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Similes
Progress Report 7
Explanation and Analysis—Lots of Frends:
In the experiment's early stages, Charlie writes about his expectations for friendship and shares what Professor Nemur has told him about keeping progress reports. This passage, which is full of both situational irony and foreshadowing, reveals Charlie’s tragically mistaken hope that intelligence will solve his loneliness:
If your smart you can have lots of frends to talk to and you never get lonley by yourself all the time. Prof Nemur says its ok to tell about all the things that happin to me in the progress reports but he says I shoud rite more about what I feel and what I think and remembir about the past. I tolld him I dont know how to think or remembir and he said just try.
When there is a clear difference between what readers expect and what actually occurs in a given situation, situational irony is at work. Here, Keyes creates situational irony by having Charlie claim that becoming smart will definitely lead to friendship and an end to his loneliness. However, the story later reveals that Charlie’s growing intelligence only brings more isolation. While there’s a brief period when his intelligence does make him happier, the smarter he gets, the more Charlie actually finds himself pushed away from others. The promise of “lots of frends” never becomes reality. Charlie’s statements about memory and feelings also point forward in the novel, foreshadowing the emotional problems that will come with his intellectual growth. In these lines, Charlie claims he cannot remember or reflect on the past. However, after the operation, painful memories constantly surface and overwhelm him. Keyes hints at these future struggles through Charlie’s early uncertainty.
Related Themes:
