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How does Laurie's clothing change on his first day of school?

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The other response does an excellent job of explaining why Jackson included the details about Laurie’s clothing at the beginning of “Charles.”

To add, I think it is important to understand what the two types of clothing represent.

The corduroy overalls are a symbol of childhood innocence. Young children often wear overalls because they are easy to slip on and off and don’t require keeping up with multiple matching pieces when it is time to dress. The fabric is also significant because it is soft and reserved for casual wear; this shows that the clothing of childhood fits the need for comfort over style.

In contrast, Laurie wears blue jeans and a belt on his first day of kindergarten. Made of a sturdier material considered more formal than corduroy, jeans are representative of Laurie’s entry into the adult world. While it is clear that Laurie is still a child, the jeans make Laurie feel more mature and independent from his mother. This explains why Laurie’s mother reacts the way she does to her son in the jeans: her baby is trying to grow up.

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The short story "Charles" is a tale about a young boy, Laurie, who transforms himself into the mischievous youngster Charles. At the beginning of the story, before he begins kindergarten, Laurie is dressed in his "corduroy overalls with bibs." However, when he starts kindergarten, his mother ruefully watches him go off with an older girl dressed in "blue jeans with a belt." His change of attire signals his desire to become grown-up. By giving up the childish outfit with a bib and changing into big boy jeans and a belt, Laurie believes that he is on his way to becoming a man.

As the story continues, Laurie repeatedly relates details to his parents about Charles's bad behavior in school. This includes sassing the teacher, refusing to do his work, and kicking the teacher's friend. At the same time, Laurie has also started to become insolent to his parents at home. Ironically, at the end of the story, the reader discovers that Laurie has invented Charles. The teacher has been punishing Laurie's bad behavior all along. However, there is hope that Laurie will grow into the jeans and belt responsibly as the teacher tells his mother that he has become " a fine little helper." There is hope for Laurie after all!

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In the short story "Charles," by Shirley Jackson, Laurie's mother notices several changes in Laurie when he begins school. We readers are not given any details about what Laurie wore before school started, but we are told what he is wearing on that first day in the very first sentence of the story. Laurie is wearing jeans and a belt.

"The day my son Laurie started kindergarten, he gave up his little-boy clothes. He started wearing blue jeans with a belt." (Jackson 1)

Laurie's mother (narrator) also makes the observation that "He looked as though he were going off to a fight."  (Jackson 1) There is some foreshadowing there because Laurie is definitely going off to a fight as his alter ego, Charles!  Those first sentences foreshadowed what was to come in the story. Laurie is obviously a mischievous little boy, and though he may have looked grown up in his jeans and belt, he really had not changed at all.

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How does Laurie's clothing change on the first school day reflect his behavior change?

The change in Laurie's clothing is described in the first paragraph of Shirley Jackson's short story, "Charles." It foreshadows the behavioral changes in Laurie, as manifested through the character Charles, whom Laurie invents. 

Here is the paragraph: 

The day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt; I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door, seeing clearly that an era of my life was ended, my sweet-voiced nursery-school tot replaced by a longtrousered, swaggering character who forgot to stop at the corner and wave good-bye to me.

Jackson's word choice and description of Laurie's new attire foreshadow the behavioral changes to come. First, she uses the word "renounced." Synonyms for this word include shun, reject, and disown. This shows that Laurie is asserting his independence with his clothing choice. One can infer that his mother made the clothing choices up to that point. Now Laurie is casting aside the clothing he used to wear and choosing blue jeans with a belt, a more grown-up choice. His mother, the narrator, describes him as "swaggering," which suggests Laurie feels more grown up and impressive in his new attire.  

The mother describes watching her sweet-voiced preschooler being replaced by a child who swaggers. He also wears clothing that shows he is leaving behind a part of his childhood. He even forgets to turn around and wave to his mother, showing that he doesn't think he needs her as much as he did previously.

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