, Miss Kinnian admitted to Charlie’s remarkable progress, but she was fearful of the uncertainties that lay ahead.

In summary, Charlie achieved noticeable changes on April 6th when he first beat Algernon. However, he personally recognized the changes when he first realized that Frank and Joe made fun of him all along. This made him view his past relationships differently, but also made him recognize his improved intelligence.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

The classic science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon tells the story of a man with an IQ of 68 named Charlie Gordon who is chosen to participate in an experimental surgical procedure to increase his intelligence. The experiment is successful, but after Charlie's intelligence reaches genius level, he discovers that his IQ will eventually degrade to what it was before the operation. On first impression, you would think that Charlie would be the same as he was before, but the novel makes it clear that this is not the case. The experiences that he goes through in the aftermath of the procedure irrevocably change him.

Before the procedure, Charlie is content with his menial job at the bakery and the classes he takes at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults. His relationships with those around him are rudimentary, and his only desire is to get smarter so others will like him more. However, after the procedure, things become much more complex. His coworkers fear and distrust him so that he has to leave his job. He has an affair with Alice Kinnian, and when he loses his intelligence, this affair prevents them from reassuming their previous student-teacher relationship.

When Charlie reverts to the IQ he had before the operation, the main difference in him is that he is aware of what has happened to him and that he was once much smarter. He realizes that people treat him differently because of what he has gone through. He doesn't want them to pity him, and this impacts his decision to move away to the Warren State Home.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

Charlie is a different person than he was at the beginning because he carries with him memories of being intelligent. He may no longer be intelligent, but he remembers snatches of what he learned. For example, as he goes back to his old job as a janitor, he thinks:

I told myself Charlie if they make fun of you dont get sore because you remember their not so smart as you once thot they were.

This shows he now knows, as he didn't before, that the people around him were making fun of him, and it shows he remembers that his old coworkers are not of the highest intelligence. Having been highly intelligent, he understands now that there are many levels of intellect.

Also, even if can no longer remember the facts and concepts he used to know, he remembers how being intelligent made him feel. He remembers that it was a good feeling and is grateful for the glimpse he got of another world. He writes:

I remember a littel bit how nice I had a feeling with the blue book that has the torn cover when I red it. Thats why 1m gonna keep trying to get smart so I can have that feeling agen. Its a good feeling to know things and be smart.

He also knows now that Dr. Nemur can be a "grouch" and can advise him to be friendlier. Rather than live blindly, Charlie has picked up some conscious people skills.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

At the end of the story, Charlie is different from the person he was at the beginning. He does not want people to pity him, and he decides to leave town. After the operation, he started to develop his cognitive abilities and became a genius. He also realized how people treated him before he changed, and their true intentions.  He also got an opportunity to participate in the advancement of scientific knowledge.

Anyway I bet Im the first dumb person in the world who ever found out somthing importent for sience.

Although the effects of the operation started to wear off, Charlie remembered some of the things he learned. His ability to read and write was fading, but he learned about friendship, respect, and self-worth among other aspects of life. Charlie did not give up on his wish to become smart again, but he understood his situation better than he did in the beginning.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes tells the story of a man with a very low IQ who is presented with the opportunity to increase his IQ to genius level through experimental surgery. Before the surgery, Charlie feels a sense of anticipation because his overwhelming desire has been to get smart so that he can please the people around him and get them to like him more. He feels some fear about the operation, but he counters this by imagining how his relatives and friends will react to his new intelligence. His strongest feeling is an eagerness to improve.

After the surgery, Charlie's improvement is gradual. As his intelligence increases, his feelings become more complex as memories of the way people have treated him in the past begin to surface. His desire to please decreases, and he becomes more self-aware and impatient. His feelings about the importance of friendship become strong. This manifests early in his sympathetic treatment of the laboratory mouse Algernon. He still wants people to like him, but he realizes that human relationships are not as easily formed as he used to think.

As Charlie's intelligence continues to increase, he develops feelings of anger, shame, and suspicion for the way he has been treated in the past and present. He feels resentment against the doctors who do not appreciate him as a person, and he feels love for his former teacher, Alice Kinnian. Finally, as he realizes that his mental deterioration will leave him with the same amount of intelligence that he had before the surgery, Charlie feels an intense sense of loneliness.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

Charlie is glad that he has been recommended for the surgery to enhance his intelligence. He is, however, skeptical about the tests they administer to him. He does not see how ink blots and pictures can describe his personality, and the situation makes him dismissive about the tests. 

Charlie is worried that he will not be taken into surgery because he failed the tests. However, after overhearing an argument between Dr. Strauss and Nemur, he learns that he will proceed to surgery. Charlie is really excited about the news. On the day of the operation, Charlie is scared because of all the attention, but he proceeds with the surgery.

After the operation, Charlie states that the surgery did not hurt. He is taken through more tests after the surgery. He is still unable to beat Algernon in the maze test, and the pictures and inkblots don’t make any sense to him. Charlie is frustrated. After some time, the operation takes effect, and Charlie gets to beat Algernon. His journey towards getting smart begins and he gets really excited.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

In Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon, Charlie's views of himself and others change drastically as his intelligence increases. He becomes self-aware and develops clarity and a more accurate understanding of the feelings, actions, and motivations of others.

Prior to his operation, Charlie is naive and childlike. He has a very simple understanding of people and the world around him. He considers Miss Kinnian to be only a friend and teacher. He thinks his co-workers at the bakery are his friends and believes that they spend time with him because they like him.

As Charlie's intelligence increases, he realizes that much of what he previously thought to be true is not. His child-like feelings for Miss Kinnian evolve into more complicated, romantic feelings. He no longer views her as merely a friend and teacher. He now sees her as a woman and potential romantic partner.

He becomes aware that the people he considered his friends are not true friends. He realizes his co-workers only spent time with him to make fun of him and amuse themselves at his expense. He realizes how cruelly he was treated by people he trusted and how ignorant he was of the motivations of others prior to his operation.

As a result of not knowing how to handle his newfound feelings for Miss Kinnian, the lifting of the veil of ignorance that shielded him from knowing how cruelly he was treated by others, and depression upon realizing his intelligence will soon revert back to a childish level, Charlie becomes angry, resentful, and distant.

In the novel Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie's view of intelligence change before, during, and after he becomes intelligent?  

In the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a 32-year-old man named Charlie, who has an IQ of 68, undergoes a surgical operation to improve his mental performance. The attitude he has towards intelligence changes radically after he becomes intelligent and again when his intelligence fades.

Before the operation, Charlie sees intelligence in a very simple way. He wants to get smarter so that people will like him and so that he can please his teacher Miss Kinnian, his mother, the people who work with him at the bakery, and the scientists who are performing the experiment. At this stage, he equates intelligence with social acceptability.

When Charlie gains his high IQ after the operation, he begins to realize that he was mistaken about intelligence drawing him closer to other people. Instead, it has the opposite effect; it isolates him. For instance, his increased intelligence makes his bakery co-workers uneasy and resentful. Although he is now more intelligent than they are, the scientists that performed the surgery continue to consider him a subject of their experiment and don't see him as a unique individual. Worst of all, due to his enhanced intelligence, he is able to go beyond their research, find a flaw in their method, and become aware that the gain in his intelligence is temporary and that he will eventually revert to the low IQ that he had before.

Once Charlie has lost the intelligence that he had gained through surgery, he is still aware that he once had it. This changes him from the eager-to-please student and worker that he once was. He no longer has a desire to impress people with his smartness. Because he doesn't want the people who knew him to pity him, he decides to go and live at the Warren State School.

In the novel Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie's view of intelligence change before, during, and after he becomes intelligent?  

Before taking part in the experiment, Charlie doesn't really understand what "intelligence" means. He only knows that it is something that his mother wanted for him above all else. He always did everything he could to try to please his mother, and worked as hard as he could to be "smart".

During the experiment, Charlie sees that the people he used to think were smart had serious flaws, not only that they were not as intelligent as he had assumed, but that they had been cruel to him. His new analysis of what his childhood and adulthood had really been like changes his relationships with those from his past.

When he loses his intelligence, he understands that the people he met during the experiment are unhappy now that he has changed back. He doesn't understand the extent of it, but realizes he needs to remove himself from where he used to live. Charlie's empathy is stronger than that of a lot of the characters in the book, and I think one of the questions Flowers for Algernon raises is that of what intelligence really means.

In Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie change from the beginning to the end?

Charlie goes from having a very low IQ to a very high IQ. He then reverts to his low IQ.

Charlie, not knowing what he is getting into, agrees to an operation that might make him more intelligent. He writes that he is told that by participating in the "experament you mite get smart. They dont know if it will be perminint but theirs a chance. Thats why I said ok even when I was scared because she said it was an operashun."

We are also informed that Charlie's IQ is 68:

I felt proud when he said that not every body with an eye-q of 68 had that thing [motivation].

Charlie's increase in intelligence is reflected in his improved grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. We also see evidence for his increased intelligence in how quickly he learns to type and in how fast he can type:

Dr. Strauss is very angry at me for not having written any progress reports in two weeks. He's justified because the lab is now paying me a regular salary. I told him I was too busy thinking and reading. When I pointed out that writing was such a slow process that it made me impatient with my poor handwriting, he suggested that I learn to type. It's much easier to write now because I can type nearly seventy-five words a minute. Dr. Strauss continually reminds me of the need to speak and write simply so that people will be able to understand me.

The experiment fails, and Charlies reverts back to the intelligence he began with. This is heartbreaking because he now has the intellect to know what is happening and is going to happen to him. He writes:

I've given up using the typewriter completely. My co-ordination is bad. I feel that I'm moving slower and slower. Had a terrible shock today. I picked up a copy of an article I used in my research, Krueger's Uber psychische Ganzheit, to see if it would help me understand what I had done. First I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. Then I realized I could no longer read German.

At the end, his writing reflects his return to his old state:

Evry body feels sorry at the factery and I dont want that eather so 1m going someplace where nobody knows that Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good.

In Daniel Keye's short story Flowers for Algernon, how does Charlie's personality/values change as he becomes a genius?

When the story started, Charley was innocent.  He loved animals, cared for people, didn't realize when he was the target of jokes, and just wanted to make others happy.  As he became more intelligent, he focused more on making himself happy.  He judged others, did things he wanted, and didn't really care about how his actions affected those around him.  He did have some tender moments, like when he visited his sister and father but, for the most part, he cared more about himself and his needs where initially, his needs were irrelevant.

In "Flowers for Algernon," what is Charlie like before and after he becomes more intelligent?

Charlie is a mentally retarded young man who works very hard to improve. He especially wants to learn how to read and write but his mental ability limits him. Unfortunately, he is also the butt of jokes played on him by men at the bakery where he has a job as a custodian. However, he is unable to see that he is being laughed at and thinks the men who play jokes on him are his friends.

How does Charlie's character change from the beginning to the end of "Flowers for Algernon"?

The difference between Charlie at the beginning and the ending of the story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes lies in his degree of contentment. The story tells of a man of low IQ who is subjected to a surgical procedure that makes him brilliant. The effect is temporary, however, and Charlie gradually loses all the complex intelligence he has gained and reverts back to the simple man that he once was.

At first, one might say that Charlie at the end has not changed at all from how he was in the beginning, and this is true as far as his mental capacity is concerned. However, in the beginning, Keyes establishes a relationship between Charlie and those around him based upon his simplemindedness. His co-workers often tease him, and he goes along with it because he doesn't understand that their motives are insincere. When he becomes intelligent, he realizes that his co-workers are not true friends and quits his job. As his intelligence leaves him, he goes back to his old job and his class, but his co-workers, landlady, and teacher no longer treat him with joviality and kindness. Instead, they pity him, and it's the pity that creates a lack of contentment that Charlie did not feel previously.

In the end, Charlie decides to leave, something that he never would have considered before. He takes a few books along, hoping that if he studies hard, he might regain a little of his intelligence. This ambition is also a change from the beginning, when he was content with his simple situation.

How does Charlie's personality and relationships evolve throughout Flowers for Algernon?

At the beginning of the story Charlie was mentally handicapped and diagnosed with an IQ of 68. He was 32.

For a man with mental retardation (as explained in the story), he was incredibly motivated, making sure he worked hard at a Special university and making tasks to be selected for a surgery which would triple his IQ.

After the surgery, the first sign you see is that he is operating complex machines, and his IQ begins to increase. Most importantly, he beat Algernon in completing a maze: Algernon is a rat who underwent the same operation as a test variable.

Yet when you put into perspective that Charlie went from two completely different sides of life (from mentally challenged to genius) in just months, you can imagine the changes that impacted his personality.

First of all, he would see people for who they really were. He understood now all the digs that were thrown at him in the beginning, and the double entendre of many jokes. He changed, because he wanted desperately to be taken seriously. In a way, he shun everyone who was one his friend so that he could eradicate that part of his life.

Equally, he fell in love. When he did, he overanalyzed and over complicated things because his mind would work so fast and with such complexity that he was now losing friends, and his attitude continued to change.

When he realized the mistake in the hypothesis that would contribute to his increase in IQ, his anger was not just directed at the doctors, but at himself, at the society who laughed at him once, and at all of those whom he once loved.

As his condition deteriorated again, he came back to being a simple man, almost childish, still in pain for what was gone, but most importantly, he was returned to a state of innocence that begged for the mercy of Algernon, rather than for his own.

In "Flowers for Algernon," how is Charlie's perception of people changed?

As Charlie, in "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, becomes smarter and smarter due to his operation, he realizes that his so-called friends were not who he had thought they were. Before the operation, the men he worked with would often play practical jokes and sometimes some very mean jokes on Charlie. He would laugh right along with them because he did not realize they were making fun of him or that the joke was at his expense. Whenever anyone did something stupid, the men called it "pulling a Charlie Gordon." In one of Charlie's early progress reports, he writes about a party the men at the factory invited him to. He didn't realize they had invited him to be their comic relief and so that they could abuse him:

"Joe Carp said I should show the girls how I mop out the toilet in the factory and he got me a mop. I showed them and everyone laffed [sic] when I told that Mr. Donnegan said I was the best janiter [sic] he ever had because I like my job and do it good and never come late or miss a day except for my operashun [sic]." (Keyes 11)

Later, as Charlie's intelligence increases, he begins to realize how mean these guys have been to him.

"It's a funny thing I never knew that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say 'to pull a Charlie Gordon.' I'm ashamed." (Keyes 16-17)

It is very hurtful to Charlie when he finds out that these people he thought were his friends are really not.