Progress Report 11

Summary

Charlie takes Miss Kinnian out for a movie and dinner and is acutely aware of her attractive presence. He wants to put his arm around her but lacks the courage to do so. He admits to Miss Kinnian that he likes her. Miss Kinnian rejects Charlie’s advances, which makes him angry and frustrated. He calms down eventually. He also wonders how a man should behave with a woman—something that the books do not teach much.

Charlie often wonders if the memories of his past are real or invented. He has a strange nightmare about a girl caressing him and holding a bloody knife. He realizes that his dream is about Miss Kinnian, who he refers to as Alice for the first time. He has another memory of his sister Norma getting her period but he cannot understand it. He compares his nightmare and his memory and realizes why he was made to keep away from women but a part of him also yearns to experience romantic love.

Charlie catches Gimpy cheating the bakery owner. He is torn between causing violence and letting Mr Donner know the truth. He, however, is guilt-ridden about hiding it from Mr Donner. But he knows that Gimpy will struggle to find a job if fired. He realizes that all his intelligence cannot help him reach a decision. He shares his confusion with Professor Nemur who tells him he need not tell Mr Donner; Dr Strauss gives him the opposite advice. So Charlie decides to ask Miss Kinnian. After much persuasion, Alice agrees to meet Charlie and encourages him to trust himself to make the right decision, instead of asking others. He professes his love for Alice, who dissuades him but agrees to meet him privately the next week.

Charlie confronts Gimpy indirectly, leaving her uncomfortable. They do not reach a resolution but Charlie is happy with their talk.

Charlie is given a private room in the library because it takes him only one second to read a whole page now, which is discomforting to other students. He is interested in serious subjects but sees a linear flow between languages, calculus, and history. He finds the students’ arguments childish but also refrains from discussions with the college professors, who he finds equally inadequate.

Charlie takes Alice to a park concert. He nervously puts his arm around her and Alice admits that she likes his touch but is nervous to respond; Charlie notices a teenager exposing himself, watching them. Alice does not see the boy but Charlie is certain he saw someone; he experiences a buzzing in his ears and feels faint. Charlie avoids Alice’s advances and returns home for a sleepless night.

When he talks to Dr Strauss about this incident, he explains that Charlie is not emotionally ready for a relationship.

Mr Donner fires Charlie from the bakery but is uncomfortable about it. Charlie pleads to have his job back but Mr Donner tells him that all the other employees at the bakery want Charlie to leave. He further tells Charlie that he is a smart young man and does not need to work in a bakery anymore.

Charlie tries to speak sensibly with his colleagues and former friends but they hate him for his intelligence. He learns that his intelligence has made him lonelier.

Charlie finds himself drawn to Alice’s apartment and confesses that she is the only person he can talk to. He tells her that he has been having nightmares about drowning, ever since he stopped working at the bakery. He shares his fears of loneliness. Alice now shows signs of romantic love for Charlie but he is afraid of giving in to her as well.

The narrator appears for the first time and describes Charlie as a third person. Charlie would feel sexually stimulated, looking at women, which made his mother angry and abusive toward him—she could not understand why he could not learn like a normal young man but could have sexual feelings. Charlie learned, the hard way, to not look at women at all.

Alice kisses Charlie but he is overwhelmed with childhood trauma and cries himself to sleep in her arms.

Analysis

Charlie’s attraction toward Alice is riddled with hesitation and guilt. However, while he is a voracious reader of complex authors, nothing in the books can teach him about how to be intimate with a woman. As his memory surfaces of being beaten by his mother for having an erection, the reader realizes how his sexuality brings with it panic attacks. Alice confirms her feelings eventually but Charlie is too traumatized to act on it. Also, as Dr Strauss confirms, while he is intellectually capable, he is emotionally still not mature enough for a relationship, thereby underscoring the gradual gap that is emerging between emotions and intellect. His increased intelligence even disturbs Alice, as she feels that he is becoming less sensitive toward others. We can see this change in Charlie’s lackadaisical attitude about Alice’s class. The progress reports continue to reveal his gradual arrogance, thereby emphasizing the dominant theme of the novel that intellect must be balanced with compassion.

Alice is also the guiding light in his life as it is she who urges him to make his own decisions. Charlie shows tremendous maturity in his confrontation with Gimpy.