In 's
1948 short story, "," the main character Laurie is proud of the fictional Charles's
behavior.
Laurie invents the character of Charles on his first day of
kindergarten. He comes home slamming the door, leaving his hat on the floor, and shouting. He
spills his baby sister's milk at lunch and speaks disrespectfully to his father. When prompted,
he tells his father he didn't learn "nothing" in school. Then he tells the tale of a
boy being spanked for being fresh. In the quote below, one can see Laurie's enjoyment in telling
the tales of Charles's insolent behavior at school.
"The next day Laurie remarked at lunch, as soon as he sat down, Well, Charles
was bad again today. He grinned enormously and said, Today Charles hit the teacher.
The fact that he grins enormously while he tells of the heinous
deeds shows that he is proud either of his actions, or of the deceptive tale he has weaved, or
both.
The next incidence of Charles' bad behavior is...
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