Kurt Vonnegut wiki

Dr. Cordelia Swain Cordiner was considered the greatest expert in psychological testing outside China. After being hired by their parents Caleb and Letitia, she evaluated the mental and psychological state of their twins, Wilbur and Eliza Swain. She held three doctor's degrees and headed a testing corporation that billed up to three million dollars annually. Although publicly seen as "impressive and gracious", the twins found her to be hostile and aggressive toward them,[1] primarily because of her resentment of their great inherited wealth—she was raised in poverty, often not knowing where the next meal would come from. Her grandfather immigrated from Poland and changed the family name from "Stankowitz" to "Swain". Dr. Cordiner first tested them separately,[2] telling them that in the United States everyone must learn to "paddle [their] own canoe". In private, the twins mockingly called her "aunt Cordelia". She would test one child in the dining room while the other was observed for signs of telepathic communication on the far side of the house by Withers Witherspoon.[3]

Due to Eliza's illiteracy, Dr. Cordiner had to read the questions out loud to her and write her answers. She determined that the twins exhibited "low normal" intelligence for their age, concluding that Eliza would never learn to read or write but called her "quite an amusing chatterbox". Wilbur was considered serious and easily distracted by his sister, but could likely perform well at a menial job.[4] She explained their seeming genius as an example of memorizing facts but without knowledge of "life as it is really lived". As she saw it, part of her job was to detect such people to protect both them and society at large. She suggested Wilbur be sent to a special school for children with similar conditions.[5] After casually dismissing the twins assertion that they would kill themselves unless they were allowed to retest together, saying she detected no suicidal tendencies in either of them,[6] their mother called her an "overdressed little sparrow fart".[7] Dr. Cordiner then retested them together, "depersonalized... like a robot" in front of their parents,[8] but when the twins wrapped themselves around each other to assure they'd get the correct answers, she fainted.[9]

  1. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 63.
  2. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 64.
  3. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 65.
  4. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 66.
  5. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 68.
  6. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 69.
  7. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 70.
  8. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 71.
  9. Slapstick, Vonnegut: Novels & Stories 1976-1985, pg. 72.