Charles By Shirley Jackson Summary

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The disobedient gestures Laurie demonstrated in Kindergarten portrays of how his life was altering. In the story "Charles," Shirley Jackson created a well- developed realistic fiction story that showed Laurie and his struggle to gain attention. Laurie planned to seek attention in school with unsuitable behavior in kindergarten, however; he concealed the truth to his parents by telling them Charles did these acts. Laurie was a mischievous and greedy boy who hoped for attention at home from his parents. With a baby in the house, Laurie pondered upon the thought of his new rival. Laurie's devious acts took place in the 1950's in kindergarten, at school, and at his home. At the time, Laurie's main conflict was that he wanted more attention from …show more content…

Laurie gave the wrong impression in kindergarten to try and seek attention. One day Laurie comes home only to reveal to his parents how terrible of a student Charles is to his class. He explains the excruciating actions he does like hitting the teacher and throwing chalk. Laurie disguises his poor behavior with a non-existing student to cover up his ill- mannered behavior. He was an inconsiderate child. Laurie "spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sister's milk, and remarked that his teacher said we were not to take the name of the Lord in vain" (Jackson 345). Another action that Laurie had done was explained how bad Charles behavior was that day and "grinned enormously" (346). Laurie's misconception that took place at home caused his disruptive and brutal …show more content…

Laurie did not adjust to kindergarten as he was expected to be. In result, he took part in causing interruption in his class. Correlating to Laurie's behavior, he physically wounded other children around him and pretended to impersonate someone he is not. The major events in this story are when Charles did all of his appalling behavior, when Charles helped the teacher out, and when Laurie's mother found out that there was no Charles in the classroom. The solution to the story is when Charles decided to help his teacher. The repercussion to this, was that he received more attention from the teacher and everyone in his household. This was shocking news considering Charles was such a unpleasant child, then altering into a helpful student. The remarkable amount of unsatisfactory and shock that retaliated Laurie’s mother’s mind was due to the finding of evidence that Charles was her

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