Lying In The Story 'Charles'

Lying sticks out in the story “Charles” as a main impact on other characters. Laurie comes home everyday with a new lie to tell to his parents. Consumed by the imaginary figure “Charles” the family circles their life around him. For example Jackson writes, “With the third week of kindergarten Charles was an institution in our family; the baby was being a Charles when she cried all afternoon; Laurie did a charles when he filled his wagon full of mud and pulled it through the kitchen; even my husband, when he caught his elbow in the telephone cord and pulled telephone, ashtray, and a bowl of flowers off the table” (75). This explains how the family thinks that whenever something bad is done it is an example of Charles. The family points anything