Charles

While the role of this story’s protagonist is equivocal, the young Laurie is the most active character, and it is his actions (and Charles’s) that truly drive the plot. To this extent, he is the protagonist. Just starting his first days of kindergarten, he lives in a simple American home with his mother, father, and baby sister. Laurie walks to and from school on his own, always bringing home more stories about Charles—and these anecdotes contain much of the plot action.

The story’s ambiguity is ultimately Laurie’s ambiguity. According to the story’s prevailing interpretation, however, “Charles” is Laurie’s codeword for himself, and all Laurie’s anecdotes—in addition to being willful misdirection—are effectively his personal journal entries. In this case, readers can directly infer that Laurie develops mischievous and inappropriate behavioral patterns both at school and at home. He is talking back to and even slapping teachers, harassing and physically harming other children, and generally disrupting the classroom environment. This behavior continues at home as he speaks insolently to his father and even plays tricks on him.

Instead of owning up to this behavior, Laurie conjures up Charles, an imaginary scapegoat whom he blames for all his own troublemaking. He comes home each day and tells his parents of Charles’s different misdeeds; his parents believe him until Laurie’s mother meets with the kindergarten teacher, who informs her that there is no student named Charles.