The theme is widely shown in the short story. Charlie always looked forward to going to work because he could see his friends and they would have fun.
However, Charlie does not realize they only call him a “friend” is because they like to laugh at the foolish things Charlie does. When Charlie is sent home after the operation, Charlie says “Im glad Im going back to work because I miss my job and all my frends and all the fun we have there”, (Keyes, 356).
After the surgery, Charlie realizes his “friends” at the bakery, Joe Carp and Frank Reilly were not his friends, and ended their friendship. This left Charlie distressed and he felt lonely at work.
This leads to Charlie becoming Algernon’s friend, since he has nobody else.