English 20-1
“The Charmer” Observation Chart
What?
In the short story “The Charmer”, we see a family of six through the
narration of the second youngest child, Winnifred. Winnifred and her two
younger sisters admire their older brother, Zachary, idolizing him so much that
they’d do anything for him. Not only does Zachary take advantage of this quality
the girls have, but he also takes advantage of his their naive mother. For
example, Zachary’s mother bakes a cake for the church bazaar, leaving a note
stating not to eat it. Disobeying his mother, Zachary eats a slice of the cake,
when his mother returns home, he begs for her forgiveness. However, when his
mother is remaking the cake, he does not offer any help and instead chooses to
continue eating the cake. The youngest of the children, Lizzie, is suddenly
diagnosed with leukemia, seemingly terminal; “She had leukemia, and every one
of us knew she was going to die.” The family, minis Zachary, spends time with
her in the hospital. Zachary makes an appearance only once during the long six
weeks that Lizzie spends in the hospital. Despite his family’s pleads to visit Lizzie
in the hospital more, Zachary selfishly refuses to visit until suddenly, Lizzie
passes. Zachary comes back four days after Lizzie’s death and apologizes to his
mother, saying that he was in so much pain and couldn’t find a way to cope. Of
course, his mother pity's him as always, however, his father is not as forgiving.
He gives Zachary an ultimatum, saying that he can either start helping around,
being one of the parents “hired servants,” or he can pack up his belongings and
find somewhere new to live. Again, thinking only for himself, Zachary chooses to
leave his family and packs up his things. When we later see Winnifred with her
own children, she is confronted with a similar situation as said of her mother and
Zachary. However, since she watched the same thing happen to her brother
when she was younger, she was able to act on the problem in a more efficient
way. Instead of forgiving her daughter immediately, she asks her to clean up her
mess, so that she is able to learn from her mistakes, and so that her abusive
behaviour does not become constant.
So What?
In “The Charmer,” written by Budge Wilson, we see many themes, one
being manipulation, or more specifically, manipulation through charm. The
following quote is meant to portray the idea of that theme; “An apology without
change is just manipulation.” Though I have not been faced with issues of
manipulation within my familial relationships, I have experienced it within many of
my friendships. For example, just this past year I had a friend who liked to make
fun of me and call me names. Typically this wouldn’t be such an issue for me,
name calling and teasing is just a part of all friendships. But then it started to get
worse, all of the jokes were being made at my mercy, in front of small groups at
first, but then turned into embarrassing me in front of my whole class. I spoke to
them about it, asking if they could please stop because the comments were
making me upset and simply going too far. They told me that they were so sorry
“The Charmer” Observation Chart
What?
In the short story “The Charmer”, we see a family of six through the
narration of the second youngest child, Winnifred. Winnifred and her two
younger sisters admire their older brother, Zachary, idolizing him so much that
they’d do anything for him. Not only does Zachary take advantage of this quality
the girls have, but he also takes advantage of his their naive mother. For
example, Zachary’s mother bakes a cake for the church bazaar, leaving a note
stating not to eat it. Disobeying his mother, Zachary eats a slice of the cake,
when his mother returns home, he begs for her forgiveness. However, when his
mother is remaking the cake, he does not offer any help and instead chooses to
continue eating the cake. The youngest of the children, Lizzie, is suddenly
diagnosed with leukemia, seemingly terminal; “She had leukemia, and every one
of us knew she was going to die.” The family, minis Zachary, spends time with
her in the hospital. Zachary makes an appearance only once during the long six
weeks that Lizzie spends in the hospital. Despite his family’s pleads to visit Lizzie
in the hospital more, Zachary selfishly refuses to visit until suddenly, Lizzie
passes. Zachary comes back four days after Lizzie’s death and apologizes to his
mother, saying that he was in so much pain and couldn’t find a way to cope. Of
course, his mother pity's him as always, however, his father is not as forgiving.
He gives Zachary an ultimatum, saying that he can either start helping around,
being one of the parents “hired servants,” or he can pack up his belongings and
find somewhere new to live. Again, thinking only for himself, Zachary chooses to
leave his family and packs up his things. When we later see Winnifred with her
own children, she is confronted with a similar situation as said of her mother and
Zachary. However, since she watched the same thing happen to her brother
when she was younger, she was able to act on the problem in a more efficient
way. Instead of forgiving her daughter immediately, she asks her to clean up her
mess, so that she is able to learn from her mistakes, and so that her abusive
behaviour does not become constant.
So What?
In “The Charmer,” written by Budge Wilson, we see many themes, one
being manipulation, or more specifically, manipulation through charm. The
following quote is meant to portray the idea of that theme; “An apology without
change is just manipulation.” Though I have not been faced with issues of
manipulation within my familial relationships, I have experienced it within many of
my friendships. For example, just this past year I had a friend who liked to make
fun of me and call me names. Typically this wouldn’t be such an issue for me,
name calling and teasing is just a part of all friendships. But then it started to get
worse, all of the jokes were being made at my mercy, in front of small groups at
first, but then turned into embarrassing me in front of my whole class. I spoke to
them about it, asking if they could please stop because the comments were
making me upset and simply going too far. They told me that they were so sorry
