It’s seven o’clock and you step out into the millions of green blades that fill your lawn. Glancing down, you notice a crystal blue water droplet drip down from one of the blades onto your leather boot as you stare into the endless grey, translucent veil covering the neighborhood. What you are experiencing is “mist”. Mist is like love, it is needed and beneficial, but also hinders your sight and judgement. One example of love limiting sight and judgement is illustrated in the short story “Charles” by Shirley Jackson. The short story is about a young firebrand, Laurie, who is starting kindergarten. Each day, he comes home and tells his parents about a student in his class called Charles who constantly misbehaves and is disrespectful to the
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But as the story starts to close, the reader realizes that “Charles” is actually Laurie’s creative way to gain attention from his parents and a scapegoat to be rude and violent at school. Unfortunately, Laurie’s mom, who loves Laurie dearly, still believes “Charles” is a different student and refuses to believe that her own son could be as evil and vicious as the so called “Charles”. The short story is an example of the theme that love can cloud a person’s judgement because Laurie’s mom’s love for Laurie is preventing her from seeing the obvious. For instance, Laurie’s father asked what Charles’ other name was in order to try to trick Laurie into saying “Laurie” (which would be Charles’ other name because “Charles” is Laurie) and Laurie’s mother didn’t pick up on it. Clues to “Charles” secret identity appear several times, which leads the reader to realize who “Charles” really is, but not the mother. When Laurie’s mother finally realizes Laurie is Charles and sees through the mist of love, it’s too late and she humiliates herself in front of the teacher and probably all the other mothers and fathers as well. In summary, the theme of the short story, “Charles”, is that love can cloud your judgement and prevent you from seeing the
But as the story starts to close, the reader realizes that “Charles” is actually Laurie’s creative way to gain attention from his parents and a scapegoat to be rude and violent at school. Unfortunately, Laurie’s mom, who loves Laurie dearly, still believes “Charles” is a different student and refuses to believe that her own son could be as evil and vicious as the so called “Charles”. The short story is an example of the theme that love can cloud a person’s judgement because Laurie’s mom’s love for Laurie is preventing her from seeing the obvious. For instance, Laurie’s father asked what Charles’ other name was in order to try to trick Laurie into saying “Laurie” (which would be Charles’ other name because “Charles” is Laurie) and Laurie’s mother didn’t pick up on it. Clues to “Charles” secret identity appear several times, which leads the reader to realize who “Charles” really is, but not the mother. When Laurie’s mother finally realizes Laurie is Charles and sees through the mist of love, it’s too late and she humiliates herself in front of the teacher and probably all the other mothers and fathers as well. In summary, the theme of the short story, “Charles”, is that love can cloud your judgement and prevent you from seeing the