Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes

Progress Report 1

• Charlie Gordon is 37 years old. He has a hard time learning new things. He does not feel like he is smart. He takes classes with Miss Kinnean at night. He wants to learn to read and write better. Miss Kinnean is nice and she teaches Charlie new things. Charlie works at a factory as a custodian.

Progress Report 2

• Charlie gets a visit from two doctors. Their names are Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur. Dr. Nemur is very grouchy. They want to give Charlie an operation. They said the operation is on his head. The doctors said the operation will make him smart.

Progress Report 3

• Charlie has the operation. He said it didn’t hurt. After the operation Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur make Charlie look at pictures and find things. They make Charlie write in a journal to see if he is getting smarter. Charlie does not think he is getting smart yet.

Progress Report 4

• Charlie meets a mouse. His name is Algernon. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur make Charlie do mazes and beat Algernon. He can not beat Algernon on the race in the maze. Charlie does not like racing Algernon because Algernon is smart. Algernon had a surgery too. It made him a smart mouse.

Progress Report 5

• Charlie goes out to a restaurant with some people he thinks he is his friends. Their names are Joe and Frank. Joe and Frank are not his friends at all. They make fun of Charlie. They laugh at Charlie because he is not smart. It makes Charlie feel bad.

Progress Report 6

• Charlie is getting smarter! The operation on his head is helping him. He beats Algernon in a race. Miss Kinnean is teaching Charlie new words and making him read big books. Charlie did not want to go back to work at the factory. He quit his job there because Joe and Frank were not nice to him.

Progress Report 7

• Charlie is getting so smart that Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss write a book about Charlie and the operation. Charlie is glad that people are not making fun of him anymore because he is smart. Charlie feels sorry for other people who have a hard time learning new things.

Progress Report 8

• Algernon has changed. He is not nice anymore. He bit Charlie! He will not do anymore mazes and he only sits in his cage. This makes Charlie sad. He thinks that because Algernon is getting mean because of the operation, that Charlie will get mean because of his operation too!

Progress Report 9

• Algernon died. Charlie puts flowers on his grave. Charlie starts to forget things that he had learned. He can’t read or write as good as he used to after the operation. Charlie is worried he will die like Algernon did.

Progress Report 10

• Charlie is very sad. He won’t leave his house. He just stays in bed all day because he forgot all of the new things he learned. He won’t even go to work. Miss Kinnean comes to visit Charlie and helped buys things for him.

Progress Report 11

• Charlie is so sad about forgetting how to read and write. He decides to move and leave his house and friends. He wants to go to a new city where no one knows him and that he can’t read and write well. Miss Kinnean misses Charlie, but she wants him to be happy.