People have to learn hard lessons in life. Charles Wales is one of these people. In reading his story, I found that there were many lessons that can be learned from his mistakes. A major lesson that can be learned from Charles' situation is to think about the consequences of your actions. It is evident that Charles did not do that. As he began to get his life together he felt bad for the things he had done. In the end, he wanted to correct them. It is sad to say you cannot always fix the broken.
It is very hard to fix a bad reputation. Charles faced this problem. His past behavior got him nowhere. He lost his wife. His daughter had to go live with Lincoln and Marion, his wife's sister and her husband. It was a good decision on his behalf to go to Paris to try to show Lincoln, Marion and his daughter he had changed. I could tell by Marion's tone Charles had a lot to prove in able to get his daughter back. I think it is perfectly understandable. After all, Marion felt like it was Charles' fault her sister died. There was a part in the story where Charles spoke of Helen dying of heart trouble. Marion responded almost sarcastically, "Yes, heart trouble." It made me feel Charles hurt Helen very deeply. Possibly because of the things he did, such as, his drinking and not being a good father to their daughter. With that, Marion had every right to be upset with Charles. When Marion had decided to let Honoria, their daughter, go back with Charles, some old friends of his showed up. Immediately, Marion remembered all the terrible things about Charles. Her reaction to seeing Duncan and Lorriane, Charles' friends, is a prime example of a ruined reputation. Even though Charles had changed his life nothing could change the way Marion felt about him.
The story did not end in Charles' favor. He didn't get his daughter back, or a second chance at showing Marion he had changed. Everyone makes mistakes. The story leads me to believe that Charles will have to deal with his for the rest of his life. Charles' daughter, Honoria, really wanted to live with him. That must break his heart even more. Something good I interpreted at the end of the story was even though he did not get a second chance, Charles still wanted to continue to do right. He did not want more than his one drink a day and he still sent Honoria some toys. A good lesson learned is no matter how bad a situation gets, continue toward the positive.
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1 comment:
Make sure you revise your prose; it is frequently awkward and wordy. Who is "you"?
You seem to summarize much of the plot. Yes, Charlie's situation is sad, but there's more to literary interpretation than stating the obvious.
What can you say that unique about the story?
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