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Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon

To my mother and my father's memory

* * *

1 report March 3

Doc Strauss said that I should write down everything I think and remember and everything that happened to me today. I don’t know why, but he says it’s important so they can see what I’m doing to them. I hope I love them because Miss Kinnian said they can make me smart. I want to be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon, I work at Donner's picaresque where Mr. Donner pays me 11 dollars a week and gives me bread or bread whenever I want. I'm 32 years old and it's my birthday in a month. I told Doc Strauss and Prof. Nemour that I can’t write well, but he said that it’s nothing and that I should write like I write and like I write essays in Miss Kinnian’s lessons at the Beckman College for the mentally retarded, where I go 3 times a week in the evenings . Doc Strauss says write everything you think and what happened to you, but I can’t think anymore and that’s why I have nothing to write, so I’ll finish for today... Sincerely yours, Charlie Gordon.

2nd report March 4

Today I was corrected. I don't think I'll fall for them. I had a break and as they said, I went to Prof. Nemours and his secretary said hello and took me where the psychology department was written on the door and there was a large hall and many small rooms with only a table and chairs. And a very nice man was in one of the little rooms and he had white sheets of paper on which ink had been spilled. He said sit down, Charlie, make yourself comfortable and calm down. He was wearing a white coat like a doctor's, but I thought he wasn't a doctor because he didn't tell me to open my mouth and tell me. Nevo only had these white sheets. Evo's name is Bart. I don’t remember his last name because I’m bad at remembering. I didn’t know what he would do and I held on tightly to the chair like at the dentist’s, only Bart and not the dentist, but he told me to calm down and I was scared because when they talk like that it always hurts.

Bart told Charlie what do you see on this piece of paper? I saw the spilled ink and was very scared, although the rabbit’s foot was in my pocket because when I was little I was always a bad student and spilled the ink. I told Bart I see ink spilled on a white piece of paper. Bart said yes and smiled and I felt terrible. He turned over all the sheets of paper and I told him that someone had spilled black and red ink on them. I thought it was easy, but when I got up to go, Bart said sit down, Charlie, we haven’t finished yet. We haven't done everything with the sheets yet. I didn’t understand, but I remembered that Doc Strauss said do whatever they tell you to do, even if you don’t understand, because it’s a test.

I don’t really remember what Bart said, but I remember that he wanted me to say what was in the ink. I didn't see anything there, but Bart said there were pictures there. I didn't see any pictures. I tried very hard. I held the piece of paper close and then far away. Then I said if I put on my glasses, I’ll probably see better things. I put on my glasses in the movies and when I watch television, but I said maybe they’ll let me see the pictures in the ink. I put them on and said let me take a look and I bet I’ll find them right now. I tried very hard, but I couldn’t find any pictures, I only saw ink. I told Bart maybe I need new glasses. He wrote something down on paper and I was afraid that I wouldn’t pass the test. I told him it was a very beautiful picture with forest dots along the edges, but he shook his head and I realized that this was not the same again. I asked other people who see pictures in the ink and he said they imagine pictures in the ink. He said that the ink in the pictures is called an ink pen.

Bart is very pleasant and talks slowly like Miss Kinnian in the class where I go to teach reading for slow adults. He explained to me what kind of test this was. He said people see different things in ink. I told the packages to me. He didn’t show, but said IMAGINE what there is here. What does this remind you of and come up with something to say. I closed my eyes and came up with an idea and said how a bottle of ink was poured onto a white sheet. Then his pencil broke, he got up and left.

I don't think I passed this test.

3rd report March 5

Doc Strauss and Prof. Nemours say this is nothing, scribbled on sheets of paper. I said that it wasn’t me who spilled the ink and how could I know what was underneath it. They said maybe I'll fall for them. I told Doc Strauss that Ms. Kinnian never gave me any tests, only reading and writing. He said Miss Kinnian told him that I was her best student at the Beckman College for the mentally retarded and I tried harder than anyone because I wanted to learn even more than those smarter than me.

Doc Strauss asked how it happened that you came to Beckman Charlie School yourself. How did you find out about her? I said I don't remember. Prof Nemours asked why you wanted to learn to read and write. I told him because all my life I wanted to be smart and not stupid and my mother always said try and learn and Miss Kinnian says it but it’s very hard to be smart and even when I learn something in class I forget a lot.

Doc Strauss wrote it down on paper and Prof. Nemours spoke to me very seriously. He said you know Charlie, we're not sure how this experiment works on people because we've only done it on animals. I said Miss Kinnian told me but I don't care if it hurts because I'm strong and I'll be an old man.

I want to be smart if they let me. They said they needed to get permission from my family, but my uncle Herman, who took care of me, died and I don’t remember about my family. I haven't seen my mom and my dad and my little sister Norma for a very, very long time. Maybe they died too. Doc Strauss asked where they lived. I think I'm in Brooklyn. He said maybe they'll find them.

I would like to write less of these reports because it takes a lot of time and I go to bed late and tired in the morning. Gimpy yelled at me because I dropped a tray full of buns that I was carrying to the oven. They got dirty and he had to wipe them off and then put them in the oven. Gimpy attacks me all the time, but he really likes me because he’s my friend. If I become smart, he will be serprised.

report 4

Today I had another stupid test in case I fell for it. This is the same place but another small room. The lady who was there told me its name and I asked how to write it down in order to write it down in the report. Thematic apperception test. I don't know the first two words, but I know what the test is. Evo needs to make a bad mark.

From the beginning I thought this test was easy because I saw the pictures. Only for this reason she didn’t want me to say that I see I’m confused with everything. I told her yesterday Bart said that I should say what I see in the ink. She told this test to another. You have to come up with stories about people in pictures.

I said how can I talk about people I don’t know. She said, pretend you are, and I said it would be a lie. I never lie anymore because when I was little I lied and they beat me for it. I have a picture in my wallet of me and Norma and Uncle Herman, who got me into a picnic shop before he died.

I said that I could tell stories about them; I lived with them for a long time, but the lady didn’t want to hear about them. She said that this test and the other one were to destroy my personality. I chuckled. I said how can you make this thing out of sheets that had ink spilled on them and photographs of people I don’t know. She got angry and took the pictures. I have to pour it.

I don't think I did this test either.

Then I drew pictures for her, but I’m bad at drawing. Then Bart arrived in a white robe, his name is Bart Seldon. He took me to another place on the same 4th floor of Beckmann University, which is called the Psychology Laboratory. Bart said psychology means brains and laboratory means where they do experiments. I thought it was chewing gum, but now I think it’s games and riddles because we did it.

I couldn’t make a patamushto halavalomka; it was all broken and the pieces wouldn’t fit into the holes. One game was paper with different lines and on one side it was START and on the other FINISH. Bart said that this game is called LABERINTH and I must take a pencil and go from where the START is to where the FINISH is and do not cross the lines.

I didn't understand and we ruined a lot of paper. Then Bart said I'll pack you something, let's go to the spiritual laboratory, maybe you'll understand. We fell on the 5th floor into another room where there were many cages and animals. There were abizyanas and mice. There was a wonderful smell there, like an old dump, and there were a lot of people in white coats playing with them, and I thought it was a store, but they didn’t look like pakupatils. Bart took a white mouse out of its cage and showed it to me. Bart said this to Algernon and he is very good at the labyrinth. I told you how.

He let Algernon into a large box with walls where there were many bends and curves and START and FINISH as on paper and covered it with glass. Bart took out his watch and lifted the door and said well, go Algernon and the mouse sniffed 2 or 3 times and ran away. From the beginning she ran straight, and when she saw that she couldn’t run any further, she returned from where she started, sat there wiggling her mustache, and then ran in the other direction. It was similar to what Bart wanted me to do with the lines on the paper. I laughed because I thought the mouse wouldn’t do that. But Algernon ran as he should because he came running where it says FINISH and squeaked. Bart said that he was glad that he did everything right.

Well, what a cunning mouse I said.

Bart said you want to run to the races with Algernon. I said, of course, and he said that Nevo has another labyrinth drawn on a board and with an ictric stick like a pencil, and he will remake Algernon’s labyrinth and it will be like mine and we will do the same thing.

He rearranged all the walls on Algernon’s table; they were collapsible and attached them differently. Then he put the glass back so he couldn’t jump over the walls straight to the FINISH. Then he gave me an ictric stick and showed me how to move it between the lines and I shouldn’t lift it from the board until I have nowhere to move it or I’m almost sick. I tried not to stare at the sky and was very upset.

When he said go, I didn’t go, Patamushto didn’t know where to go. Then I heard Algernon squeak from the box and stomped as if he was already running. I moved the stick but it didn’t go the right way because I got stuck and it hit me and I went back to the START, but every time I went the other way I got stuck and I was cracked. It didn't hurt, I was just jumping a little bit, and Bart said it shows that I did the wrong thing. I walked halfway through the board and heard Algernon squeaking as if he had won from me.

He beat me 10 more times because I couldn't find the right path to the FINISH. I didn’t feel bad, I looked at Algernon and understood how to get to the FINISH even if it took a very long time.

I didn't know mice were so smart.

report 5. March 6

They found my sister Norma, who lives with my mother in Brooklyn, and she gave permission for the apiration. I'm so overwhelmed that I can barely write it all down. But from the beginning, Prof. Nemours and Doc Strauss did not argue much. I was sitting in Prof. Nemours' office when Doc Strauss and Bart Seldon came in. For some reason Prof Nemours was worried about me, but Doc Strauss said I looked the best they had ever seen. Bart said Ms. Kinnian was reprimanding me to the best of her ability, she teaches at a school for the mentally retarded. Where do I go?

Doc Strauss said that what I have is very cool. He said I have mativatsya. Never in my life did I know that I had it. I was pleased when he said that not every Cavo Ki 68 has such a thing. I don’t know what it is or where it came from, but he said Algernon has it too. Nevo mativatsya from the cheese that they put in his box. But it can’t just be because it’s a shame because I haven’t eaten cheese this week.

Prof Nemur was worried that my ki would become very high, but mine was very low and I would get sick from it. And Doc Strauss told Prof. Nemur something I didn’t understand while they were talking and I wrote down some words in a book and then in a report.

He said Harold is the name of Professor Nemours, I know that Charlie is not exactly what you want for the first superintelligence. But many people with such low development are hostile and do not want to cooperate; they are dull and apathetic and difficult to deal with. Charlie has a good character; he is interested and always happy to serve.

Then Prof. Nemours said, don’t forget, he will be the first person whose mind will be surgically improved. Doc Strauss said votimeno. Where else will we find a weakly intelligent teacher with such an agromatic teacher? Look at how amazingly he learned to read and write for his level of development.

I didn’t understand all the words they spoke so quickly, but it seemed that Doc Strauss was for me and Prof. Nemours was against me. Bart said Alice Kinnian said he has a desire to learn. He belittled us. And it's true because I want to become smart. Doc Strauss stood up and said we need Charlie. Bart nodded. Prof Nemours scratched the back of his head, rubbed his nose and said maybe you’re right. But you need to let him worry that not everything can go smoothly.

When he said this, I was so upset and fell apart that I jumped up and shook his hand, but he was so kind to me. It seems like he wasn't too scared when I did it.

He told Charlie we had been working on this for a very long time but only with animals like Algernon. We are sure that there is no danger to your health, but nothing else can be said for now. I want you to understand that maybe nothing happened and then nothing happened at all. Or the pain will only last for a while and then it will be even worse. You understand what this means. Maybe we should have a guy send you to Warren's house.

I told me anyway because I'm not afraid of anything. I am very strong and always do only the best things, and besides that, luckily I have a rabbit’s foot and I have never broken a single mirror. Once I hit a plate, but it wasn’t a shield.

Doc Strauss told Charlie, even if you don't do anything, you're still making a huge investment in science. This experiment has been performed on animals many times, but you will be the first human. I told him thank you Doc, you don’t regret giving me a second chance, as Ms. Kinnian says. Honestly. After the apiration, I try to become smart. I'm trying really hard.

report 6. March 8

I'm afraid. A lot of people who work at the college and at the medical school came to wish me happiness, Bart brought me flowers, he said it was from the mental department. He wished me good luck. I hope I'm lucky. I have a rabbit's foot, a lucky penny and a horseshoe. Doc Strauss told Charlie not to be so superstitious. This is science. I don't know what science is, but they all talk about it. So maybe she will bring me good luck. But I still hold a rabbit's foot in one hand and a lucky penny in the other with a hole in it. In pennies. I wanted to take a horseshoe with me, but it was very tough and I left it in my jacket.

Joe Karp from the picaresque brought me some jackalade pie from Mr. Donner and they hope I'll get better soon. In the picarin they think that I’m sick because Prof. Nemours said that I was talking like that and nothing about apiracy. This is a secret in case the apiratsyya does not receive it. Then Miss Kinnian came to me and brought me magazines and she was nervous and scared. She straightened the flowers on the table and laid everything out evenly and neatly. And she adjusted the pillow under my head. She likes me because I try very hard to teach everything, not like the astal ones in the center for adults who don’t care about anything. She wants me to become smart. I know.

Then Prof. Nemours said that there would be no more visitors and I needed to take a breath. I asked if I would beat Algernon after the apiration and he said maybe. If the apiration goes well, I will show this mouse that I can be just as smart and even smarter. Then I will read better and pronounce words correctly and I will know a lot and will be like the astal ones. That's all amazing. If the apiration goes as it should and I become smart, maybe I’ll find my dad, mom and sister and show them. How amazing they will be when they see that I am as smart as them and my sister.

Prof. Nemours says that if everything goes well, they will make other people smart too. Maybe all over the world. And he said that means I will do something great for science and I will be famous and my name will be written in books. I don't care whether I'm famous or not. I just want to be smart like others and so that I have many friends who will love me. Today they didn’t give me anything to eat.

I don’t know if this is necessary to become smart and I want to eat. Prof Nemours took my jackalade pie. It's not rude. Doc Strauss said he'll give it back after the apiration. You should not eat anything before apiratsya. Even cheese.

report 7. March 11

The apiration did not hurt at all. Doc Strauss made it while I was sleeping. I don’t know how, because I didn’t see it before my eyes and there was grass for 3 days and until today I couldn’t write reports. The skinny sister who watched me write said that I was writing the REPORT incorrectly and showed me how good of a writer he was. You need to remember this. I remember very poorly how to write. Today the cloud was removed from my eyes and I was able to write a report. But there were still pavyaski on the galava.

I was very scared when they came and said it was time to go to the apiratsia. They forced me to get out of the bed and lie down on another bed, which was on a wheelchair, and they rolled me out of the room and along the corridor to the door on which it was written apiratsyonaya. I was amazed it was a huge room with green walls and there were many other doctors sitting around, they were looking for apiratsia. I didn't think it would be like a circus.

A man came up to the table all dressed in white and with a white rag over his face, like in the pictures on TV, and wearing rubber gloves and calmly said to Charlie, I’m Doc Strauss. I said hi doc I'm scared. He said no need for the fighter Charlie, you’ll fall asleep right away. I said that’s what I’m afraid of. He stroked me around the galava and then 2 people in white masks came up and brought me my arms and legs so that I couldn’t move, and then I got completely scared and wanted to cry, but they put a rubber thing on my face to breathe and it smelled strange. All the time I heard Doc Strauss telling everyone about apiracey and what he was going to do. But I didn’t understand anything and thought maybe then I’ll become smart and understand what he’s talking about. I sighed and was very tired and immediately fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was back in my bed and it was dark. I didn’t see anything, but I heard them talking. It was my sister and Bart and I said what’s the matter, turn on the light and when are they going to apirate. They laughed and Bart told Charlie everything was already done. And it’s dark because you have a blur in your eyes.

Wonderful. They did this while I was sleeping.

Bart comes every day to record my timpiratura and other things about me. He said it's the scientific method. You need to write down everything so you can do it again when you want. Not for me, but for others who are not smart either.

That's why I have to write these reports. Bart said this is part of the experiment and they will take photographs of the reports and study them and find out what is going on in my brain. I don’t know how they recognize this pattern, I’ve read a million of them and I don’t know what’s in my brain, but how will they find out.

Well, this is science and I'm trying to become smart like others. Then they will talk to me and I can sit with them and listen to Joe Carp and Frank and Gimpy when they discuss all sorts of important matters. When they work, they start talking about God or about the money that the president spends or about the Republicans and Dimacrats. They make noise like they want a fight, then Mr. Donner comes and shouts stop scratching your tongue and let’s get to work. I also want to talk about this.

If you are smart, then you have many friends, you can talk to them and you will never be alone.

Prof. Nemours said that I should write more in the reports about what happened to me, but he also said that I need to write about what I feel and about my past. I said I don’t know how to remember and think, and he said, try it.

The whole time I was blindfolded, I thought and remembered, but nothing happened. I don't know what to think. Maybe I'll ask him and he'll tell me how to think when I became smart. What smart people think about and remember. Interesting.

March 12

It turns out I don’t have to write the word REPORT on each new sheet after Prof. Nemours takes away the old one. You only need to write the number. This is a great idea and saves time. I can get up in bed and look out the window at the grass and trees. The skinny sister's name is Hilda and she is very kind. She brings me food, straightens the pastel and says that I am very brave and allowed them to do apiracey on the galava. She said that she would not have allowed this for all the tea in China. I said that this was not for a reason, but in order to become smart. And she said maybe they didn’t have the right to make you smart because if God wanted me to be smart, he would have made me want to be smart. Why talk about Adam and Eve about sin with the tree of knowledge and about the apple and about their expulsion. And maybe Prof. Nemours and Doc Strauss are playing with things that are best left alone.

She is very skinny and when she talks her face turns red. She said I need to pray to God and ask for forgiveness for what they did to me. But I didn’t eat apples and I didn’t sin, and now I’m afraid. Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed them to rip my brains if she says it’s against God. I don't want to anger gentlemen.

March 13

Today I have another sister. She is very beautiful, her name is Lucille and she showed me how to write her name on reports and she has yellow hair and blue eyes. I asked where Hilda was and she said in the radial department where she could wag her tongue as much as she wanted. When I asked her what the radial department was, she said that there were little children there, and when I asked her how they worked, she turned red like Hilda and told me I needed to measure Kovoto’s tempirature. Nobody told me about little children. Maybe if I become smart I'll find out. Miss Kinnian came today and said to Charlie you look wonderful. I said that I feel great, but I haven’t become smart yet. I thought that after the apiration, the weeds would be removed from my eyes and I would become smart and know a lot of everything and be able to read and talk about different things like others.

She said it wrong to Charlie. This doesn’t come all at once and you need to work hard to become smart. I didn't know this. If you need hard work, then why apiratsya? She said she’s not sure, but Apiratsya should do it for me so that if I work hard to become smart, I’ll remember everything, but before I didn’t remember anything.

I told her that it wasn’t very bad because I thought I’d become smart right away and I’d be able to come back and show the guys how smart I am and talk with them and maybe I’ll become a baker’s assistant. Then I want to find mom and dad. They are surprised how smart I am, my mother always wanted me to be smart. Maybe they won't drive me away if they see how smart I am. I told Miss Kinnian I'm trying very hard. She stroked my hat and said I believe in you, Charlie.

Dear readers, we present to your attention a review of a wonderful book. Flowers for Algernon by an American writer already familiar to you from our reviews - Daniel Keyes.

Yes, this is not new. And yes, you've probably already heard about this novel many times (it's worth noting that Daniel Keyes also wrote a story of the same name). But believe me, this book is worth mentioning again and drawing the attention of readers to it. I really want people to continue to discover it for themselves, because the problems raised by the author are more relevant today than ever. This isn't just a bedtime read. This is definitely a thought provoking piece. The work is complex, since the range of feelings stirred up and excited after reading it does not leave you alone for a long time and does not allow you to come to your senses. Therefore, do not expect ease and simplicity. It will be sad, offensive, painful, but you definitely won’t be able to remain indifferent.

Who is Algernon? My answer is that this is a mouse on which the same experiment was successfully carried out that the main character, Charlie, had to undergo. And that's why the author called the book Flowers for Algernon- I won’t tell you. Believe me, this choice is not accidental, and after finishing the book you will definitely find out everything. I cannot deprive the reader of the opportunity to touch an incredibly touching, revealing and, one might say, key moment of the book.

It is impossible not to be imbued with the fate of the main character of the book - Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded person, a person of incredible fortitude, purposeful, brave, hardworking, kind, empathetic, caring, a person who passionately longs to be accepted by others, and therefore agreed to an experiment that should help him “become smart.” It is from the first person in the form of daily reports that the book is narrated.

Do not be alarmed by the mistakes deliberately made by the author, of which there will be so many at the beginning of the book. Flowers for Algernon. Overcome the desire to pick up a red pen and fix this “disgrace.” Let mistakes play their role in the book, observe them, and very soon you will understand how justified, and, moreover, necessary, this rather unusual technique of the author was.

Book Flowers for Algernon- incredibly popular. It was included in the compulsory reading program in American schools. What is her secret? First of all, for sure, in the deepest problems. Let's try to figure it out.

How often do you think about how people around you feel? How often do you think about what feelings other, different people experience? But everything is simple: everyone needs love, friendship, happiness, understanding... And the fact that a person is “not like that” does not mean that he is not worthy of it. Will society be ready for the changes that have occurred in Charlie's life after the experiment? What will be the reaction of the people around him? What is better: sincere, simple and understandable stupidity or complex and inaccessible genius?

Can knowledge replace life experience, the experience of live communication with people? “Who said that my light is better than your darkness?” - here it is, one of the most important questions that must be answered in the end. Have you ever thought about the absurdity of the very concept of “normality”? Is it even possible to define it? Is it possible to forgive a mother for her unwillingness to protect her child, her unwillingness to take his side, his “otherness” from others, and generally her unwillingness to accept him for who he is? Isn’t this the most terrible betrayal, the betrayal of loved ones, their contempt and shame?

“Have you ever noticed that next to a cretin, anyone looks like a genius?” This is a question Charlie Gordon once asked. And indeed: do people have the right to assert themselves at the expense of others? Where is the kindness, the ability to love, understand and accept? Why does everything “incomprehensible” (no matter stupid or brilliant) cause fear? Is this not true human inferiority, baseness and weakness?

Another question that cannot be ignored is whether it is possible to go against nature, to challenge it. Can a person take on the role of the Creator? What happens if there is an error? Will the burden you shoulder yourself be too heavy? Here's some food for thought from the author of the book: Flowers for Algernon. But that's not all. Do you think there is a proportional relationship between intelligence and happiness? Will a high IQ guarantee relief from loneliness?

Here they are, so different, but such important questions. But it is they, and many others, who will appear before you after reading the book Flowers for Algernon. It cannot be easily returned to the bookshelf. You need to live this book, feel the remaining aftertaste, and then spend a long time understanding your feelings and experiences. If you are ready for such an excursion, don’t waste a minute, let into your life a touching story about a man who is ready to bestow his love on the whole world, and who once wrote down his main desire in the hope of also receiving love in return: “I want to be smart. They call me Charlie Gordon."

Pros:

issues raised in the book
revealing the psychology of behavior
excellent idea development

Minuses:

perhaps not all readers are ready for this book

Expectations met: 100%

To my mother and my father's memory

1 report March 3

Doc Strauss said that I should write down everything I think and remember and everything that happened to me today. I don’t know why, but he says it’s important so they can see what I’m doing to them. I hope I love them because Miss Kinnian said they can make me smart. I want to be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon, I work at Donner's Pickery where Mr. Donnett pays me 11 dollars a week and gives me bread or bread whenever I want. I'm 32 years old and it's my birthday in a month. I told Doc Strauss and Prof. Nemour that I can’t write well, but he said that it’s nothing and that I should write like I write and like I write essays in Miss Kinnian’s lessons at the Beckman College for the mentally retarded, where I go 3 times a week in the evenings . Doc Strauss says write everything you think and what happened to you, but I can’t think anymore and that’s why I have nothing to write, so I’ll finish for today... Sincerely yours, Charlie Gordon.

2nd report March 4

Bart told Charlie what do you see on this piece of paper? I saw the spilled ink and was very scared, although the rabbit’s foot was in my pocket because when I was little I was always a bad student and spilled the ink. I told Bart I see ink spilled on a white piece of paper. Bart said yes and smiled and I felt terrible. He turned over all the sheets of paper and I told him that someone had spilled black and red ink on them. I thought it was easy, but when I got up to go, Bart said sit down, Charlie, we weren’t done yet. We haven't done everything with the sheets yet. I didn’t understand, but I remembered that Doc Strauss said do whatever they tell you to do, even if you don’t understand, because it’s a test.

I don’t really remember what Bart said, but I remember that he wanted me to say what was in the ink. I didn't see anything there, but Bart said there were pictures there. I didn't see any pictures. I tried very hard. I held the piece of paper close and then far away. Then I said if I put on my glasses, I’ll probably see better things. I put on my glasses in the movies and when I watch television, but I said maybe they’ll let me see the pictures in the ink. I put them on and said let me take a look and I bet I’ll find them right now. I tried very hard, but I couldn’t find any pictures, I only saw ink. I told Bart maybe I need new glasses. He wrote something down on paper and I was afraid that I wouldn’t pass the test. I told him it was a very beautiful picture with forest dots along the edges, but he shook his head and I realized that this was not the same again. I asked other people to see things in the ink and he said they imagine pictures in the ink. He said that the ink in the pictures is called an ink pen.

To my mother and my father's memory

* * *

1 report March 3

2nd report March 4

Then I said if I put on my glasses, I’ll probably see better things. I put on my glasses in the movies and when I watch television, but I said maybe they’ll let me see the pictures in the ink. I put them on and said let me take a look and I bet I’ll find them right now. I tried very hard, but I couldn’t find any pictures, I only saw ink. I told Bart maybe I need new glasses. He wrote something down on paper and I was afraid that I wouldn’t pass the test. I told him it was a very beautiful picture with forest dots along the edges, but he shook his head and I realized that this was not the same again. I asked other people who see pictures in the ink and he said they imagine pictures in the ink. He said that the ink in the pictures is called an ink pen.

I don't think I passed this test.

3rd report March 5

report 4

I don't think I did this test either.

Well, what a cunning mouse I said.

He beat me 10 more times because I couldn't find the right path to the FINISH. I didn’t feel bad, I looked at Algernon and understood how to get to the FINISH even if it took a very long time.

I didn't know mice were so smart.

report 5. March 6

When he said this, I was so upset and fell apart that I jumped up and shook his hand, but he was so kind to me. It seems like he wasn't too scared when I did it.

report 6. March 8

report 7. March 11

Wonderful. They did this while I was sleeping.

If you are smart, then you have many friends, you can talk to them and you will never be alone.

March 12

March 13

Daniel Keys

Flowers for Algernon

To my mother and my father's memory

Doc Strauss said that I should write down everything I think and remember and everything that happened to me today. I don’t know why, but he says it’s important so they can see what I’m doing to them. I hope I love them because Miss Kinnian said they can make me smart. I want to be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon, I work at Donner's Pickery where Mr. Donnett pays me 11 dollars a week and gives me bread or cake whenever I want. I'm 32 years old and my birthday is in a month. I told Doc Strauss and Prof. Nemour that I can’t write well, but he said that it’s nothing and that I should write like I write and like I write essays in Miss Kinnian’s lessons at the Beckman College for the mentally retarded, where I go 3 times a week in the evenings . Doc Strauss says write everything you think and what happened to you, but I can’t think anymore and that’s why I have nothing to write, so I’ll finish for today... Sincerely yours, Charlie Gordon.

Today I was corrected. I don't think I'll fall for them. I had a break and as they said, I went to Prof. Nemours and his secretary said hello and took me where the psychology department was written on the door and there was a large hall and many small rooms with only a table and chairs. And a very nice man was in one of the little rooms and he had white sheets of paper on which ink had been spilled. He said sit down, Charlie, make yourself comfortable and calm down. He was wearing a white coat like a doctor's, but I thought he wasn't a doctor because he didn't tell me to open my mouth and tell me. Nevo only had these white sheets. His name is Bart, I don’t remember his last name because I have trouble remembering it. I didn’t know what he would do and I held on tightly to the chair like at the dentist’s, only Bart and not the dentist, but he told me to calm down and I was scared because when they talk like that it always hurts.

Bart told Charlie what do you see on this piece of paper? I saw the spilled ink and was very scared, although the rabbit’s foot was in my pocket because when I was little I was always a bad student and spilled the ink. I told Bart I see ink spilled on a white piece of paper. Bart said yes and smiled and I felt terrible. He turned over all the sheets of paper and I told him that someone had spilled black and red ink on them. I thought it was easy, but when I got up to go, Bart said sit down, Charlie, we weren’t done yet. We haven't done everything with the sheets yet. I didn’t understand, but I remembered that Doc Strauss said do whatever they tell you to do, even if you don’t understand, because it’s a test.

I don’t really remember what Bart said, but I remember that he wanted me to say what was in the ink. I didn't see anything there, but Bart said there were pictures there. I didn't see any pictures. I tried very hard. I held the piece of paper close and then far away. Then I said if I put on my glasses, I’ll probably see better things. I put on my glasses in the movies and when I watch television, but I said maybe they’ll let me see the pictures in the ink. I put them on and said let me take a look and I bet I’ll find them right now. I tried very hard, but I couldn’t find any pictures, I only saw ink. I told Bart maybe I need new glasses. He wrote something down on paper and I was afraid that I wouldn’t pass the test. I told him it was a very beautiful picture with forest dots along the edges, but he shook his head and I realized that this was not the same again. I asked other people to see things in the ink and he said they imagine pictures in the ink. He said that the ink in the pictures is called an ink pen.

I don't think I passed this test.

Doc Strauss and Prof. Nemours say this is nothing, scribbled on sheets of paper. I said it wasn’t me who spilled the ink and how can I know what’s underneath it. They said maybe I'll fall for them. I told Doc Strauss that Ms. Kinnian never gave me any tests, only reading and writing. He said Miss Kinnian told him that I was her best student at the Beckman College for the mentally retarded and I tried harder than anyone because I wanted to learn even more than those smarter than me.

Today I had another stupid test in case I failed. This is the same place but another small room. The lady who was there told me its name and I asked how to write it down in order to write it down in the report. Thematic apperception test. I don't know the first two words, but I know what the test is. Evo needs to make a bad mark.

From the beginning I thought this test was easy because I saw the pictures. Only for this reason she didn’t want me to say that I see I’m confused with everything. I told her yesterday Bart said that I should say what I see in the ink, She said this test is different. You have to come up with stories about people in pictures.