Charles Shirley Jackson Analysis

Shirley Jackson was an author who became famous for writing relatable stories about life. One of these stories was “Charles,” a passage based upon a misbehaving child in the 1950's. “Charles” is told in first person point of view of a mother whose child named Laurie is beginning kindergarten. Laurie is a student who also has a younger, baby sister. Laurie, however, did not adjust well to school, to solve this, he bacame the teacher's helper to set a positive image. Charles soon had a horrible reputation for being a terrible role model.

Laurie was most likely misbehaving because he was not getting nearly enough attention that he wanted. “Spilled his baby sister's milk” (345, Jackson) explains that Laurie has a baby sister who (if like any other infant) needs attention. Since all of the parent's attention is directed towards Laurie's sister, he feels like he has been forgotten and will do about anything for any sort of attention. He started to gain negative attention and to cover up the fact that it was Laurie, he came up with the fictional character of Charles. Laurie did this because he did not want his parents to know how horrible he had been at school and take away the attention he had there. For the reason that his parents did not know it was Laurie, he continude to misbehave.

Laurie was rude not only to
It is most likely that he misbehaved for attention because most of his parent's attention was directed on their baby. He would terrorized children by phisically abusing them. Laurie would also dirupt class by stomping his feet. He obviously was not adjusting well to school, and set a negative image upon himself. To solve this problem, the teacher gave him a chance and let him be the helper. Charlie was such a horrible student for the reason that he was deprived of attention that he desperately needed and would obtain in any