FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes
("Flowers for Algernon" By Daniel Keys, published in Fantasy and Science Fiction. Copyright 1959 by
Mercury Press.)
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON Daniel Keyes
progris
riport 1-martch 5, 1965
Dr. Strauss says I shud rite down
what I think and evrey thing
that happins to me from now on, I dont
know why but he says its
importint so they will see if they
will use me. I hope they use me.
Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make
me smart. I want to be
smart. My name is Charlie Gordon. I am
37 years old. I have
nuthing more to rite now so I will
close for today.
progris
riport 2-martch 6
I had a test today. I think I faled
it. And I think maybe now they
wont use me. What happind is a nice
young man was in the room
and he had some white cards and ink
spillled all over them. He sed
Charlie what do vo see on this card. 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 spillled ink to.
I told him I saw a inkblot. He said
yes and it made me feel good.
I thot that was all but when I got up
to go he said Charlie we are not
thrn yet. Then I dont remember so good
but he wantid me to say
what was in the ink. I dint see
nuthing in the ink but he said there
was picturs there other pepul saw some
picturs. I couldnt see any
picturs. I reely tryed. I held the
card close up and then far away.
Then I said if I had my glases I coud
see better I usally only ware
my glases in the movies or TV but I
said they are in the closit in the
hall. I got them. Then I said let me
see that card agen I bet Ill find it
now.
I tryed hard but I only saw the
ink. I told him maybe I need new
glases. He rote something down on a
paper and I got skared of faling
the test. I told him it was a very
nice inkblot with littel points all
around the edges. He looked very sad
so that wasnt it. I said please
let me try agen. Ill get it in a few
minits becaus Im not so fast
sometimes. Im a slow reeder too in
Miss Kinnians class for slow
adtilts but I'm trying very hard.
He gave me a chance with another
card that had 2 kinds of ink
spilled on it red and blue.
He was very nice and talked slow
like Miss Kinnian does and he
explaned it to me that it was a raw
shok. He said pepul see things in
the ink. I said show me where. He said
think. I told him I think a
inkblot but that wasn't rite eather.
He said what does it remind
you-pretend something. I closed mv
eves for a long time to
pretend. I told him I pretend a
fowutan pen with ink leeking all over
a table cloth.
I don't think I passed the raw shok
test
progris riport 3-martch 7
Dr Strauss and Dr Nemur say it dont
matter about the inkblots.
They said that maybe they will still use me.
I said Miss Kinnian
never gave me tests like that one only
spelling and reading. They
said Miss Kinnian told that I was her
bestist pupil in the adult nite
school becaus I tryed the hardist and
I reely wantid to lern. They
said how come you went to the adult
nite scool all by yourself
Charlie. How did you find it. I said I
asked pepul and sum body told
me where I shud go to lern to read and
spell good. They said why
did you want to. I told them becaus
all my life I wantid to be smart
and not dumb. But its very hard to be
smart. They said you know it
will probly be tempirery. I said yes.
Miss Kinnian told me. I dont
care if it herts.
Later I had more crazy tests today.
The nice lady who gave it to
me told me the name and I asked her
how do you spell it so I can rite
it my progris riport. THEMATIC
APPERCEPTION TEST. I dont
know the frist 2 words but I know what
test means. You got to pass it
or you get bad marks. This test lookd
easy becaus I could see the
picturs. Only this time she dint want
me to tell her the picturs. That
mixd me up. She said make up storys
about the pepul in the picturs.
I told her how can you tell storys
about pepul you never met. I
said why shud I make up lies. I never
tell lies any more becaus I
always get caut.
She told me this test and the other
one the raw-shok was for
getting personality. I laffed so hard.
I said how can you get that
thing from inkblots and fotos. She got
sore and put her picturs away.
I don't care. It was sily. I gess I
faled that test too.
Later some men in white coats took
me to a difernt part of the
hospitil and gave me a game to play.
It was like a race with a white
mouse. They called the mouse Algernon.
Algernon was in a box with
a lot of twists and turns like all
kinds of walls and they gave me a
pencil and a paper with lines and lots
of boxes. On one side it said
START and on the other end it said
FINISH. They said it was
amazed and that Algernon and me had
the same amazed to do. I dint
see how we could have the same amazed
if Algernon had a box and I
had a paper but I dint say' nothing.
Anyway there wasnt time
because the race started.
One of the men had a watch he was
trying to hide so I wouldnt
see it so I tryed not to look and that
made me nervus.
Anyway that test made me feel
worser than all the others
because they' did it over 10 times
with different amazeds and
Algernon won every time. I dint know
that mice were so smart,
Maybe thats because Algernon is a
white mouse. Maybe white mice
are smarter than other mice.
progris riport 4-Mar 8
Their going to use me! Im so
excited I can hardly write. Dr
Nemur and Dr Strauss had a argament
about it first. Dr Nemur was
in the office when Dr Strauss brot me
in. Dr Nemur was worryed
about using me but Dr Strauss told him
Miss Kinnian rekemmended
me the best from all the people who
she was teaching. I like Miss
Kinnian becaus shes a very smart
teacher. And she said Charlie your
going to have a second chance. If you
volunteer for this experament
you mite get smart. They dont know if
it will be perminint but theirs
a chance. Thats why I said ok even
when I was scared because she
said it was an operashun. She said
dont be scared Charlie you done
so much with so little I think you
deserv it most of all.
So I got scaird when Dr. Nemur and
Dr. Strauss argud about it.
Dr. Strauss said I had something that
was very good. He said I had a
good motorvation. I never even knew I
had that. I felt proud when
he said that not every body with an
eye-q of 68 had that thing. I dant
know what it is or where I got it but
he said Algernon had it too.
Algernons motor-vation is the cheese they
put in his box. But it cant
be that because I didn't eat any
cheese this week.
Then he told Dr Nemur something I
dint understand so while
they were talking I wrote down some of
the words.
He said Dr. Nemur I know Charlie is
not what you had in mind
as the first of your new brede of
intelek** (couldnt get the word)
superman. But most people of his low
ment** are host** and
uncoop** they are usually dull apath**
and hard to reach. He has a
good natcher hes intristed and eager
to please.
Dr Nemur said remember he will be
the first human beeng ever
to have his intelijence tripled by
surgicle meens.
Dr. Strauss said exakly. Look at
how well hes lerned to read and
write for his low mentel age its as
grate an acheve** as you and I
lerning einstines therey of **vity
without help. That shows the
inteness motor-vation. Its comparat**
a tremen** achev** I say we
use Charlie.
I dint get all the words but it
sounded like Dr Strauss was on my
side and like the other one wasnt.
Then Dr Nemur nodded he said all
right maybe your right. We
will use Charlie. When he said that I
got so exited I jumped up and
shook his hand for being so good to
me. 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.
progris riport 5-Mar 10
Im skared. Lots of the nurses and
the people who gave me the
tests came to bring me candy and wish
me luck. I hope I have luck. I
got my rabits foot and my lucky penny.
Only a black cat crossed me
when I was comming to the hospitil. Dr
Strauss says dont be
supersitis Charlie this is science.
Anyway Im keeping my rabits foot
with me.
I asked Dr Strauss if Ill beat
Algernon in the race after the
operashun and he said maybe. If the
operashun works Ill show that
mouse I can be as smart as he is.
Maybe smarter. Then Ill be abel to
read better and spell the words good
and know lots of things and be
like other people. I want to be smart
like other people. If it works
perminint they will make everybody
smart all over the wurld.
They dint give me anything to eat
this morning. I dont know
what that eating has to do with
getting smart. Im very hungry and
Dr. Nemur took away my box of candy.
That Dr Nemur is a grouch.
Dr Strauss says I can have it back
after the operashun. You cant eat
befor a operashun....
progress report 6-Mar 15
The operashun dint hurt. He did it
while I was sleeping. They
took off the bandijis from my head
today so I can make a PROG-
RESS REPORT. Dr. Nemur who looked at
some of my other ones
says I spell PROGRESS wrong and told
me how to spell it and
REPORT too. I got to try and remember
that.
I have a very bad memary for
spelling. Dr Strauss says its ok to
tell about all the things that happin
to me but he says I should tell
more about what I feel and what I
think. When I told him I dont
know how to think he said try. All the
time when the bandijis were
on my eyes I tryed to think. Nothing
happened. I dont know what to
think about. Maybe if I ask him he
will tell me how I can think now
that Im supposed to get smart. What do
smart people think about.
Fancy things I suppose. I wish I knew
some fancy things alredy.
progress
report 7-mar 19
Nothing is happining. I had lots of
tests and different kinds of
races with Algernon. I hate that
mouse. He always beats me. Dr.
Strauss said I got to play those
games. And he said some time I got to
take those tests over again. Those
inkblots are stupid. And those
pictures are stupid too. I like to
draw a picture of a man and a
woman but I wont make up lies about
people.
I got a headache from trying to think
so much. I thot Dr Strauss
was my frend but he dont help me. He
dont tell me what to think or
when Ill get smart. Miss Kinnian dint
come to see me. I think
writing these progress reports are
stupid too.
progress
report 8-Mar 23
Im going back to work at the
factory. They said it was better I
shud go back to work but I cant tell
anyone what the operashun was
for and I have to come to the hospitil
for an hour evry night after
work. They are gonna pay me mony every
month for learning to be
smart.
Im glad Im going back to work
because I miss my job and all
my frends and all the fun we have
there.
Dr Strauss say's I shud keep
writing things down but I dont
have to do it every day just when I
think of something or something
speshul happins. He says dont get
discoridged because it takes time
and it happins slow. He say's it took
a long time with Algernon
before he got 3 times smarter than he
was before. Thats why
Algernon beats me all the time because
he had that operashun too.
That makes me feel better. I coud
probly do that amazed faster than
a reglar mouse. Maybe some day Ill
beat him. That would be
something. So far Algernon looks smart
perminent.
Mar 25 (I dont have to write PROGRESS
REPORT on top any
more just when I hand it in once a week
for Dr Nemur. I just have to
put the date on. That saves time)
We had a lot of fun at the factory
today. Joe Carp said hey look
where Charlie had his operashun what
did they do Charlie put some
brains in. I was going to tell him but
I remembered Dr Strauss said
no. Then Frank Reilly said what did
you do Charlie forget your key
and open your door the hard way. That
made me laff. Their really
my friends and they like me.
Sometimes somebody will say hey
look at Joe or Frank or
George he really pulled a Charlie
Gordon. I dont know why they say
that but they always laff. This
morning Amos Borg who is the 4 man
at Donnegans used my name when he
shouted at Ernie the office
boy. Ernie lost a packige. He said
Ernie for godsake what are you
trying to be a Charlie Gordon. I dont
understand why he said that.
Mar 28 Dr Strauss came to my room
tonight to see why I dint come
in like I was suppose to. I told him I
dont like to race with Algernon
any more. He said I dont have to for a
while but I shud come in. He
had a present for me. I thot it was a
little television but it wasnt. He
said I got to turn it on when I go to
sleep. I said your kidding why
shud I turn it on when Im going to
sleep. Who ever herd of a thing
like that. But he said if I want to
get smart I got to do what he says. I
told him I dint think I was going to
get smart and he puts his hand
on my sholder and said Charlie you
dont know it yet but your
getting smarter all the time. You wont
notice for a while. I think he
was just being nice to make me feel good
because I dont look any
smarter.
Oh yes I almost forgot. I asked him
when I can go back to the
class at Miss Kinnians school. He said
I wont go their. He said that
soon Miss Kinnian will come to the
hospitil to start and teach me
speshul.
Mar 29 That crazy TV kept up all
night. How can I sleep with
something yelling crazy things all
night in my ears. And the nutty
pictures. Wow. I don't know what it
says when Im up so how am I
going to know when Im sleeping.
Dr Strauss says its ok. He says my
brains are lerning when I
sleep and that will help me when Miss
Kinnian starts my lessons in
the hospitl (only I found out it isn't
a hospitil its a labatory.) I think
its all crazy. If you can get smart
when your sleeping why do people
go to school. That thing I don't think
will work. I use to watch the
late show and the late late show on TV
all the time and it never made
me smart. Maybe you have to sleep
while you watch it.
progress report 9-April 3
Dr Strauss showed me how to keep
the TV turned low so now I
can sleep. I don't hear a thing. And I
still dont understand what it
says. A few times I play it over in
the morning to find out what I
lerned when I was sleeping and I don't
think so. Miss Kinnian says
Maybe its another langwidge. But most
times it sound american. It
talks faster then even Miss Gold who
was my teacher in 6 grade.
I told Dr. Strauss what good is it
to get smart in my sleep. I want
to be smart when Im awake. He says its
the same thing and I have
two minds. Theres the subconscious and
the conscious (thats how
you spell it). And one dont tell the
other one what its doing. They
dont even talk to each other. Thats
why I dream. And boy have I
been having crazy dreams. Wow. Ever
since that night TV. The late
late late show.
I forgot to ask him if it was only
me or if everybody had those
two minds.
(I just looked up the word in the
dictionary Dr Strauss gave me.
The word is subconscious. adj. Of the
nature of mental operations
yet not present in consciousness; as,
subconscious conflict of de-
sires.) There's more but I still dont know
what it means. This isnt a
very good dictionary for dumb people
like me.
Anyway the headache is from the
party. My friends from the
factery Joe Carp and Frank Reilly
invited me to go to Muggsys
Saloon for some drinks. I don't like
to drink but they said we will
have lots of fun. I had a good time.
Joe Carp said I shoud show the
girls how I mop out the toilet in
the factory and he got me a mop. I
showed them and everyone laffed
when I told that Mr. Donnegan said I was the
best janiter he ever
had because I like my job and do it
good and never miss a day except
for my operashun.
I said Miss Kinnian always said
Charlie be proud of your job
because you do it good.
Everybody laffed and we had a good
time and they gave me lots
of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a
card when hes potted. I dont
know what that means but everybody
likes me and we have fun. I
cant wait to be smart like my best
friends Joe Carp and Frank Reilly.
I dont remember how the party was
over but I think I went out
to buy a newspaper and coffe for Joe
and Frank and when I came
back there was no one their. I looked
for them all over till late. Then
I dont remember so good but I think I
got sleepy or sick. A nice cop
brot me back home Thats what my
landlady Mrs Flynn says.
But I got a headache and a big lump
on my head. I think maybe
I fell but Joe Carp says it was the
cop they beat up drunks some
times. I don't think so. Miss Kinnian
says cops are to help people.
Anyway I got a bad headache and Im
sick and hurt all over. I dont
think Ill drink anymore.
April 6 I beat Algernon! I dint even
know I beat him until Burt the
tester told me. Then the second time I
lost because I got so exited I
fell off the chair before I finished.
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.
I wanted to race Algernon some more
but Burt said thats
enough for one day. They let me hold
him for a minit. Hes not so
bad. Hes soft like a ball of cotton.
He blinks and when he opens his
eyes their black and pink on the eges.
I said can I feed him because I
felt bad to beat him and I wanted
to be nice and make friends. Burt said
no Algernon is a very
specshul mouse with an operashun like
mine, and he was the first of
all the animals to stay smart so long.
He told me Algernon is so smart
that every day he has to solve a test
to get his food. Its a thing like a
lock on a door that changes every time
Algernon goes in to eat so he
has to lern something new to get his
food. That made me sad
because if he couldnt lern he woud be
hungry.
I don't think its right to make you
pass a test to eat. How woud
Dr Nemur like it to have to pass a
test every time he wants to eat. I
think Ill be friends with Algernon.
April 9 Tonight after work Miss Kinnian was
at the laboratory. She
looked like she was glad to see me but
scared. I told her dont worry
Miss Kinnian Im not smart yet and she
laffed. She said I have
confidence in you Charlie the way you
struggled so hard to read and
right better than all the others. At
werst you will have it for a littel
wile and your doing something for
science.
We are reading a very hard book.
Its called Robinson Crusoe
about a man who gets merooned on a
dessert Iland. Hes smart and
figers out all kinds of things so he
can have a house and food and hes
a good swimmer. Only I feel sorry
because hes all alone and has no
frends. But I think their must be
somebody else on the iland because
theres a picture with his funny
umbrella looking at footprints. I
hope he gets a frend and not be lonly.
April 10 Miss Kinnian teaches me to
spell better. She says look at a
word and close your eyes and say it
over and over until you
remember. I have lots of truble with
through that you say threw and
enough and tough that you dont say
enew and tew. You got to say
enuff and tuff. Thats how I use to
write it before I started to get
smart. Im confused but Miss Kinnian
says theres no reason in
spelling.
Apr 14 Finished Robinson Crusoe. I
want to find out more about
what happens to him but Miss Kinnian
says thats all there is. Why.
Apr 15 Miss Kinnian says Im lerning
fast. She read some of the
Progress Reports and she looked at me
kind of funny. She says Im a
fine person and Ill show them all. I
asked her why. She said never
mind but I shouldnt feel bad if I find
out everybody isnt nice like I
think. She said for a person who god
gave so little to you done more
then a lot of people with brains they
never even used. I said all my
friends are smart people but there
good. They like me and they
never did anything that wasnt nice.
Then she got something in her
eye and she had to run out to the
ladys room.
Apr 16 Today, I lerned, the comma,
this is a comma (,) a period,
with a tail, Miss Kinnian, says its
importent, because, it makes
writing, better, she said, somebody,
coud lose, a lot of money, if a
comma, isnt, in the, right place, I
dont have, any money, and I dont
see, how a comma, keeps you, from
losing it.
Apr 17 1 used the comma wrong. Its
punctuation. Miss Kinnian
told me to look up long words in the
dictionary to lern to spell them.
I said whats the difference if you can
read it anyway. She said its
part of your education so now on Ill
look up all the words Im not
sure how to spell. It takes a long
time to write that way but I only
have to look up once and after that I
get it right.
You got to mix them up, she showed?
me" how to mix! them
(and now; I can! mix up all
kinds" of punctuation, in! my writing?
There, are lots! of rules? to lern;
but Im gettin'g them in my head.
One thing I like about, Dear Miss
Kinnian: (thats the way it
goes in a business letter if I ever go
into business) is she, always
gives me' a reason" when--I ask.
She's a gen'ius! I wish I cou'd be
smart" like, her;
(Punctuation, is; fun!)
Apr 18 What a dope I am! I didn't even
understand what she was
talking about. I read the grammar book
last night and it explanes the
whole thing. Then I saw it was the
same way as Miss Kinnian was
trying to tell me, but I didn't get
it.
Miss Kinnian said that the TV
working in my sleep helped out.
She and I reached a plateau. Thats a
flat hill.
After I figured out how punctuation
worked, I read over all my
old Progress Reports from the
beginning. Boy, did I have crazy
spelling and punctuation! I told Miss
Kinnian I ought to go over the
pages and fix all the mistakes but she
said, "No, Charlie, Dr. Nemur
wants them just as they are. That's
why he let you keep them after
they were photostated, to see your own
progress. You're coming
along fast, Charlie."
That made me feel good. After the
lesson I went down and
played with Algernon. We don't race
any more.
April 20 I feel sick inside. Not sick
like for a doctor, but inside my
chest it feels empty like getting
punched and a heartburn at the same
time. I wasn't going to write about
it, but I guess I got to, because its
important. Today was the first time I
ever stayed home from work.
Last night Joe Carp and Frank
Reilly invited me to a party.
There were lots of girls and some men
from the factory. I remem-
bered how sick I got last time I drank
too much, so I told Joe I didn't
want anything to drink. He gave me a
plain coke instead.
We had a lot of fun for a while.
Joe said I should dance with
Ellen and she would teach me the
steps. I fell a few times and I
couldn't understand why because no one
else was dancing besides
Ellen and me. And all the time I was
tripping because somebody's
foot was always sticking out.
Then when I got up I saw the look
on Joe's face and it gave me a
funny feeling in my stomack.
"He's a scream," one of the girls said.
Everybody was laughing.
"Look at him. He's blushing.
Charlie is blushing."
"Hey, Ellen, what'd you do to
Charlie? I never saw him act like
that before."
I didn't know what to do or where
to turn. Everyone was
looking at me and laughing and I felt
naked. I wanted to hide. I ran
outside and I threw up. Then I walked
home. It's a funny thing I
never knew that 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.
progress report 11
April 21 Still didn't go into the
factory. I told Mrs. Flynn my
landlady to call and tell Mr. Donnegan
I was sick. Mrs. Flynn looks
at me very funny lately like she's
scared.
I think it's a good thing about
finding out how everybody
laughs at me. I thought about it a
lot. It's because I'm so dumb and I
don't even know when I'm doing
something dumb. People think it's
funny when a dumb person can't do
things the same way they can.
Anyway, now I know I'm getting
smarter every day. I know
punctuation and I can spell good. I
like to look up all the hard words
in the dictionary and I remember them.
I'm reading a lot now, and
Miss Kinnian says I read very fast.
Sometimes I even understand
what I'm reading about, and it stays
in my mind. There are times
when I can close my eyes and think of
a page and it all comes back
like a picture.
Besides history, geography and
arithmetic, Miss Kinnian said I
should start to learn foreign
languages. Dr. Strauss gave me some
more tapes to play while I sleep. I
still don't understand how that
conscious and unconscious mind works,
but Dr. Strauss says not to
worry yet. He asked me to promise that
when I start learning college
subjects next week I wouldn't read any
books on psychology-that
is, until he gives me permission.
I feel a lot better today, but I
guess I'm still a little angry that all
the time people were laughing and
making fun of me because I
wasn't so smart. When I become
intelligent like Dr. Strauss says,
with three times my I.Q. of 68, then
maybe I'll be like everyone else
and people will like me.
I'm not sure what an I.Q. is, Dr.
Nemur said it was something
that measured how intelligent you
were--like a scale in the drug-
store weighs pounds. But Dr. Strauss had
a big argument with him
and said an I.Q. didn't weigh
intelligence at all. He said an I.Q.
showed how much intelligence you could
get, like the numbers on
the outside of a measuring cup. You
still had to fill the cup up with
stuff.
Then when I asked Burt, who gives
me my intelligence tests
and works with Algernon, he said that
both of them were wrong
(only I had to promise not to tell
them he said so). Burt says that the
I.Q. measures a lot of different
things including some of the things
you learned already, and it really
isn't any good at all.
So I still don't know what I.Q. is
except that mine is going to be
over 200 soon. I didn't want to say
anything, but I don't see how if
they don't know what it is, or where
it is--I don't see how they know
how much of it you've got.
Dr. Nemur says I have to take a
Rorshach Test tomorrow. I
wonder what that is.
April 22 I found out what a Rorshach
is. It's the test I took before
the operation--the one with the
inkblots on the pieces of cardboard.
I was scared to death of those
inkblots. I knew the man was
going to ask me to find the pictures
and I knew I couldn't. I was
thinking to myself, if only there was
some way of knowing what
kind of pictures were hidden there.
Maybe there weren't any
pictures at all. Maybe it was just a
trick to see if I was dumb enough
to look for something that wasn't
there. Just thinking about that
made me sore at him.
"All right, Charlie," he
said, "you've seen these cards before.
remember?"
"Of course I remember."
The way I said it, he knew I was
angry, and he looked surprised.
"Yes, of course. Now I want you
to look at this. What might this be?
What do you see on this card? People
see all sorts of things in these
inkblots. Tell me what it might be for
you-what it makes you think
of."
I was shocked. That wasn't what I
had expected him to say.
"You mean there are no pictures
hidden in those inkblots?"
He frowned and took off his
glasses. "What?"
"Pictures. Hidden in the
inkblots. Last time you told me
everyone could see them and you wanted
me to find them too."
He explained to me that the last time he
had used almost the
exact same words he was using now. I
didn't believe it, and I still
have the suspicion that he misled me
at the time just for the fun of it.
Unless--I don't know any more--could I
have been that feeble-
minded?
We went through the cards slowly.
One looked like a pair of
bats tugging at something. Another one
looked like two men fencing
with swords. I imagined all sorts of
things. I guess I got carried
away. But I didn't trust him any more,
and I kept turning them
around, even looking on the back to
see if there was anything there I
was supposed to catch. While he was
making his notes, I peeked out
of the corner of my eye to read it. But it
was all in code that looked
like this:
WF+A DdF-Ad orig. WF-A
SF + obj
The test still doesn't make sense
to me. It seems to me that
anyone could make up lies about things
that they didn't really
imagine? Maybe I'll understand it when
Dr. Strauss lets me read up
on psychology.
April 25 I figured out a new way to
line up the machines in the
factory, and Mr. Donnegan says it will
save him ten thousand
dollars a year in labor and increased
production. He gave me a $25
bonus.
I wanted to take Joe Carp and Frank
Reilly out to lunch to
celebrate, but Joe said he had to buy
some things for his wife, and
Frank said he was meeting his cousin
for lunch. I guess it'll take a
little time for them to get used to
the changes in me. Everybody
seems to be frightened of me. When I
went over to Amos Borg and
tapped him, he jumped up in the air.
People don't talk to me much any
more or kid around the way
they used to. It makes the job kind of
lonely.
April 27 I got up the nerve today to
ask Miss Kinnian to have
dinner with me tomorrow night to
celebrate my bonus.
At first she wasn't sure it was
right, but I asked Dr. Strauss and
he said it was okay. Dr. Strauss and
Dr. Nemur don't seem to be
getting along so well. They're arguing
all the time. This evening I
heard them shouting. Dr. Nemur was
saying that it was his experi-
ment and his research, and Dr. Strauss
shouted back that he
contributed just as much, because he
found me through Miss
Kinnian and he performed the
operation. Dr. Strauss said that
someday thousands of neuro-surgeons
might be using his technique
all over the world.
Dr. Nemur wanted to publish the
results of the experiment at
the end of the month. Dr. Strauss
wanted to wait a while to be sure.
Dr. Strauss said Dr. Nemur was more
interested in the Chair of
Psychology at Princeton than he was in
the experiment. Dr. Nemur
said Dr. Strauss was nothing but an
opportunist trying to ride to
glory on his coattails.
When I left afterwards, I found
myself trembling. I don't know
why for sure, but it was as if I'd seen both
men clearly for the first
time. I remember hearing Burt say Dr.
Nemur had a shrew of a wife
who was pushing him all the time to
get things published so he
could become famous. Burt said that
the dream of her life was to
have a big shot husband.
April 28 I don't understand why I
never noticed how beautiful
Miss Kinnian really is. She has brown
eyes and feathery brown hair
that comes to the top of her neck.
She's only thirty-four! I think from
the beginning I had the feeling that
she was an unreachable
genius--and very, very old. Now, every
time I see her she grows
younger and more lovely.
We had dinner and a long talk. When
she said I was coming
along so fast I'd be leaving her
behind, I laughed.
"It's true, Charlie. You're
already a better reader than I am. You
can read a whole page at a glance while
I can take in only a few lines
at a time. And you remember every
single thing you read. I'm lucky
if I can recall the main thoughts and
the general meaning."
"I don't feel intelligent.
There are so many things I don't
understand."
She took out a cigarette and I lit
it for her. "You've got to be a
little patient. You're accomplishing
in days and weeks what it takes
normal people to do in a lifetime.
That's what makes it so amazing.
You're like a giant sponge now, soaking
things in. Facts, figures,
general knowledge. And soon you'll
begin to connect them, too.
You'll see how different branches of
learning are related. There are
many levels, Charlie, like steps on a
giant ladder that take you tip
higher and higher to see more and more
of the world around yoti.
"I can see only a little bit
of that, Charlie, and I won't go much
higher than I am now, but you'll keep
climbing up and up, and see
more and more, and each step will open
new worlds that you never
even knew existed." She frowned.
"I hope . . . I just hope to God--"
"What?"
"Never mind, Charles. I just
hope I wasn't wrong to advise you
to go into this in the first
place."
I laughed. "How could that be?
It worked, didn't it? Even
Algernon is still smart."
We sat there silently for a while
and I knew what she was
thinking about as she watched me
toying with the chain of my
rabbit's foot and my keys. I didn't
want to think of that possibility
any more than elderly people want to
think of death. I knew that this
was only the beginning. I knew what
she meant about levels
because I'd seen some of them already.
The thought of leaving her
behind made me sad.
I'm in love with Miss Kinnian.
progress
report 12
April 30 I've quit my job with
Donnegan's Plastic Box Company.
Mr. Donnegan insisted it would be
better for all concerned if I left.
What did I do to make them hate me so?
The first I knew of it was when Mr.
Donnegan showed me the
petition. Eight hundred names,
everyone in the factory, except
Fanny Girden. Scanning the list
quickly, I saw at once that hers was
the only missing name. All the rest
demanded that I be fired.
Joe Carp and Frank Reilly wouldn't
talk to me about it. No one
else would either, except Fanny. She
was one of the few people I'd
known who set her mind to something
and believed it no matter
what the rest of the world proved,
said or did-and Fanny did not
believe that I should have been fired.
She had been against the
petition on principle and despite the
pressure and threats she'd held
out.
"Which don't mean to
say," she remarked, "that I don't think
there's something mighty strange about
you, Charlie. Them chang-
es. I don't know. You used to be a
good, dependable, ordinary
man--not too bright maybe, but honest.
Who knows what you done
to yourself to get so smart all of a
sudden. Like everybody around
here's been saying, Charlie, it's not
right."
"But how can you say that,
Fanny? What's wrong with a man
becoming intelligent and wanting to
acquire knowledge and under-
standing of the world around
him?"
She stared down at her work and I
turned to leave. Without
looking at me, she said: "It was
evil when Eve listened to the snake
and ate from the tree of knowledge. It
was evil when she saw that
she was naked. If not for that none of
us would ever have to grow
old and sick, and die."
Once again, now, I have the feeling
of shame burning inside
me. This intelligence has driven a
wedge between me and all the
people I once knew and loved. Before,
they laughed at me and
despised me for my ignorance and
dullness; now, they hate me for
my knowledge and understanding. What
in God's name do they
want of me?
They've driven me out of the
factory. Now I'm more alone than
ever before. .
May' 15 Dr. Strauss is very angry at
me for not having written any
progress reports in two weeks. He's
justified because the lab is now
paying me a regular salary. I told him
I was too busy thinking and
reading. When I pointed out that
writing was such a slow process
that it makes me impatient with my
poor handwriting, he suggested I
learn to type. It's much easier to
write now because I can type
seventy-five words a minute. Dr.
Strauss continually reminds me of
the need to speak and write simply so
people will be able to
understand me.
I'll try to review all the things
that happened to me during the
last two weeks. Algernon and I were
presented to the American
Psychological Association sitting in
convention with the World
Psychological Association. We created
quite a sensation. Dr. Nemur
and Dr. Strauss were proud of us.
I suspect that Dr. Nemur, who is
sixty--ten years older than Dr.
Strauss--finds it necessary to see
tangible results of his work.
Undoubtedly the result of pressure by
Mrs. Nemur.
Contrary to my earlier impressions
of him, I realize that Dr.
Nemur is not at all a genius. He has a
very good mind, but it
struggles tinder the spectre of
self-doubt. He wants people to take
him for a genius. Therefore, it is
important for him to feel that his
work is accepted by the world. I
believe that Dr. Nemur was afraid
of further delay because he worried
that someone else might make a
discovery along these lines and take
the credit from him.
Dr. Strauss on the other hand might
be called a genius, although
I feel that his areas of knowledge are
too limited. He was educated
in the tradition of narrow
specialization; the broader aspects of
background were neglected far more
than necessary-even for a
neurosurgeon.
I was shocked to learn that the
only ancient languages he could
read were Latin, Greek, and Hebrew,
and that he knows almost
nothing of mathematics beyond the
elementary levels of the calcu-
lus of variations. When he admitted this to
me, I found myself
almost annoyed. It was as if he'd
hidden this part of himself in order
to deceive me, pretending--as do many
people I've discovered--to
be what he is not. No one I've ever
known is what he appears to be
on the surface.
Dr. Nemur appears to be
uncomfortable around me. Sometimes
when I try to talk to him, he just
looks at me strangely and turns
away. I was angry at first when Dr.
Strauss told me I was giving Dr.
Nemur an inferiority complex. I
thought he was mocking me and
I'm oversensitive at being made fun
of.
How was I to know that a highly
respected psychoexperimen-
talist like Nemur was unacquainted
with Hindustani and Chinese?
It's absurd when you consider the work
that is being done in India
and China today in the very field of
his study.
I asked Dr. Strauss how Nemur could
refute Rahajamati's attack
on his method and results if Nemur
couldn't even read them in the
first place. That strange look on Dr.
Strauss' face can mean only one
of two things. Either he doesn't want
to tell Nemur what they're
saying in India, or else--and this
worries me--Dr. Strauss doesn't
know either. I must be careful to
speak and write clearly and simply
so that people won't laugh.
May 18 I am very disturbed. I saw Miss
Kinn ian last night for the
first time in over a week. I tried to
avoid all discussions of
intellectual concepts and to keep the
conversation on a simple,
everyday level, but she just stared at
me blankly and asked me what
I meant about the mathematical
variance equivalent in Dorber-
mann s Fifth Concerto.
When I tried to explain she stopped
me and laughed. I guess I
got angry, but I suspect I'm
approaching her on the wrong level. No
matter what I try to discuss with her,
I am unable to communicate. I
must review Vrostadt's equations on
Levels of Semantic Progres-
sion. I find that I don't communicate
with people much any more.
Thank God for books and music and
things I can think about. I am
alone in my apartment at Mrs. Flynn's
boardinghouse most of the
time and seldom speak to anyone.
May 20 I would not have noticed the
new dishwasher, a boy. of
about sixteen, at the corner diner
where I take my evening meals if
not for the incident of the broken
dishes.
They crashed to the floor,
shattering and sending bits of white
china under the tables. The boy stood
there, dazed and frightened,
holding the empty tray in his hand.
The whistles and catcalls from
the customers (the cries of "hey,
there go the profits!" .
"Mazeltov!". . . and
"well, he didn't work here very long
which invariably seem to follow the
breaking of glass or dishware in
a public restaurant) all seemed to
confuse him.
When the owner came to see what
the excitement was about, the
boy cowered as if he expected to be
struck and threw up his arms as
if to ward off the blow.
"All right! All right, you
dope," shouted the owner, "don't just
stand there! Get the broom and sweep
that mess up. A broom . . . a
broom, you idiot! It's in the kitchen.
Sweep up all the pieces."
The boy saw that he was not going
to be punished. His
frightened expression disappeared and
he smiled and hummed as he
came back with the broom to sweep the
floor. A few of the rowdier
customers kept up the remarks, amusing
themselves at his expense.
"Here, sonny, over here
there's a nice piece behind you...."
"C'mon, do it again."
"He's not so dumb.
It's easier to break'em than to
wash'em. . ."
As his vacant eyes moved across the
crowd of amused onlook-
ers, he slowly mirrored their smiles
and finally broke into an
uncertain grin at the joke which he
obviously did not understand.
I felt sick inside as I looked at
his dull, vacuous smile, the wide,
bright eyes of a child, uncertain but
eager to please. They were
laughing at him because he was
mentally retarded.
And I had been laughing at him too.
Suddenly, I was furious at myself
and all those who were
smirking at him. I jumped up and
shouted, "Shut up! Leave him
alone! It's not his fault he can't
understand. He can't help what lie
is! But for God's sake . . . he's
still a human being!"
The room grew silent. I cursed
myself for losing control and
creating a scene. I tried not to look
at the boy as I paid my check and
walked out without touching my food. I
felt ashamed for both of us.
How strange it is that people of
honest feelings and sensibility,
who would not take advantage of a man
born without arms or legs or
eyes--how such people think nothing of
abusing a man born with
low intelligence. It infuriated me to
think that not too long ago, I
like this boy, had foolishly played
the clown.
And I had almost forgotten.
I'd hidden the picture of the old
Charlie Gordon from myself
because now that I was intelligent it
was something that had to be
pushed out of my mind. But today in
looking at that boy, for the first
time I saw what I had been. I was just
like him!
Only a short time ago, I learned
that people laughed at me. Now
I can see that unknowingly I joined
with them in laughing at myself.
That hurts most of all.
I have often reread my progress
reports and seen the illiteracy,
the childish naivete, the mind of low
intelligence peering from a
dark room, through the keyhole, at the
dazzling light outside. I see
that even in my dullness I knew that I
was inferior, and that other
people had something I
lacked-something denied me. In my
mental blindness, I thought that it
was somehow connected with the
ability to read and write, and I was
sure that if I could get those
skills I would automatically have
intelligence too.
Even a feeble-minded man wants to be
like other men.
A child may not know how to feed
itself, or what to eat, yet it
knows of hunger.
This then is what I was like, I
never knew. Even with my gift of
intellectual awareness, I never really
knew.
This day was good for me. Seeing
the past more clearly, I have
decided to use my knowledge and skills
to work in the field of
increasing human intelligence levels.
Who is better equipped for
this work? Who else has lived in both
worlds? These are my people.
Let me use my gift to do something for
them.
Tomorrow, I will discuss with Dr.
Strauss the manner in which
I can work in this area. I may be able
to help him work out the
problems of widespread use of the
technique which was used on
me. I have several good ideas of my
own.
There is so much that might be done
with this technique. If I
could be made into a genius, what
about thousands of others like
myself? What fantastic levels might be
achieved by using this
technique on normal people? Or
geniuses?
There are so many doors to open. I
am impatient to begin.
progress report 13
May 23 It happened today. Algernon bit
me. I visited the lab to see
him as I do occasionally, and when I
took him out of his cage, he
snapped at my hand. I put him back and
watched him for a while.
He was unusually disturbed and
vicious.
May 24 Burt, who is in charge of the
experimental animals, tells
me that Algernon is changing. He is
less co-operative; he refuses to
run the maze any more; general
motivation has decreased. And he
hasn't been eating. Everyone is upset
about what this may mean.
May 25 They've been feeding Algernon,
who now refuses to work
the shifting-lock problem. Everyone
identifies me with Algernon. in
a way we're both the first of our
kind. They're all pretending that
Algernon's behavior is not necessarily
significant for me. But it's
hard to hide the fact that some of the
other animals who were used
in this experiment are showing strange
behavior.
Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur have
asked me not to come to the lab
any more. I know what they're thinking
but I can't accept it. I am
going ahead with my plans to carry
their research forward. With all
due respect to both of these fine
scientists, l am well aware of their
limitations. If there is an answer,
I'll have to find it out for myself.
Suddenly, time has become very
important to me.
May 29 I have been given a lab of my
own and permission to go
ahead with the research. I'm on to
something. Working day and
night. I've had a cot moved into the
lab. Most of my writing time is
spent on the notes which I keep in a
separate folder, but from time to
time I feel it necessary to put down
my moods and my thoughts out
of sheer habit.
I find the calculus of intelligence
to be a fascinating study. Here
is the place for the application of
all the knowledge I have acquired.
In a sense it's the problem I've been
concerned with all my life.
May 31 Dr. Strauss thinks I'm working
too hard. Dr. Nemur says
I'm trying to cram a lifetime of
research and thought into a few
weeks. I know I should rest, but I'm
driven on by something inside
that won't let me stop. I've got to
find the reason for the sharp
regression in Algernon. I've got to
know if and when it will happen
to me.
June 4
LETTER TO DR. STRAUSS (copy)
Dear Dr. Strauss:
Under separate cover I am
sending you a copy of my report
entitled, "The Algernon-Gordon
Effect: A Study of Structure
and Function of Increased
Intelligence," which I would like to
have you read and have published.
As you see, my experiments are
completed. I have included
in my report all of my formulae, as
well as mathematical
analysis in the appendix. Of
course, these should be verified.
Because of its importance to both
you and Dr. Nemur (and
need I say to myself, too?) I have
checked and rechecked my
results a dozen times in the hope
of finding an error. I am sorry
to say the results must stand. Yet
for the sake of science, I am
grateful for the little bit that I
here add to the knowledge of the
function of the human mind and of
the laws governing the
artificial increase of human
intelligence.
I recall your once saying to me
that an experimental failure
or the disproving of a theory was
as important to the advance-
ment of learning as a success would
be. I know now that this is
true. I am sorry, however, that my
own contribution to the field
must rest upon the ashes of the
work of two men I regard so
highly.
Yours truly,
Charles Gordon
encl.:rept.
June 5 I must not become emotional.
The facts and the results of
my experiments are clear, and the more
sensational aspects of my
own rapid climb cannot obscure the
fact that the tripling of
intelligence by the surgical technique
developed by Drs. Strauss
and Nemur must be viewed as having
little or no practical applica-
bility (at the present time) to the
increase of human intelligence.
As I review the records and data on
Algernon, I see that
although he is still in his physical
infancy, he has regressed
mentally. Motor activity is impaired;
there is a general reduction of
glandular activity; there is an
accelerated loss of co-ordination.
There are also strong indications
of progressive amnesia.
As will be seen by my report, these
and other physical and
mental deterioration syndromes can be
predicted with statistically
significant results by the application
of my formula.
The surgical stimulus to which we
were both subjected has
resulted in an intensification and
acceleration of all mental pro-
cesses. The unforeseen development,
which I have taken the liberty
of calling the Algernon-Gordon Effect,
is the logical extension of the
entire intelligence speed-up. The
hypothesis here proven may be
described simply in the following
terms: Artificially increased
intelligence deteriorates at a rate of
time directly proportional to the
quantity of the increase.
I feel that this, in itself, is an
important discovery.
As long as I am able to write, I
will continue to record my
thoughts in these progress reports. It
is one of my few pleasures.
However, by all indications, my own
mental deterioration will be
very rapid.
I have already begun to notice
signs of emotional instability
and forgetfulness, the first symptoms
of the burnout.
June 10 Deterioration progressing. I
have become absentminded.
Algernon died two days ago. Dissection
shows my predictions were
right. His brain had decreased in
weight and there was a general
smoothing out of cerebral convolutions
as well as a deepening and
broadening of brain fissures.
I guess the same thing is or will
soon be happening to me. Now
that it's definite, I don't want it to
happen.
I put Algernon's body in a cheese
box and buried him in the
back yard. I cried.
June 15 Dr. Strauss came to see me
again. I wouldn't open the door
and I told him to go away. I want to
be left to myself. I have become
touchy and irritable. I feel the
darkness closing in. It's hard to throw
off thoughts of suicide. I keep
telling myself how important this
introspective journal will be.
It's a strange sensation to pick up
a book that you've read and
enjoyed just a few months ago and
discover that you don't remember
it. I remembered how great I thought
John Milton was, but when I
picked up Paradise Lost I couldn't
understand it at all. I got so
angry I threw the book across the
room.
I've got to try to hold on to some
of it. Some of the things I've
learned. Oh, God, please don't take it
all away.
June 19 Sometimes, at night, I go out for a
walk. Last night I
couldn't remember where I lived. A
policeman took me home. I
have the strange feeling that this has
all happened to me before--a
long time ago. I keep telling myself
I'm the only person in the world
who can describe what's happening to
me.
June 21 Why can't I remember? I've got
to fight. I lie in bed for
days and I don't know who or where I
am. Then it all comes back to
me in a flash. Fugues of amnesia.
Symptoms of senility--second
childhood. I can watch them coming on.
It's so cruelly logical. I
learned so much and so fast. Now my
mind is deteriorating rapidly.
I won't let it happen. I'll fight it.
I can't help thinking of the boy in
the restaurant, the blank expression,
the silly smile, the people
laughing at him. No--please--not that
again. . .
June 22 I'm forgetting things that I
learned recently. It seems to be
following the classic pattern--the
last things learned are the first
things forgotten. Or is that the
pattern? I'd better look it up
again....
I reread my paper on the Algemon-Gordon
Effect and I get the
strange feeling that it was written by
someone else. There are parts I
don't even understand.
Motor activity impaired. I keep
tripping over things, and it
becomes increasingly difficult to type.
June 23 I've given up using the
typewriter completely. My co-
ordination is bad. I feel that I'm
moving slower and slower. Had a
terrible shock today. I picked up a copy
of an article I used in my
research, Krueger's Uber Psychische
Ganzheit, to see if it would
help me understand what I had done.
First I thought there was
something wrong with my eyes. Then I
realized I could no longer
read German. I tested myself in other
languages. All gone.
June 30 A week since I dared to write
again. It's slipping away like
sand through my fingers. Most of the
books I have are too hard for
me now. I get angry with them because
I know that I read and
understood them just a few weeks ago.
I keep telling myself I must keep
writing these reports so that
somebody will know what is happening
to me. But it gets harder to
form the words and remember spellings.
I have to look up even
simple words in the dictionary now and
it makes me impatient with
myself.
Dr. Strauss comes around almost
every day, but I told him I
wouldn't see or speak to anybody. He
feels guilty. They all do. But I
don't blame anyone. I knew what might
happen. But how it hurts.
July 7 1 don't know where the week
went. Todays Sunday I know
because I can see through my window
people going to church. I
think I stayed in bed all week but I
remember Mrs. Flynn bringing
food to me a few times. I keep saying
over and over Ive got to do
something but then I forget or maybe
its just easier not to do what I
say Im going to do.
I think of my mother and father a
lot these days. I found a
picture of them with me taken at a
beach. My father has a big ball
under his arm and my mother is holding
me by the hand. I dont
remember them the way they are in the
picture. All I remember is
my father drunk most of the time and
arguing with mom about
money.
He never shaved much and he used to
scratch my face when he
hugged me. My mother said he died but
Cousin Miltie said he heard
his mom and dad say that my father ran
away with another woman.
When I asked my mother she slapped my
face and said my father
was dead. I don't think I ever found
out which was true but I don't
care much. (He said he was going to
take me to see cows on a farm
once but he never did. He never kept
his promises. . .)
July 10 My landlady Mrs Flynn is very
worried about me. She says
the way I lay around all day and dont
do anything I remind her of
her son before she threw him out of
the house. She said she doesnt
like loafers. If Im sick its one
thing, but if Im a loafer thats another
thing and she wont have it. I told her I
think Im sick.
I try to read a little bit every
day, mostly stories, but sometimes I
have to read the same thing over and
over again because I dont know
what it means. And its hard to write.
I know I should look up all the
words in the dictionary but its so
hard and Im so tired all the time.
Then I got the idea that I would
only use the easy words instead
of the long hard ones. That saves
time. I put flowers on Algernons
grave about once a week. Mrs Flynn
thinks I'm crazy to put flowers
on a mouses grave but I told her that
Algernon was special.
July 14 Its sunday again. I dont have
anything to do to keep me
busy now because my television set is
broke and I dont have any
money to get it fixed. (I think I lost
this months check from the lab. I
dont remember)
I get awful headaches and asperin
doesnt help me much. Mrs
Flynn knows Im really sick and she
feels very sorry for me. Shes a
wonderful woman whenever someone is
sick.
July22 Mrs Flynn called a strange
doctor to see me. She was afraid
I was going to die. I told the doctor
I wasnt too sick and that I only
forget sometimes. He asked me did I
have any friends or relatives
and I said no I dont have any. I told
him I had a friend called
Algernon once but he was a mouse and
we used to run races
together. He looked at me kind of
funny like he thought I was crazy.
He smiled when I told him I used to
be a genius. He talked to
me like I was a baby and he winked at
Mrs Flynn. I got mad and
chased him out because he was making
fun of me the way they all
used to.
July 24 I have no more money and Mrs.
Flynn says I got to go to
work somewhere and pay the rent
because I havent paid for over
two months. I dont know any work but
the job I used to have at
Donnegans Plastic Box Company. I dont
want to go back there
because they all knew me when I was
smart and maybe theyll laugh
at me. But I dont know what else to do
to get money.
July 25 I was looking at some of my
old progress reports and its
very funny but I cant read what I
wrote. I can make out some of the
words but they dont make sense.
Miss Kinnian came to the door but I
said go away I dont want to
see you. She cried and I cried too but
I wouldn't let her in because I
didn't want her to laugh at me. I told
her I didn't like her any more. I
told her I didn't want to be smart any
more. Thats not true. I still
love her and I still want to be smart
but I had to say that so shed go
away. She gave Mrs Flynn money to pay
the rent. I dont want that. I
got to get a job.
Please . . . please let me not
forget how to read and write. .
July 27 Mr Donnegan was very nice when
I came back and asked
him for my old job of janitor. First
he was very suspicious but I told
him what happened to me then he looked
very sad and put his hand
on my shoulder and said Charlie Gordon
you got guts.
Everybody looked at me when I came
downstairs and started
working in the toilet sweeping it out
like I used to. I told myself
Charlie if they make fun of you dont
get sore because you remember
their not so smart as you once thot
they were. And besides they were
once your friends and if they laughed
at you that doesnt mean
anything because they liked you too.
One of the new men who came to work
there after I went away
made a nasty crack he said hey Charlie
I hear your a very smart fella
a real quiz kid. Say something
intelligent. I felt bad but Joe Carp
came over and grabbed him by the shirt
and said leave him alone
you lousy cracker or Ill break your
neck. I didnt expect Joe to take
my part so I guess hes really my
friend.
Later Frank Reilly came over and
said Charlie if anybody
bothers you or trys to take advantage
you call me or Joe and we will
set em straight. I said thanks Frank
and I got choked up so I had to
turn around and go into the supply
room so he wouldnt see me cry.
Its good to have friends.
July 28 I did a dumb thing today I
forgot I wasnt in Miss Kinnians
class at the adult center any more
like I used to be. I went in and sat
down in my old seat in the back of the
room and she looked at me
funny and she said Charles. I dint
remember she ever called me that
before only Charlie so I said hello
Miss Kinnian Im redy for my
lesin today only I lost my reader that
we was using. She startid to cry
and run out of the room and everybody
looked at me and I saw they
wasnt the same pepul who used to be in
my class.
Then all of a sudden I remembered
some things about the
operashun and me getting smart and I
said holy smoke I reely pulled
a Charlie Gordon that time. I went
away before she come back to the
room.
Thats why Im going away from New
York for good. I dont want
to do nothing like that agen. I dont
want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry
for me. Evry body feels sorry at the
factery and I dont want that
eather so Im going someplace where
nobody knows that Charlie
Gordon was once a genus and now he
cant even reed a book or rite
good.
Im taking a cuple of books along
and even if I cant reed them Ill
practise hard and maybe I wont forget
every thing I lerned. If I try
reel hard maybe Ill be a littel bit
smarter than I was before the
operashun. I got my rabits foot and my
luky penny and may'be they
will help me.
If you ever reed this Miss Kinnian
dont be sorry for me Im glad
I got a second chanse to be smart
becaus I lerned a lot of things that
I never even new were in this world
and Im grateful that I saw it all
for a little bit. I dont know why Im
dumb agen or what I did wrong
maybe its becaus I dint try hard
enuff. But if I try and practis very
hard maybe Ill get a little smarter
and know what all the words are. I
remember a littel bit how nice I had a
feeling with the blue book
that has the torn cover when I red it.
Thats why Im gonna keep
trying to get smart so I can have that
feeling agen. Its a good feeling
to know things and be smart. I wish I
had it rite now if I did I would
sit down and reed all the time. Anyway
I bet Im the first dumb
person in the world who ever found out
something importent for
sience. I remember I did something but
I dont remember what. So I
gess its like I did it for all the
dumb pepul like me.
Good-by Miss Kinnian and Dr Strauss
and evreybody. And P.S.
please tell Dr Nemur not to be such a
grouch when pepul laff at him
and he would have more frends. Its
easy to make frends if you let
pepul laff at you. Im going to have
lots of frends where I go.
P.P.S. Please if you get a chanse put
some flowrs on Algernons grave
in the bak yard....
Electronic
conversion by Robert A. Zuckerman.
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