Interviewer: Good Morning, Miss Kinnian.


Miss Kinnian: Good Morning.


Interviewer: Being the former teacher of Charlie Gordon, how do you feel about Charlie before the operation?


Miss Kinnian: Charlie used to have a good nature, was interested to learn and was eager to please others. Charlie was a sociable person who liked to be with friends. When I first saw him, I was surprised how he managed to find my learning school all by himself. I found out later that it was due to his motivation to learn to read and spell and to be smart. Charlie asked many people where he could go to learn. I was very happy to have him as he showed genuine interest and tried very hard. I was unsure if he should take the operation in the first place as I thought that Charlie would stop communicating with others and that he would change to a anti-social man.



Interviewer: How did you feel about Charlie after the operation, during the first few weeks?

Miss Kinnian: After the operation, I got to coach Charlie personally. During the first few weeks, I learned a lot more about Charlie and felt happy that he was given this opportunity to prove himself. I felt a lot of pity for him as he was bullied by his so-called friends and yet he still treats them so well, not understanding that they wanted him around to make fun of him, due to his trusting nature. Charlie also behaved very nicely to me and it was nice to be able to talk to him as an equal. I was sorry that somebody with such a good heart would be manipulated by the society so that they could laugh and make fun of him. Charlie was stilll good-natured then, and could communicate well with me.

Interviewer: How do you feel about the Charlie-Algernonn experiment as a whole?

Miss Kinnian: I do not think that it was successful. As Charlie got more intelligent, Charlie treated me less nicely and could not communicate well. All Charlie did most of the time acquire more knowledge to benefit himself. Soon, by looking at his progress reports, I could see that Charlie was getting more proud and arrogant. I felt very sorry for Charlie as he could not communicate. When he started his mental degression, he made me feel bad when he asked me to go away. I think that Charlie felt very bad about his mental regression as I heard from Miss Flynn, his landlady, that he was very violent in his room and refused to go to work. Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur had also stopped giving Charlie his salary after seeing that the experiment was a failure. It made me feel bad on how they treated Charlie like an animal instead of a human being. If Charlie had not gone through the operation, he would not have to be hurt this way.

Interviewer: Thank you for your time, Miss Kinnian.

Miss Kinnian: It was a pleasure to meet you.

Interviewer: Same to you.