Discuss the character of Charlie Gordon

“Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keys, is a short story that is being narrated by the main character Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled man who undergoes an experimentation surgery that could possibly increase his intelligence. Charlie keeps “progress reports”, which help the reader understand what is going on in Charlie’s mind. In Daniel Key’s “Flowers for Algernon”, Charlie shows he is a very naïve person. Charlie’s lack of intelligence has made him a trusting and friendly man, especially towards his co-workers, Frank Reilly and Joe Carp, who constantly bully him, and he is too naïve to even realize it. Charlie’s developmental delay is the reason why he is so naïve and innocent.
When Charlie is at the party he points out, “I fell a few times and I couldn’t understand why because no one else was dancing besides Ellen and me”, (pg.8) demonstrating his innocence and the fact that he doesn’t realize that people are taking advantage of him just for laughs. Through out the story when Dr. Strauss performs the experimental surgery that alters his intelligence to genius levels, by doing things such as falling in love with Alice, gaining perspective of things, and learning how to spell. Furthermore, He gains the consciousness that his “friends”, aren’t actually friends, that he is being mistreated, which makes him realize he is getting better and smarter.
Along with being a very naïve person, Charlie Gordon is also a very driven person;