Expository Essay- Comparison and Contrast- Flowers for Algernon.

There is a thin line between friends and enemies or, who needs enemies with such horrible friends. These are things Charlie probably never heard because his “friends” are definitely enemies. Charlie’s friends have always treated him the wrong way and they always will. Before the operation, Joe and Frank loved to make fun of him because it meant they could feel superior and more intelligent. After the operation, they are his enemies because they don’t like him anymore just because he is wiser and might make them look a bit dumber.

Before the operation, Charlie considered everybody his friend. People would laugh at him but he would be happy and play along. "I never knew before that Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around just to make fun of me. Now I know what they mean when they say 'to pull a Charlie Gordon.' I'm ashamed." (Keyes 30). Charlie had thought that the people in the bakery enjoyed his company and wanted to spend time with him but he now realizes that they were only making fun of him. When Charlie’s IQ was very low, he was very naïve and oblivious because he just assumed that everybody was nice with him and they are were his friends but he did not realize that they were only using him for a good laugh. They even had a name for the stupid thing that Charlie did, they called it a “Charlie Gordon”. This was not very nice, so when somebody did something wrong or funny, Charlie’s “friends would call it a “Charlie Gordon. After his operation had taken effect, Charlie realized people did not like him as much as he thought. “I began to see that by my astonishing growth, I had made them think, and emphasized their inadequacies. I had betrayed them and they hated me for it.” (Keyes 98). He came to the result that people that he had categorized as his friends were actually very rude to him and hade made him go through a lot of crap. They had all made fun of him and he now realized that they would not be his friends even when he was intelligent. He realized that these people did not like him as a friend when he was dumb but they didn’t like him at all when he was smart. People had taken advantage of his slow mind because they could look smarter, but now he made them look stupid. Charlie realized that he would never have real friends.

Friends are people you can always trust, sadly, Charlie has nobody. After the surgery he realized this, but before, he had no idea. The Old Charlie was so naïve he thought that the people that laughed at him were his friends. Charlie was probably better off without the surgery. He had people to rely and count on, though he only imagined it. His life was a lot better because he thought people were happy with him and he was happy because of it. And after all, the way you feel is what matters.

Charlie has suffered all through his life because he is different. People have always treated him as if he ere dumb. He never had any real

...