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First Progress Report
We are introduced Charlie Gordon. He is 37 years old, and he cannot spell correctly. The first thing Charlie says is "Dr Strauss says I shud rite down what I think and evrey thing that happins to me from now on. . . . I have nuthing more to rite now so I will close for today." (371) -
First Race with Algernon
Charlie is being tested in many different ways. One being a race with a little white mouse, named Algernon. Charlie has to race Algernon through a maze. The doctors repeat the experiment many times over, but Algernon wins every time. As Charlie put it, "I dint know that mice were so smart. Maybe thats because Algernon is a white mouse. Maybe white mice are smarter than other mice." (374) -
Operation
Dr. Strauss decides to perform an experimental operation on Charlie in order to speed up his learning. Charlie is scared, but they perform the operation in his sleep so he doesn't remember anything. Before the operation Charlie "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." (375) -
Dr. Strauss puts the machine in Charlie's room
Dr. Strauss brings in a televison of sorts to help Charlie learn in his subconscious while he sleeps. At first, Charlie complains that it keeps him up at night: "How can I sleep with something yelling crazy things all night in my ears. . . . Wow. I dont know what it says when Im up so how am I going to know when Im sleeping." (378) The machine quickens the process of Charlie's increasing intelligence. -
Charlie beats Algernon
A short time after the operation, Charlie has improved rapidly. He was able to defeat Algernon in a race. This was a great sign of improvement for Charlie. His intelligence seems to only improve from there. However, Charlie doesn't understand how he has started beating Algernon. He says, "I must be getting smart to beat a smart mouse like Algernon. But I dont feel smarter." (380) -
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Miss Kinnian teaches Charlie grammar
Throughout this period of time, Miss Kinnian teaches Charlie how to spell better and punctuate his sentences correctly. He quickly catches on, and becomes an excellent reader. For a while, Charlie puts commas and other punctuations in unnecessary places, but he soon masters the subject of English. Charlie is told that he is, "coming along fast." (382) -
Charlie quits his job at the factory
Once Charlie became intelligent, his co-workers became intimidated by his productivity and work ethic. They all signed a petition demanding he leave the factory. While Charlie is a bit heartbroken to betrayed by his "friends," he soon reallizes they never really were his friends. "Eight hundered and forty names, everyone connected with 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." (388) -
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Charlie stops writing progress reports
Charlie, no longer being the naive simpleton he had been before, decides that writing progress reports was a waste of his time. He goes two weeks without writing a word in his progress report. This enrages Dr. Strauss, because the lapse in data could destroy the reputation of his experiment: "Dr. Strauss is very angry at me for not having written my progress reports in two weeks. . . . I told him I was too busy thinking and reading." (389) -
Charlie realizes he is a genius
Charlie, now at the peak of his intelligence, realizes that he is now smarter than even Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss. He has learned more in the past few months than both Doctors had in their entire life. Charlie says he, "was shocked to learn that the only ancient languages (Dr. Strauss) could read were Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and that ee knows almost nothing of mathematics beyond elementary levels of the calculus of variations. When he admitted this to me, I found myself almost annoyed." (390) -
Charlie writes The Algernon-Gordon Effect
In a letter to Dr. Strauss, Charlie speaks of the report he has written: The Algernon-Gordon Effect: A Study of Structure and Function of Increased Intelligence. Charlie has been working very hard writing his report as well as discovering the reason behind Algernon's rapid decrease in mental and physical stability. In the letter, Charlie says, "I am sorry however, that my own contribution to the field must rest upon the ahes of the two men I regard so highly." (395) -
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Charlie begins to regress
Just like Algernon, Charlie begins to lose his intelligence in a rapid descent of knowledge. Charlie begins to make spelling errors and mistakes in punctuation, He begins to have more trouble reading and writing and finds it very difficult to write. "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 I read and understood them just a few weeks ago." (397) -
Algernon dies
Algernon had been regressing physically and mentally for some time before his death. While Algernon's death was anything but unexpected, Charlie took the death of his friend very seriously. Charlie knows that he is experiencing the same symptoms that Algernon was, he is becoming absent minded. Charlie takes time every day to pay his respects to his close friend, the smart white mouse, Algernon. "I put Algernon's body in a cheese box and buried him in the back yard. I cried." (396) -
Charlie leaves New York
Charlie is at an even lower intelligence at the end of the short story then when he started. He returns to the night school with Miss Kinnian, but she can't stand to see him unintelligent again after all of that work towards genius. She begins to cry and Charlie decides that he will leave New York because he, "dont want to do nothink like that agen. I dont want Miss Kinnian to feel sorry for me." (401) Charlie only requests one thing, that someone put flowers on Algernon's grave.