In "Charles," who is the main character in the story? What's a reason for your answer?

I think
that the mother is the main character in Jackson's "."

Jackson
opens and closes with the mother's frame of reference.  The narrative begins with her reflection
about Laurie starting kindergarten.  It speaks to how she perceived a potential change in her
son when he "renounced corduroy overalls with bibs" in place of "blue jeans with
a belt."  This detail is striking because it shows how the mother sees her son drifting
away from her.  When she furthers this with how Laurie's start of kindergarten reminds her that
"an era of my life has ended," it is clear that we are seeing her son's experience
through her own eyes.  She tells us how he came home, the way he responded to his father, and
what he said.  Her narrative focus drives the story, and in doing so, helps to make her the main
character.

When we experience the ending of the story, our attention turns to
her. As it becomes clear her son is the classroom disruption, everything we once thought
changes.  She moves from being a concerned parent who has good intentions, but is limited in
what she can do to an oblivious parent who failed to see the changes in her son.  The problems
that she saw as someone else's are now her own and this shift is significant to her .  The
story's conclusion has a jarring effect on the reader because of how we see the mother and helps
to make her the main character.