Flowers for Algernon Progress Report 17 Summary

  • Charlie's down in the dumps, and even thinking about suicide, but he snaps out of it when he thinks of the other Charlie watching him at the window.
  • Charlie has a super weird therapy session with Strauss, hallucinating that his unconscious self is a flower. He imagines being hurled against the walls of a cave and blinded by a light. Stay off the hard stuff, Charlie.
  • Charlie can't figure out the maze anymore and the Rorschach test throws him for a loop, so he decides to quit while he's ahead.
  • He says sayonara to the gang at the lab, wanting to be left in peace for the rest of his life. Fair enough.
  • Even though Strauss tries to track Charlie down, he's having none of it. He tries to pick up Paradise Lost, but can't figure it out for the life of him. Charlie, may we suggest our Shmoop guide?
  • At least there's one good thing about losing intelligence: Charlie is finally on Alice's level.
  • They hang out and eventually have sex, and Charlie doesn't freak out for once.
  • Charlie doesn't want Alice to see him lose it, so he makes her promise to leave soon. Bring on the tissues.
  • Get ready for a rocky ride: Charlie can't even understand his own scientific paper anymore. Don't worry too much, Charlie—no one totally understands it.
  • Charlie's motor skills are going fast, and all he can really do is chill out and watch TV now.
  • Alice finally takes off for good after Charlie compares her to his mother. Hey Charlie—that's never a good idea.
  • There goes Charlie's spelling, along with his sense of morals. He watches a lady across the way undressing for fun and won't let Alice come in the house. Hang in there Shmoopers, we know it's getting depressing.
  • It's back to the bakery for Charlie. His intelligence is pretty much back where it started, so he figures he might as well ask for his job back.
  • Some clown at the bakery named Meyer Klaus taunts Charlie and nearly breaks his arm. Joe, Frank, and Gimpy come to his rescue, like they're suddenly class acts.
  • Back to square one, Charlie decides to go to his old class… Miss Kinnian's class, that is.
  • Alice totally loses it when she sees Charlie sitting in her class, and we don't blame her. She runs from the room crying.
  • Charlie takes off before Alice gets back and decides to enroll himself at the Warren Home school. He writes a letter with one final request for everyone who helped him: please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard. That's all for Charlie, folks.