What is the main idea of "Charles"?

The main
idea thatexamines throughout the short story concerns the construction and formation of a
child's identity. Laurie is initially described by his mother as being a "sweet-voiced
nursery-school tot," who discretely explores his aggressive impulses at kindergarten and
assumes the identity of a boy namedwhen he describes his bad behavior to his parents. Laurie's
parents are depicted as naive, lenient, and enabling. While they perceive Lauries as a
good-natured, humorous child, they fail to recognize or correct his rude, destructive behavior
and contribute to their son's identity issues by believing his tales. Laurie enjoys manipulating
and deceiving his parents by referring himself as Charles in order to escape responsibility and
begins to showcase his rude behavior at home.

The fact that Laurie seems to
dissociate himself from Charles while engaging in aggressive behavior at school is quite
alarming and may suggest a serious mental disorder like "multiple personality
disorder" or "dissociative personality disorder." However, Jackson's ambiguity
prevents the reader from making a definitive observation concerning Laurie's identity issues and
readers may simply dismiss his "split" personality as typical childhood hijinks.
Laurie also has the ability to make Charles behave properly at school whenever he pleases, which
indicates that he is developing his identity and constructing his character. Overall, Shirley
Jackson explores the main idea of identity throughout the short story by depicting Laurie's
construction of an alternative, rude child named Charles.