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Point Of View And Irony In Shirley Jackson's Charles

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“Charles,” a short story by Shirley Jackson, has received criticism as being an easy story to see through or predict the ending. This story is not as easy to see through as most critics portray. The point of view, the side story, and the irony make this story hard to predict. Point of view is a key factor as to why this story is hard to see through. Shirley Jackson chooses to write this story from the mother's point of view, which doesn’t allow the reader to truly understand the identity of Charles before the mother does. As a reader you understand the story is written from the mother’s point of view because Shirley Jackson uses words such as “my Laurie” and “my husband.” Also, Ms. Jackson uses words like “I’ and “myself” when the mother should be speaking. …show more content…

The side story involves the child being disrespectful to the dad, and the mom playing in between to be the peacekeeper. Shirley spells this out on the first page where the dad is insulted by the Laurie and the mom quickly changes the subject. The side story is an important element because you can get caught up in the side story and not see the true ending which is the identity of Charles. The irony is that the family finds Charles so fascinating. Shirley Jackson includes in the story, when the family screwed up they call it, pulling a Charles, when in all reality Charles was Laurie and was in the home all along.Though most critics think so, Charles is not an easy short story to see through. The point of view, the irony, and the side story make it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. “Charles,” a short story by Shirley Jackson, is an amusing story that is not easy to

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