Readers of the, “Short Story”, “Charles”, know that Laurie is a trickster in disguise. It’s comparable to finding a stray kitten. Someone sees its huge adorable eyes and then, when they pick it up, it keeps scratching them until they come to the realization that this little kitten has deceived them. An event like this reigns commonly. A variety of people have suffered from charming first impressions. Including Laurie’s guardian, according to, “Charles”. Laurie’s mom believes that since her son seems so innocent and sweet,he can do no wrong. Laurie misbehaves in his kindergarten class and creates an alter ego, Charles, so that he can tell his parents that Charles was misbehaving, not Laurie. Laurie also creates Charles to obtain his parent’s
Lanham is sure “would set this boy straight” (9). Through the child psychologist, Tyler portrays another adult who fails Donny when he should have helped. It is ironic that a trained professional tells the Cobles that Donny is simply being a teenager and that he “had no serious emotional problems. He was merely going through a difficult period in his life” (11). As a child psychologist, he should be aware that Donny may have some deep routed emotional problems which are causing him to act out and display poor behavior, and that this acting out is a cry for help, but instead he passes off the responsibility to another individual by recommending the tutor, Cal.
Deception as an element can be presented in various forms. One may choose to hide their true self for specific intriguing motives in life. A theme identified in "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson and "A Bolt of White Cloth" by Leeon Rooke is appearance can be used to deceive ones true self and morals for an intriguing motive. In both short stories, that were examined, both main characters use their exterior appearances to deceive their true morals, they deceive the people around them and lastly their deeds show their true intentions which distinguish their compelling motives which are viewed through a sense of morals.
Deception is an effective parenting tool. Maternal deception is present throughout the book as the mothers and grandmothers guide their daughters to happiness through misleading stories, and warnings to brighten their daughters’ future. This is particularly evident in the relationship between Waverly and her mother Lindo Jong. Earlier, Lindo learns that Waverly already secretly engaged with her fiancé Rich, but pretends not to know. She did not act on it so she could have an untainted view on whether Rich is a good husband for Waverly. This works well for Waverly, as Waverly put, “I came up with a brilliant plan. I concocted a way for Rich to meet my mother and win her over” (Amy Tan 194). Many family friends come over to have dinner at Lindo’s house. During the dinner, Waverly introduces Rich to Lindo, and Lindo wastes no time as “she scrutinized him from head to toe, checking her appraisal of him…” (Tan 195-196) When Waverly asks Lindo of her opinion about Rich, her only comment is on his freckles. In the end, it turns out that the random comment means that she is fine with him, but it does deceive Waverly that Lindo might not like Rich. Lindo appears ...
In the short story “Sucker,” Carson McCullers conveys the message about how a loss of innocence can change not only one’s behavior, but also one’s relationships with others. This message is shown in the story through Carson’s portrayal of Pete and Sucker’s relationship. Throughout the beginning, Pete, the narrator, has been depicted as a role model to Sucker, his younger cousin. However, Sucker has no idea about how Pete views him. At one point, Pete realizes that in his relationship with Sucker, “the funny thing was that no matter how many times he got fooled he would still believe me. Not that he was dumb in other ways…”(26). Carson reveals the innocence of Sucker through this description; words such as “fooled” and “dumb” are used to describe someone who is clueless and thoughtless. This
Christopher is a fifteen-year old boy with Aspergers Autism whose life is full of uncanny surprises. His main focus is on school, and his ability to take the maths A level exams. Unfortunately, that was his focus until he finds Wellington dead on Mrs. Shears’ lawn. Christopher wants to know who killed Wellington and why. He investigates and finds out not only who killed Wellington, but he discovers secrets about his mother and father. In the book “The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time”, the author, Mark Haddon, shows us how courageous Christopher is throughout his journey. According to Aristotle, a man is courageous when he sets himself free from his fears, pain, and poverty instead of running away from it. According to Aristotle’s theory, Christopher profusely shows courage when he investigates Wellington’s murder and travels to London to find his mom.
High school students across the world hate Gene, the character that they are forced to read about, in a book they didn’t want to read. Gene is generally thought of as the despicable human being that ruined his friend’s life. It is easy to write Gene off as a one dimensional character who is only concerned about himself. This common misconception is proved to be false after a deeper analysis of Gene’s character. Gene’s character is more complex than his exterior actions portray. In reality, Gene’s inner “evil” represents a part of human nature, which most people are unwilling to look at in themselves. Gene’s actions throughout the book should not be written off only because Gene is a terrible person. The motivation for Gene’s actions might not
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, many elements of fiction are used to convey subject of themes represented throughout the story, such as disguises. Throughout the story the use of characterization, detail, and allusions represents the presence evil in the modern world. Oates used these elements to capture evil that illustrates the theme that ‘Looks can be deceiving’.
...ead the audience to a self-conclusion in what happened in the incredible story of a youngster who stole the identity of many children, real or made-up. The imposture was eventually discovered as a result of a suspicion by a private detective and by an FBI agent.
Children are common group of people who are generally mislabeled by society. In the short story “Charles’’ by Shirley Jackson and ‘’The Open Window” by Saki showed examples of the labeling of children. In “Charles” the concept of parents labeling their children as being pure and sincere was shown. As in “The Open Window” by Saki “used the notion that girls were the most truthful sex and gives her a name that suggests truthfulness to make her tale less suspect.”(Wilson 178). According to Welsh “Because the fantasy is so bizarre and inventive and totally unexpected from a fifteen-year-old girl, the reader is momentarily duped.”(03). This showed that even we as the readers were a victim of misleading labels of society.
He was a troublemaker, and the class clown whom always drawn attention to his self by getting in trouble. In “Charles,” by Shirley Jackson, The author developed theme through the main character by making up this whole person when really the character was talking about his self. When it was time to start school Laurie was a whole different person; he dressed, talked, and especially behaved differently. With this in mind, his parents thought this kid “Charles” was a bad influence when really it was their child. He soon changed; He became the teacher’s helper and behaved. But was that just a coincidence that parent teacher conferences were right around the corner? And he wanted good reports from his teacher to his parents? “The teacher spanked a boy, though,” Laurie said, addressing his bread and butter. “For being fresh,” he added, with his mouth full.”(73) Laurie was having a hard time staring off kindergarten. He lied, bullied and hit his teacher and classmates. At first it was kind of like a back and forth thing. He was bad one-minute then good the next, then right back bad again. Apparently, this young boy had a lot going on. He was all over the place. This was all just a pattern with him; everyone would just wait to see what Charles next move would be. But when he finally started being good and stayed that way, everyone thought there was something wrong with him. They didn’t think
While we all may be shown different faces and persona’s each day, it never becomes clear which a true personality is and which is just a mask. Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates the need for her characters to disguise themselves from the rest of society in order to either be accepted by others or to be seen in a more pleasant manner. However, these characters who conceals themselves are ultimately hurt because of their inability to shed their false fronts and accept who they truly are.
The narrator calls himself a fool for trying to impress Miss Wessen; his lack of foresight caused him to make himself into someone richer and more important than he really is. The swipe’s limitations of understanding and comprehension are revealed through his incoherent, long-winded narration. The swipe’s story, combined with the way in which he tells it, reveals him to be an uneducated, immature person. The narration provides a direct presentation of the character of the swipe; he blatantly labels himself as an uneducated “fool” (89). The narrative voice provides an indirect presentation of the swipe; readers understand him through his language and through processes.
A manipulative individual’s actions are almost always defined by their experiences and struggles they have encountered; their innate tendency to control and seek approval from others, is an example. In the texts, Animal Farm by George Orwell and Othello by William Shakespeare, the central characters find themselves in situations where they result in manipulation to validate their own internal conflict and insecurities. The authors demonstrate that to truly deceive others: the characters must have an understanding of their target’s vulnerabilities, an understanding of the outside influences in the environment, and the ability to simulate fake relationships with their targets.
While roaming the hills around an isolated home, a young boy named Henry, displayed rather unusual characteristics associated with his behaviors. What seemed like a cute and innocent boy was nothing but a face of hidden evil. Henry was a very free-spirited and often wild 12 year old boy who enjoyed engaging in daring activities while experiencing adrenaline rushes. His behaviors and curiosities seemed to be limitless, to the point where it brought forth a bit of suspicion. At this age, these types of behaviors may seem “normal” for a young boy like Henry; behaviors that display some hyperactivity, and self-exploration. However, Henry’s attitude and behaviors took a quick turn as his real intentions and motives became ever so clear. Henry is a young boy who grew up in a rather large home, set on top of a hill, overlooking the ocean in the state of Maine. He comes from two loving parents, a mother and father, and has a younger sister who looks up to him. He also had a younger brother named Richard, who died a while back from “accidently” drowning in the bathtub. Despite the tragic loss, he seemed to have a stable family lifestyle.
Parfit, author of Reasons and Persons, presents the concept of “Relation R,” or psychological continuity; this is key to understanding the change in personal identity of Gulliver, which occurs by degrees, and not in absolutes. Because of this, we cannot judge Gulliver based o...