‘Can I visit him?’ Charlie asks in the end.When Charlie Babbitt's father dies, he thinks he will inherit a lot of money. By now, Charlie loves Raymond enough to want what is best for him. The specialist questions Raymond, and Charlie begins to realise that his brother needs to be cared for in an institution. He says, ‘I don’t want your money, Dr Bruner. Raymond’s guardian offers Charlie $250,000 ‘to have Raymond back now’, but Charlie refuses. When Charlie reaches Los Angeles, he finds Raymond’s guardian waiting for him, and the two agree that a specialist will decide who should look after Raymond. Raymond indeed wins $90,000 for Charlie, but by now, Charlie is beginning to care for his brother. He has decided to solve his money problems by using Raymond’s unusual skills to win at cards.

Charlie didn’t know it at the time, but his secret friend was actually his brother. More importantly, however, Charlie realises that Raymond is the ‘Rain Man’, whom he vaguely recalls from his childhood. For example, he can count 246 toothpicks in a second, and he can memorise a page of telephone numbers in a minute. During their journey, Charlie gets to know Raymond, who has some extraordinary skills. He tells her, ‘I’m keeping him until I get my money.’ He and his brother drive across the United States to Los Angeles, where he plans to live with his brother. Charlie ‘kidnaps’ his brother, although he refuses to admit to his girlfriend that this is what he has done. Requiring a very secure environment, he lives in an institution. He can’t feel things the same way that other people do, and therefore he is unable to have normal relationships with people. He discovers that his father has left the money to his older brother Raymond – a brother he never even knew he had. Charlie is understandably angry – he feels that the money belongs to him. Then he learns that his wealthy father has left him only his 1949 Buick and his roses, and that he has left all his money to ‘someone very important to me’.

‘Nothing I did was ever good enough for him’ says Charlie bitterly to his girlfriend, Susanna. His business is in trouble and he needs money badly.

Rain Man revolves around Charlie Babbit, a tough young man eager to get rich quick.

Rain Man by Leonore Fleischer