Why does Laurie lie to his mother in "Charles?"

While
Laurie may lie to his parents as a way to express his guilt without suffering the consequences,
there are also other reasons as to why he might lie to his parents. Throughout the short story,
Laurie's favorite topic of conversation is . Each night at dinner, Laurie raves about Charles's
transgressions and takes pleasure in speaking about him. Charles is continually the topic of
conversation, and any mistake or infraction at home is immediately compared to Charles. Taking
into account the fact that many of Charles's transgressions at school result in him receiving
attention from teachers and students, albeit negative attention, leads the reader to believe
that Laurie enjoys being the center of attention. Laurie may lie to his parents as
a way to gain their attention at home. Laurie notices how his parents take an
interest in the fictional Charles's behavior, which only encourages Laurie to continue lying.
Ironically, Laurie's parents have no idea that they are only reinforcing their son's negative
behavior as he continues to take pleasure in lying about Charles.