“Charles” Have you ever wondered what it would be like to trick someone into believing in a person that does not exist? That is exactly what Laurie tricked his mother into believing. In the story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson, the author uses the humble setting of a family home, clever dramatic irony, and creative foreshadowing to uncover the main character's true identity in order to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. The setting of Laurie’s house is used in many ways to create a platform for most of the story to take place. The setting is a place where Laurie is the most behaved, yet he is still not as behaved as he should be. Laurie gets away with some of the mischievous things that “Charles” gets in trouble for at school. After
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Throughout the story, Laurie is covering up his bad behavior at home with telling his stories of what Charles’s did at school that day. Towards the end of the story when Laurie’s mom is worried about Charles’s influence on her son, she is determined to meet Charles's mother at the P.T.A. meeting. When she goes up to the teacher after the meeting, she speaks of the influence of Charles on Laurie. The kindergarten teacher replied with “Charles? We don't have any Charles in the kindergarten,” (Jackson 77). Laurie’s mother was never able to meet with Charles’s mother because Charles and his mother did not exist. This leads to her realizing that she had been believing a lie and that her son, Laurie, is “Charles.”
Throughout this short story Jackson uses clever foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and the setting of Laurie’s home to reveal the sneaky cover up story of a young kindergartner trying not to get in trouble by his parents. This is a story that is fun to read and Jackson makes it enjoyable for all readers. She teaches a valuable lesson in this story showing that there is no reason to try and trick your parents so that you can escape discipline, because they will always find out
Throughout the story, Laurie is covering up his bad behavior at home with telling his stories of what Charles’s did at school that day. Towards the end of the story when Laurie’s mom is worried about Charles’s influence on her son, she is determined to meet Charles's mother at the P.T.A. meeting. When she goes up to the teacher after the meeting, she speaks of the influence of Charles on Laurie. The kindergarten teacher replied with “Charles? We don't have any Charles in the kindergarten,” (Jackson 77). Laurie’s mother was never able to meet with Charles’s mother because Charles and his mother did not exist. This leads to her realizing that she had been believing a lie and that her son, Laurie, is “Charles.”
Throughout this short story Jackson uses clever foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and the setting of Laurie’s home to reveal the sneaky cover up story of a young kindergartner trying not to get in trouble by his parents. This is a story that is fun to read and Jackson makes it enjoyable for all readers. She teaches a valuable lesson in this story showing that there is no reason to try and trick your parents so that you can escape discipline, because they will always find out