Shirley Jackson tries to explain to the readers that lying to someone else about something important can often lead into more trouble. In the story, Laurie causes mischief at school, and lies to his parents that a boy named Charles caused all of the trouble that he had actually did. By creating Charles, Laurie had to keep lying to his parents in order for him to stay out of trouble at home. However, Laurie’s parents became suspicious of Charles when they found out that he became a helper at school, and later discovered themselves that Laurie was the source of the trouble within the classroom. This probably made his parents infuriated; more so than if he simply confessed earlier. Moreover, it was evident that Laurie had fabricated Charles, as