Compare and contrast “Charles” by Shirley Jackson and “Miss Awful” by Arthur Cavanaugh

 

	“Charles”	“Miss Awful”
Setting	·        Spatial setting: At a preschool; Laurie’s home ·        Temporal setting: modern time	·        St. Geoffrey’s – 3rd Grade; Clark's home  ·        Modern time
“Charles” by Shirley Jackson and “Miss Awful” by Arthur Cavanaugh are two American short stories which share certain similarities as well as differences in the characterization, settings, thematic concerns and the use of techniques. In the short story mentioned first, the title is a name of male person, possibly western in origin. Other than that, the title itself does not reveal anything else about the story. In contrast, the title of the second story reveals or foreshadows a wealth of information about the story at the very outset. The reader knows that they will be reading about an unpleasant spinsterish female character who would have a profound impact on the story. However, by the time they reach the end of the story, the reader begins to realize that the writer might be referring to the other more archaic meaning of the term “awful” – awe inspiring – in his title. Looking at the setting, chronologically, both “Charles” and “Miss Awful” are set in the modern times, and spatially, both are set in the school and the home of the protagonist. However, Laurie in “Charles” is a pre-grader while Roger is in the third grade. Also, while Jackson spends a lot of time on Laurie’s home, Cavanaugh allocates the major share of his story to school.
Characters	·        Laurie – protagonist ·        “Charles” ·        His parents ·        His teacher Miss	·        Roger Clark ·        His parents ·        His sister ·        Miss Wilson ·        Miss Orville ·        Classmates ·        Other mothers
Looking at the way the two writers create their characters, in “Charles”, the protagonist is Laurie. One might call Charles his alter ego. His parents, sister and the teacher are secondary characters. Laurie we see at the outset of the story undergoes a change in the course of the story. He is a misfit at the beginning – he challenges his pre-school teacher, the new-authority figure in his life. He enjoys his run-ins with authority but at the same time he knows challenging authority is wrong and he that he might get into trouble at home for doing that. Still, he wants to share what he is doing at school with his mother; this is the reason why he creates his alter ego Charles. Towards the end of the story Laurie more or less conforms to do what he is expected to do. This is confirmed by his teacher when she tells Laurie’s mother, “We had a little trouble adjusting, the first week or so …but now he’s a fine little helper. With lapses, of course.” Compared to “Charles”, characterization in the much longer “Miss Awful” is more complex. The protagonist of the story is Roger Clark. However, his substitute teacher, Miss Orville plays an almost equally important role in the story. Other characters in the story are Roger’s parents, his sister, Miss Wilson, his classmates and the other mothers. Unlike Laurie, Roger does not have any issues with his school at the beginning of story. He enjoys going to school. However, his mother occasionally worried about the lack of drive or scholastic achievements in Roger. It is with the arrival of his substitute teacher who was very different from his regular laid-back teacher Miss Wilson, Roger begins to rebel against authority. With Miss Wilson who was so permissive –which was noted at the beginning by Mr Clerk, too – Roger did not have a reason to rebel. Miss Orville, on the other hand, insisted on discipline, against which not only many of the students but also parents rebelled. The clash of wills comes to a head on Friday when the students learn that it is going to be their last day with Miss Orville. They rebel against her in various ways, the ultimate act of rebellion being the vandalization of her beloved plant. However by this time Roger has undergone a change and begins to see Miss Orville whom he has initially nicknamed Miss Awful for what she really is – someone who wants to help her students to realize their potentials. In the last part of the short story he spells the words correctly to her standing the way he has been taught to without being told as a way of showing his appreciation to her.
Themes	·        In student-teacher relations how students relate to teacher’s authority ·        Appearance and reality - Laurie ·        Imagination	·        In student-teacher relations how students relate to teacher’s authority ·        Appearance and reality: Miss W vs. Miss O
The main theme of both stories is child-adult relations. Appearance and reality is also one of the main themes in both stories. In addition, imagination is also a theme in “Charles”.  In both stories there are two sets of child-adult relationships: between the child and his parents and between the student and the teachers. In both stories, parents appear permissive. They are very relaxed in the way they deal with both Laurie and Roger. Laurie is allowed to speak rudely at home without any fear of repercussion. Similarly, Mr. Clerk takes Roger for a walk on a school day knowing he has not completed his homework. Coming from a family background like that, both Laurie and Roger resent being controlled by the new authority figures they meet at school. It is this clash between the student and the teacher that drives the plot in both stories. In the end, both Laurie and Roger learn to accept authority as constructive. Both stories deal with appearance and reality as a secondary theme. In “Charles” Laurie who misbehaves at school allocates all he does or imagines that he has done to the fictional character Charles. He takes pleasure in narrating what Charles did to his mother. In “Miss Awful”, the substitute teacher appears a witch from Hansel and Gretel to Roger and his classmates.  But the reality of Miss Orville is that she was a lonely old woman who loved children and wanted to do her best for them. The writer allows the reader a glimpse into her heart by making her compare children to plants – the plant she carried around was obviously her most prized possession. The children realize that and they decide to hurt the plant in order to get back at her. Here, the writer seems to suggest that in contrast to the popular view of children being flower-like, they can be ruthless. In conclusion, “Charles” and “Miss awful” share a lot in common when it comes to the setting, characterization, techniques and themes.