Do Laurie's parents live up to their expectations? Shirley Jackson's short gothic literature story “Charles”, describes two parents absent mindedness toward their own child's bad behavior. I believe the parents in Shirley Jackson's “Charles” are not living up to their own standards of parenting because they feel like they need to confront Charles mother and they give Laurie too much attention.
The parents are not living up to their own expectations because they feel like they need to confront Charles mother and they feel like she must be a terrible parent. In the story Laurie's Mom states, “The day my son Laurie started kindergarten, he gave up his little-boy clothes. He started wearing blue jeans with a belt”. This shows that his mom is
Frank’s Parents: Frank’s parents take countless hours each day helping Frank and making sure that he has anything he needs. They must learn to adapt to a selfless life of putting Frank’s needs before their own. Although this is often difficult and frustrating, they eventually come together as a family to make the best of their situation.
If one is unreliable, the child will turn to the other. Unfortunately, Jeannette Walls did not have any parent to rely on. Similar to her father, her mother was selfish, irresponsible, and insensitive. Rose Mary was a writer, a teacher, and an artist. Wall’s mother instilled creativity, an attitude of free spirit, and the love of reading upon her children. However, Rosemary spent countless hours sitting in front of her typewriter and a canvas. Whereas she had no interest in cooking a meal for her children which would disappear within minutes, she could make a painting that would last forever. Jeannette‘s mother could not bear to put her children before herself. While being given the opportunity to provide for her family on multiple occasions, Rosemary answered self-indulgently to each and everyone of them. From the scene in the book “where we kids had gone without food for days and my brother caught Mom secretly chomping away on a giant chocolate bar” as stated by Edna Boardman while quoting Walls, to callously denying Jeannette the opportunity to make money for food after miraculously finding a real diamond ring. Rather than allowing her children to pawn the ring, she simply states “[T]hat’s true, but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food” (183). Jeannette’s displeasure with living in a broken down house with no running water, no food, and parents who neglected
The children, Christina and Stella, believe that what the father did to their mother was "awful." Leaving the house not only affected the mother but affected them too, seeing as they were both so young. The father does not really understand that by divorcing their mother he did the same to them: "'When you're older, ...
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
The movie begins with the family and parenting styles concept of child development by introducing the audience to the main character James and his parents. James lives in a two-parent household with his authoritative parents who are providing him with warmth, love, and encouragement (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-522). This concept of parenting styles is shown as the movie begins and James is seen spending time with his parents. Then suddenly, James’ world changes and he is abandoned as a result of his parents being killed. This causes James to become orphaned and forced to live with his authoritarian aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are very controlling towards James and expect him to obey their rules without allowing him to express his feelings. This authoritarian behavior is seen throughout the movie. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are also uninvolved, neglectful, and abusive, using verbal and physical punishment on James when they feel it’s necessary, which is also seen throughout the movie (Levine & Munsch, p. 522). These behaviors cause James to develop lower self-esteem, show less intellectual curiosity, and feel lonely and afraid, which are typical outcomes of an authoritarian parenting approach (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-523). Although James’ aunts’ authoritative parenting style has an effect on his emotional and social behaviors, it is his parents authoritative parenting that plays a...
Because of a more difficult upbringing by their parents, Jeanette and her siblings lose their childhood innocence through the deceitful acts of their parents. This is seen where Jeanette is at the hospital due to her burns from a fire accident and her father decides to forcefully take her away. “Dad hurried down the hall with me in his arms,” (Walls 14). Jeanette grows up in a world where behavior like this is normal and excuses for it are made. If her parents had instilled a value system in their children, or had the mother not consistently upheld a superior attitude to the others, Jeanette and her siblings could have turned out much different. Considering this thought, some live even more atrocious careers and commit misdeeds in third world countries such as Africa or India. Annette Lareau, after conducting studies on the underprivileged, argues that ““poor children may do worse over their lifetimes in part because their parents are more committed to “natural growth” than “concerted cultivation” as their cultural model for child rearing,”” (Annette Lareau, 2003). Because of a difficult life situation, parents are unable to support their children in their educational
mother, the father, and the son, Laurie. Since there are only three characters, there’s a heavy suspicion that possibly Laurie is this,“Charles,” character he talks about. This suspicion, of course, comes into play at the finale of the story, though hints that the stories Laurie makes up are of himself, appeared far before the ending. During the very first scene, Laurie seems as if he is going to tell his parents something important about his day. When they ask him who does the awful things he tells them, he hesitates. He then thinks about it, and says,”Charles.” This whole scene could fly over most people’s heads, but the delivery of the word was done in a most bizarre way. If a person came to you to tell them about someone who was misbehaving, and when you asked them they
From being able to save up money to buy a car and move out to West Virginia and then leaving the responsibility of finances and income to her children, Rose Mary Wall’s helped put Jeanette and her siblings through a hard and tough childhood. Although, a debate could be made that with all the awful impacts that the mother had on her children, all she really did was actually positively influence them to be able to conquer any hardship that they may face in their life. In the end, Rose Mary Wall’s character of being independent, unreasonable, and stubborn did both positively and negatively impact her children’s lives through the hardships they all faced
The Bragg family grew up with virtually nothing. The father left the family a number of times, offering no financial assistance and stealing whatever he could before he left. When he was there, he was usually drunk and physically abusive to the mother. He rarely went after the children, but when he did the mother was always there to offer protection. Mr. Bragg's mother's life consisted of working herself to exhaustion and using whatever money she had on the children.
...l unloved at times. His parent's when he was eleven only seemed to aggravate the problem. Discipline was inconsistent, and often he was able to get around punishment by wearing down his mother, who could be easily persuaded to give in to what he wanted. Family finances were strained. Although Charlie went to school in an upper middle-class neighborhood, his family could not afford to buy him as much as many of his friends’ parents. He began to run around with kids who were associated with a local gang and was rejected by other friends because of his behavior.
Parental influences can negatively impact a child’s life. An example of this is in the novel
Most often, in most families, children look up to their parents for guidance as children view their parents as role models. However in The Glass Castle, this was not the case but the exact opposite.
Mama’s dreams were first deferred when she moved into the small apartment that the Youngers family stay in through out most of the play. She became too busy that she couldn’t accomplish her dream. She also could not for fill her dreams since she did not have enough money to do so. Her dreams were even more shattered with the death of her husband, but when she got the money from her husband’s death her dreams then became a reality again. Mama wants Travis to be happy and play in the garden but she cannot do this since they live in a dirty ghetto.
...th the trip back. Usually, Rosemary didn’t cook much. So once the beans went bad Lori, Brian and Jeannette would put extra spice in them. In this case, a parent that leaves their kids to fend for themselves is emotional neglect. The Walls’ children might grow up feeling like Rosemary never took care of them, which can lead to low self-esteem issues and behavioral problems. Lastly, Rosemary decides Maureen needed to enroll in preschool. In this case, Rosemary didn’t want Maureen dressed in thrift store clothes like the rest of the Walls’ family. Rosemary told Lori, Brian and Jeannette they would have to go shoplifting. This was clearly a violation of the law and is negatively influencing the morals of such young minds. Lori, Brian, and Jeannette were nervous and scared at the thought of getting caught for something that is wrong, which they are being forced to do.
Jane does not experience a typical family life throughout the novel. Her various living arrangements led her through different households, yet none were a representation of the norm of family life in the nineteenth century. Through research of families in the nineteenth century, it is clear that Jane’s life does not follow with the stereotypical family made up of a patriarchal father and nurturing mother, both whose primary focus was in raising their children. Jane’s life was void of this true family experience so common during the nineteenth century. Yet, Jane is surrounded by men, who in giving an accurate portrayal of fathers and masculinity in the nineteenth century, fulfill on one hand the father role that had never been present in her life, and on the other hand the husband portrait that Jane seeks out throughout the novel.