Flowers for Algernon (Keyes)
Short summary
New York, 1965. Charlie Gordon underwent experimental brain surgery designed to increase his intelligence.
Before the operation, Charlie had an IQ of 68 and worked as a janitor at a bakery. The surgery had already been successfully tested on a laboratory mouse named Algernon. After the operation, Charlie's intelligence began to increase dramatically. He learned to read complex books, mastered multiple languages, and developed advanced mathematical abilities. His IQ eventually surpassed 185, making him a genius.
As Charlie became smarter, he realized that his former friends at the bakery had been mocking him all along. He also discovered flaws in the experimental procedure that created him. His emotional development couldn't keep pace with his intellectual growth, causing problems in his relationship with his teacher Alice Kinnian, whom he loved. Charlie tracked down his mother and sister, confronting painful childhood memories of rejection.
Then Algernon's behavior became erratic and the mouse died. Charlie discovered that the intelligence enhancement was temporary—the same deterioration would happen to him. His prediction proved correct. Charlie's intelligence began declining rapidly, and he lost his advanced abilities. He forgot languages, couldn't understand his own scientific papers, and gradually returned to his original mental state. Knowing what was happening made the regression even more painful.
Charlie returned to his job at the bakery, but couldn't bear the pity of those who knew what he had been. He decided to move to the Warren State Home. In his final progress report, he wrote:
P.S. please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard.
Detailed summary by progress reports
Progress report descriptions are editorial.
Progress Report 1. March 3: first tests and meeting the doctors
A 32-year-old mentally retarded man began writing progress reports at the request of doctors who hoped to make him smart.
Charlie worked at a bakery earning eleven dollars a week and attended classes at an adult center for retarded adults three times weekly.
Progress Report 2. March 4: the Rorschach test and feeling like a failure
Charlie underwent testing at a professor's office. A man administered a Rorschach test using cards with inkblots.
Charlie saw only spilled ink on the cards, not the pictures the tester expected him to see. Despite trying hard and even putting on his eyeglasses, Charlie could not identify any images. He believed he had failed the test.
Progress Report 3. March 5: getting family permission for the experiment
Two doctors discussed whether to use Charlie for their experiment.
The professor worried about using Charlie, but the doctor argued that Charlie had exceptional motivation to learn. They obtained permission from Charlie's sister, who lived with their mother in Brooklyn. The doctors agreed to proceed with the operation.
Progress Report 4. March 6: Algernon the genius mouse
The tester showed Charlie a white mouse who could solve complex mazes.
Charlie raced against the mouse using an electric maze. The mouse won every time, but Charlie learned by watching and eventually understood how to complete the maze, though it took him much longer.
Progress Report 5. March 6 (continued): surgery approved; preparation and fear
Charlie's sister gave permission for the operation. The professor and doctor argued about using Charlie. They explained that the experiment might fail or be temporary, and if it went wrong, Charlie would be sent to a state home. Charlie agreed to proceed, wanting desperately to become smart.
Progress Report 6. March 8: the operation and early recovery
The operation did not hurt because Charlie was asleep. He woke up with bandages on his eyes and head for three days. When the bandages came off, he could make progress reports again. The surgery took place in a large room with many doctors watching. Charlie remembered being frightened before falling asleep from the anesthesia.
Progress Report 7. March 11: hospital discharge and waiting for changes
Charlie left the hospital but had not returned to work yet. Nothing seemed to be happening. He continued taking tests and racing the mouse in mazes. A nurse told Charlie that God made him the way he was, and the doctors had no right to change him. She was replaced by a prettier nurse. Charlie's teacher visited and explained that intelligence would come slowly through hard work, not instantly.
Progress Report 8. March 15: return to work and frustration with slow progress
Charlie returned to work at the bakery. He still had to come to the lab for tests twice weekly and write progress reports. A foundation paid him for this work. He felt frustrated because nothing was happening and he was not getting smarter. The doctor gave him a teaching machine that played recordings while he slept. Charlie hated the tests and mazes and felt discouraged. He remembered how coworkers had tricked him and laughed at him.
Progress Report 9. April 1: first breakthrough at the bakery
Charlie learned to use commas and other punctuation marks. On April Fool's Day, his coworkers at the bakery played a trick on him. When the mixer operator quit, a coworker suggested Charlie try operating the dough mixer. Everyone expected Charlie to fail, but he successfully operated the machine, having learned by watching. The owner gave Charlie a five-dollar raise and promoted him to mixer operator. His coworkers became angry because the joke had backfired. Charlie began to understand that people had been laughing at him all along, and he felt ashamed when he realized what the phrase 'to pull a Charlie Gordon' really meant.
Progress Report 10. April 21: rapid learning and growing isolation
Charlie's intelligence increased rapidly. He began reading extensively and learning multiple languages. He could recall entire pages of text and understand complex concepts. However, his relationships deteriorated. His coworkers at the bakery grew hostile and resentful. They no longer wanted him around because his intelligence made them feel inferior. Charlie realized that people had liked him before because they could feel superior to him. Now that he was becoming smarter, they felt threatened. He spent his free time at the library and wandering the city streets, feeling increasingly lonely.
Intelligence without the ability to give and receive affection leads to mental and moral breakdown, to neurosis, and possibly even psychosis.
Charlie discovered that intelligence alone was not enough—it needed to be tempered with human affection and understanding.
Progress Report 11. May 1: romance with Alice and emotional struggles
Charlie took his teacher to a movie and dinner. He felt attracted to her but experienced panic and nausea whenever he tried to become physically intimate. Memories of his mother's warnings about women and sexuality paralyzed him. He began having vivid flashbacks to his childhood, remembering how his mother had threatened and beaten him for any sexual thoughts or behaviors. These memories created a psychological barrier that prevented him from expressing his feelings. Despite his intellectual growth, Charlie remained emotionally stunted, unable to form a normal romantic relationship. His teacher tried to be understanding, but Charlie's inability to overcome his childhood trauma frustrated both of them.
Charlie moved into his own apartment and met his neighbor, a free-spirited artist who lived across the hall.
Unlike with his teacher, Charlie found he could be physically intimate with his neighbor because the relationship lacked emotional depth. With her, there was no panic because Charlie did not love her the way he loved his teacher. They spent time together drinking and dancing, but Charlie knew this relationship was superficial. He continued to struggle with the conflict between his rapidly developing intellect and his stunted emotional growth.
Progress Report 12. June 5: discovering the flaw in the experiment
Charlie's intelligence continued to increase exponentially. He began to see flaws in the professors' work. He realized they were not the geniuses he had thought them to be, but ordinary men working beyond their abilities. Charlie started his own research, reading scientific papers in multiple languages that the professors could not understand. He discovered that the mouse's behavior was becoming erratic—losing coordination and showing signs of regression. Charlie worked frantically to understand what was happening, knowing that whatever happened to the mouse would eventually happen to him. He made a breakthrough discovery.
ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED INTELLIGENCE DETERIORATES AT A RATE OF TIME DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE QUANTITY OF THE INCREASE.
Charlie wrote a paper detailing his findings, which he called the Algernon-Gordon Effect. He sent it to the professor, explaining that the experiment had a fundamental flaw. The surgery and treatments would eventually fail, and Charlie would regress to his previous mental state—or possibly worse.
Progress Report 13. June 10: convention disaster and escape with Algernon
Charlie attended an international psychology convention in Chicago with the professors. They planned to present him as their crowning achievement. During the presentation, Charlie watched films of his early testing and saw the audience laughing at his former self. He felt humiliated and angry. When the professor spoke about Charlie as if he had not existed before the operation, Charlie's rage grew. In an impulsive act, Charlie released the mouse from his cage, causing chaos at the convention. He escaped with the mouse and flew back to New York, determined to continue his research independently. Charlie realized he needed to find answers before his own regression began.
Charlie visited his father's barbershop, hoping for recognition, but his father did not remember him. He also visited his mother and sister.
His mother was senile and did not recognize him at first, but briefly came out of her confusion and was overjoyed to see her son had become smart. His sister had grown into a caring woman who regretted how she had treated Charlie as a child.
Progress Report 14. June 15: new life in New York with Fay
Charlie rented an apartment in New York and continued his research. He spent his nights with his neighbor, drinking and dancing. His teacher visited and the two women became friends. Charlie finally managed to overcome his psychological barriers and made love to his teacher, but their relationship remained complicated by his impending regression. He worked frantically on his research, trying to find a solution to the deterioration problem before it was too late. The mouse's condition continued to worsen, and Charlie knew his own decline was inevitable.
How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility...think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence.
Charlie attended a party where he got drunk and confronted the professors about their treatment of him. He accused them of seeing him as an experimental animal rather than a human being. The confrontation revealed the tensions and resentments that had been building throughout the experiment.
Progress Report 15. July 12: return to the lab and Algernons decline
Charlie returned to the laboratory to continue his research. The mouse's condition had deteriorated significantly—he could no longer solve the mazes he had once mastered easily. His motor skills declined and he became violent and erratic. Charlie worked desperately to understand the regression process, knowing he would soon experience it himself. He completed his research paper on the Algernon-Gordon Effect and sent it to the professor. The mouse died, and Charlie buried him in the backyard with flowers on his grave. The mouse's death confirmed Charlie's worst fears about his own future.
Progress Report 16. July 14: visit to Warren and reconciliation with family
Charlie visited the state home where he would eventually be sent when his regression was complete. He saw the residents there and understood what his future held. The visit was deeply disturbing, showing him the reality of institutional life for the mentally disabled.
Progress Report 17. October 3 onwards: mental deterioration and final entries
Charlie's regression began. His spelling and grammar deteriorated, mirroring his early progress reports. He lost his ability to read complex texts and forgot the languages he had learned. His memories became confused and fragmented. He returned to work at the bakery, but his coworkers, who had once mocked him, now felt uncomfortable around him. Charlie decided to leave for the state home voluntarily, not wanting people to feel sorry for him.
I dont want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry for me...Im glad I got a second chanse in life...I lerned alot of things that I never even new were in this werld.