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Progress Report #1
Through his poor grammar, spelling, and the fact that he is thirty-seven years old, the audience is able to tell that Charlie is in some way mentally impaired. He has come to a doctor to have a chance at becoming intelligent and is required to keep a "progris riport" (371). Though he his unadvanced, he seems hopeful that this will change: "I hope they use me. Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart" (371). -
Progress Report #2
Charlie is given the inkblot test and through his struggles with it, he reveals many traits about himself. He shows his insecurities about his intelligence level and his embarrassment as he becomes more and more confused. He is uncertain and frightened: "I was very skared even tho I had my rabits foot in my pockit because when I was a kid I always faled tests in school and I spilled ink to . . . He rote somthing down on a paper and I got skared of faling the test" (372). -
Progress Report #3
Charlie is tested by the doctors, and he continues to show his insecurities and inabilities. In addition though, he shows promising drive and motivation: "They said how come you went to the adult nite scool all by yourself Charlie . . . They said why did you want to. I told them because all my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb" (373). Charlie does a maze race with a mouse named Algernon, but he looses every time. He grows nervous and is discouraged by the fact that he can not beat Algernon. -
Progress Report #4
Charlie becomes excited when he hears that he will be used for the surgery. The doctors decide to use Charlie for the operation because of his strong motivation and determination: "I told him thank you doc you wont be sorry for giving me a second chance. And I mean it like I told him. After the operashun Im gonna try to be smart. Im gonna try awful hard" (375). -
Progress Report #7
Even after the operation is complete, Charlie sees no signs of new mental capabilities. He begins to grow frustrated by all of the tests and games, saying, "The inkblots and stupid. And those pictures are stupid too . . . I think writing these progress reports are stupid too" (376). -
Progress Report #8
Charlie returns to work at the factory. He is being humiliated by his co-workers, but he is too naive to realize it: "Joe Carp said hey look where Charlie had his operashun what did they do Charlie put some brains in . . . Their really my friends and they like me" (377). Charlie is also instructed by his doctors to listen to a small television-like machine while he sleeps, which will help him learn. -
Progress Report #9
Charlie's "friends" take him out for drinks and humiliate him again. Charlie returns home black and blue and with a headache. When he races Algernon on April 6th, he beats him nine out of ten times. Charlie is slowly becoming more intelligent: "But after that I beat him 8 more times. I must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon. But I dont feel smarter" (380). -
Progress Report #9, Continued
Charlie is learning quickly with Miss Kinnian. He learns about punctuation, spelling, grammar, and about people. At a party Charlie is humiliated by his co-workers, and he finally realizes what is happening to him. He feels ashamed and embarrassed for being so naive: "It's a funny thing I never knew Joe and Frank and the others liked to have me around all the time to make fun of me. Now I know what it means when they say 'to pull a Charlie Gordon.' I'm ashamed" (383). -
Progress Report #11
Charlies is becoming more and more intelligent, and he reflects on the way people have treated him in the past. Now his co-workers all seem to be frightened of him, and he does not get bothered like he once did. Charlie sees the true sides of his doctors, and he begins to see that more rides on him that just an experiment. In addition, Charlie makes a discovery about himself: "I'm in love with Miss Kinnian" (388). -
Progress Report #12
Charlie is fired from his job at the Plastic Box Company. People at his work are afraid and think that something is not right about Charlie, and he is sadden by his constant inability to just fit in: "This intelligence has driven a wedge between me and all the people I once knew and loved . . . They've driven me out of the factory. Now I'm more alone than ever before . . ." (389). -
Progress Report #12, Continued
Charlie has become so advanced intellectually that he has passed his doctors. He is unable to hold a conversation with other people, because he is so advanced: "I find that I don't communicate with people much any more" (391). Charlie is able to figure complex math, speak multiple languages, and understand the psychology of people around him. He grows very angry when he sees others of low intellect being mistreated and mocked. He decides to study his own operation, to see if he can advance it. -
Progress Report #13
Algernon bites Charlie. Algernon's attitude change is not a good sign for Charlie, because their operations reflect one another: "Everyone identifies me with Algernon. In a way we're both the first of our kind" (393). Since Charlie is aware that terrible things could begin to change in his mind, he decides to see if and when this regression will happen. He feverishly studies the calculus of intelligence, hoping to uncover the truth of his fate. -
Progress Report #13, Continued
Charlie completes his analysis of the operation, and his results are devestating: "My own mental deterioration will be very rapid . . . I have already begun to notice signs . . ." (396). He writes a report on his studies and requests that his doctors publish them for the betterment of science. This marks the beginning of Charlie's, who now refers to himself as "Charles," mental regression. -
The Regression
Charlie becomes "touchy and irritable" (396). He does not come out of his apartment, and he begins to lose his ability to read complex material like his report. He forgets where he is and his motor skills are slow. He realizes also that he is unable to read any of the foreign languages he once could. Reading and writing become increasingly difficult for Charlie, and his days slip away from him. Forgetfullness causes him to lose track of money and time, and he is forced to return to his job. . . -
The Regression, Continued
. . . at the Plastic Box Factory. While some people tried to make of him, Joe and Frank promise to defend and watch out for him. Charlie forgets that he is no longer in Miss Kinnian's class, and he accidentally goes. He then decides to move to New York, where people won't feel sorry or know that "Charlie Gordon was once a genus and now he cant even reed a book or rite good" (401). Charlie's mental state has regressed to about where he was before his operation, but he remembers the beautiful... -
The Regression, Part #3
. . . feeling of being intelligent and understanding things. Through all his pain and struggle, Charlie does not seem to regret his decision: "Anyway I bet Im the first dumb person in the world to do something importent for science. I remember I did somthing but I dont remember what. So I gess its like I did it for all the dumb pepul like me" (401).
