The short story "Charles", by Shirley Jackson, has two
prevalent themes: identity and gender.
The theme of
identity is identified by the fact that Laurie's mother has no clue that the child,
Charles, her son is talking about is, in fact, her own son. The theme is compounded by
the way that Laurie's parents fail to see his behavior as inappropriate, but they both
see the problems with the behaviors of Charles. The parents cannot identify the
behaviors of Charles with those of their own son. Therefore, the parents have no clue
who their child really is.
Another way to examine this
theme is through examining Laurie. He does not seem to have a full grasp on his own
identity (not surprising given he is only in
Kindergarten).
The second theme defined in the story is one
of gender. Many people would align the name of Laurie with a girl. The name Laurie is
not typically associated with that of a boy. The name which Laurie uses as his alternate
ego is, by far, much more masculine. Therefore, one could justify that Laurie has issues
with his own assumed feminine identity and needs to create a more masculine one. He does
this by creating Charles, a boy who speaks inappropriately and behaves like the "typical
boy."
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