Why was Charlie Gordon's life better before the surgery?

Answer 1

He believed he had hope to be smart and accepted one day.

He believed he had friends.

Afterward - in the end - he was worse off intellectually, had no more hope, and not even the illusion of friends.

Answer 2

In some ways yes. In some ways no.

Prior to the operation, Charlie was blissfully ignorant. He didn't realize people were being cruel to him and was happy in their abuse because he thought it meant they liked him. He was also ignorant of many of the bad things in the world and had hopes of improving himself if he just worked hard enough.

After the operation - and his subsequent decline back to his original intelligence, he became aware of how much he was pitied and how cruel people actuall were. He had a glimpse of what it was to be normal - and even superior - and thus could be sad about his decline.

On the upside, even though he didn't retain any of his intelligence, he did retain the memory of once being smart - which he was greatful for. He also gained new emotional growth and maturity that stayed with him. He has learned to be kind and loving not just because he doesn't know any better, but because he has experienced a full understanding of love and relationships and made an intelligent choice to be a loving and caring person. In this way he was better off after the operation even though he lost the intelligence he had briefly.