Progress Report 2

Summary

Charlie visits the psych department of Professor Nemur’s clinic and takes a test. He is afraid that he will fail and will not be eligible for the experiment to make him smarter. He describes the clinic and an assistant named Burt who gives the test to him—a Rorschach test involving the perception of inkblots.

He is afraid because Burt tells him to relax, which in his experience means that he will be subjected to pain. He sees the white cards as ink blots only and thinks he is done with the test but is told to wait. He listens because he remembers Dr Strauss telling him to do everything the tester asks of him.

Charlie is unable to see the pictures that Burt says are on the papers with ink blots. He is keen to pass the test and tries hard to see something on the test papers but fails.

Analysis

Though he is afraid of the test, Charlie is shown to be a perceptive man, as he draws a comparison between the tester Burt and his teacher Miss Kinnian who teaches him how to read in a school for slow adults.