What hits me hard is that the author emphasized that Charlie had the strongest emotional connection with Algernon, the mouse. I guess the reason for that is no

What hits me hard is that the author emphasized that Charlie had the strongest emotional connection with Algernon, the mouse. I guess the reason for that is not only that Charlie saw himself in Algernon, as they were in a similar situation. But Algernon was the only being which did judge Charlie and his IQ.