Answer to Question 1:
Sadly, No. Charlie wasn't.
Step-by-step explanation:
This is a great story which speaks to the purpose for empathy and paradigm shift.
Imagine travelling from one end of the a long rope to the other and back to where you started from. And with each meter you travel, you see, feel and know life differently. Charlie became another Charlie. A more intelligent and more preceptive Charlie.
Charlie became more intelligent that those who were previously more cerebral than himself and in the same way they had disrespected him, he found himself doing the same, even for his old self.
Answer to Question 2:
The variance between Charlies situation and that of those who had abused and disrespected him stems form the fact that he sees in his heightened state of intelligence the weakness of his new self and seeks to minimize that by studying to become more emotionally mature.
Though Charlie lapses back to his previous cerebral state he discovers that he now has a new sense of self respect.
Cheers!