Charles By Shirley Jackson Character Analysis

Charles, written by Shirley Jackson, featured Lurie, a young boy who attended kindergarten in the 1950’s. He was the older brother to his infant sister. Laurie often got frustrated that his parents were not giving him much attention anymore because of his little sister. Laurie then decided if his parents were not going to give him attention at home, he would find a way to get it elsewhere, like at kindergarten. Laurie played the role of Charles, a misbehaved boy who did not want to listen to his teacher. At first, Laurie was rude in class. However, as time progressed, he gradually adjusted to kindergarten and became the teacher’s helper. Ultimately, throughout Laurie’s kindergarten year, he expressed his anger by misbehaving in class and blaming his actions on Charles. Laurie wanted attention. When he got home, he threw his hat on the floor and shouted, “isn’t anybody here?” (Jackson 345). He wanted his parents to pay attention to him when he arrived at home, so he shouted to force them to listen to him. When Laurie was telling his parents about his day, he told them that a boy named Charles had gotten spanked in class. When he lied to his parents about this, he had a big smile on his face because his parents were finally listening to him. This is when he

He told his father about the time when Charles told a little girl to say a bad word. His father leaned his head towards Laurie and “Laurie whispered joyfully” (348) to his father. This shows that Laurie enjoyed having all the attention on him when he came home from school. Laurie made sure his parents still believed him, so he told them that his teacher had a friend who came to teach them exercises. Laurie told his parents that Charles kicked the teacher’s friend and was not allowed to participate in the activity. In other words, Laurie’s behavior was getting worse and blaming this on Charles made his parents give him more