Laurie’s mannerisms were completely altered when he enrolled in kindergarten for the first time. “Charles” by Shirley Jackson told the journey of Laurie and how he misbehaved throughout his first year of elementary school; however, he was not demonstrating appropriate public conduct. Laurie’s outbursts were provoked by an insufficient amount of attention in his home. The events take place in the 1950’s in the home of Laurie, his parents, and baby sister as well as his school. Laurie transgressed the rules of his teacher leading him to a plethora of punishments. This made him quite a nuisance to others, yet Laurie could also be recognized as a very intelligent boy. Laurie hid his disobedience throughout the lies of a fictional boy named Charles and discovered new ways to seek attention from others in antagonizing manner daily. Having a new sibling in the house caused Laurie to feel subordinate. He struggled with the fact that he was no longer the top priority of the household. Since he was not gaining much from his parents, he decided to act negatively. Laurie …show more content…
After creating “Charles”, Laurie never admitted to his mistakes. To justify, weeks passed on as he convinced his parents that “Charles” was misbehaving when it was he who was harming others. Laurie’s family began to relate any inconvenient mishaps that occurred in their home, to “Charles”. Since Laurie is “Charles”, it is extremely ironic that they are doing so. His mother and father would express what Charles was doing was not correct. This encouraged Laurie to continue his lie so he would not receive more punishment. As well as that, Laurie’s lies began to build up on his parents. His mother and father had talked about what they were to do with Laurie because they thought “Charles” was influencing Laurie’s personality. As clarification, the family would say “the baby was being a Charles when she cried all afternoon”