Charles- response

     Many children can be bad at a young age, but never as bad as Charles. In the short story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson, Charles is a really troubled child, who does really bad things. No matter what the teacher does, he just won't stop his behavior.
     The main character in this story is Laurie. He had just started kindergarten, and is very excited. But it seems like he may be getting bad influences by a boy named Charles in his class. Each day Laurie comes home with stories on how Charles was in school. "It was Charles," he said. "The teacher spanked him and made him stand in the corner. He was really fresh." This quote shows how Charles got spanked for being bad. In this quote Laurie is telling his mother about Charles's behavior. Laurie is a really sweet, little boy, who doesn't get into trouble. But his parents are worried Charles might be a bad influence , and Laurie might pick up on his behaviors. When the mom goes in for a parent teacher conference, she goes in hope to see Charles's mother. That way she can talk about Charles and his bad influence. When Laurie's mom brings up Charles to the teacher, she informs her that there is no Charles in her class. Either Laurie is a really good liar, or he's been using some made up character that does bad things based on his behavior.
     I think this was a really good short story. It really has you wondering the whole way through about whats going to happen next. The turning point was at the end, when the mom finds out her sons been lying and there is no Charles in his kindergarten. The theme is that when you lie, you get caught. Just like Laurie got caught for making up a fake person that is reflecting off his behavior.