Charlie Bucktin learns a great deal about himself, others, Corrigan and important lessons that will help him live a better life in Jasper Jones. In the novel, Charlie goes through some experiences that teach him some of life’s great lessons. In particular he comes to learn a great deal about trust, love, facing and overcoming fear, role models and racial prejudice.
Charlie learns that trust is the most important thing in Corrigan and also his life. Charlie hadn’t ever trusted someone as much as he did Jasper Jones. The town believed Jasper to be a liar, thief, a bad influence and many other things, and they all knew especially not to trust him. When Laura went missing, Corrigan believed Jasper had something to do with it, and wouldn’t believe him when he said he didn’t do anything. But Charlie trusted Jasper and didn’t stop trusting. He eventually find out that Jasper was telling the truth and really didn’t have anything to do with it. This taught Charlie one of the biggest lessons in life, the importance of trust. This is when Charlie learns that not everything people say about another person is true and don’t always believe what you hear. Find out for yourself and have trust in your final judgement. This is when Charlie started to develop trust in himself and trust his own decisions. If Charlie had discovered what happened to Laura with Jasper before he started to have trust in himself, he would have told everyone, but that’s when he started trusting the decision that it was better to keep it a secret. This new found lesson will benefit Charlie later in life as he will make better decisions and back himself, and trust other people which will lead to greater trust and respect between them.
Love is also learnt by Charlie Bucktin in the novel, but not just the love in the context of falling in love, but also love within his family and friends, false love and also different types of love, EG: harsh love. Charlie comes to learn that he