What is the moral of the story "Charles"?

's short
story, "," is about a boy called Laurie and his mother and father. Every day Laurie
comes home from kindergarten and talks about a very unruly boy called Charles, who hits
teachers, swears, and hurts other children.

At the end of the story it is
heavily implied, at a PTA meeting, that Charles doesn't exist except as a pseudonym that Laurie
uses to describe and hide his own misbehavior. The moral or message of the story is perhaps that
it is very difficult for parents to control their children or, indeed, ever really know who
their children become when they grow up.

The story also suggests that we
should not be too quick to judge others, at least not before first turning our gaze upon
ourselves. Indeed, in the story, Laurie's parents are quick to blame and laugh at Charles's
mother, only to discover at the end of the story that Charles doesn't exist. We can assume that
Laurie's parents subsequently work out that it is in fact their own son who has been behaving so
poorly at kindergarten.