I chose this photo not only because it's really cute, but also because it relates to the theme balance. A lot of this novel has to do with balance, because Charlie faces difficulties in life regarding relationships.
When Charlie is dumb, people stood away from him and treated him in an inferior manner. On the other hand, now that Charlie is far more intelligent than anyone else, they avoid him because they feel stupid when they're with him. Then would Charlie maintain good relationships if his intelligence was just 'average?' Would people consider him normal?
I always wondered about the concept of average, because unless you're dealing with math, an average is hard to get. How can you get the average of things like kindness, love, hate, or beauty? I feel bad for Charlie because he is ill treated by others no matter what he is. Even Alice struggles with Charlie's sudden development, and she begins to avoid Charlie as he becomes more and more intelligent. Charlie must be having an extremely hard time, because no matter what he does, nothing's on purpose, yet people tend to avoid him.
However, it is true that as Charlie gains intelligence, he forms a more critical view on people. He tends to pick out people's mistakes and therefore hurts their feelings. This is probably the cause of most people stepping away from him. Before, since he didn't know much, people were softer with him, yet they treated him like a little kid. Now, they accept his genius, but they dislike him because of his critical view.
In Progress Report 12, different perspectives on 'being human' can be found. Professor Nemur says that intelligence is important, and that if you are mentally disabled, you are disqualified as a normal human. However, on the other hand, Alice says that being kind and having emotions are more important factors of living. I wouldn't say who's right or wrong, but that everything depends on point of view, and you cannot be perfect. Charlie must find a state for him that satisfies both him and others.
