What is the setting of "Charles" by Shirley Jackson?

has two
main settings: the kitchen table, where Laurie talks to his parents, usually over lunch, about
what has happened in school that day, and Lauries kindergarten classroom, in which all his
stories take place. Not much information is given directly about these settings, nor are there
any real details given about either; we learn everything through Lauries stories about Charles
and the narrators stories about Laurie.

At home we have standard images of a
family with a young sonparents asking their kindergartener how he likes school, Laurie eating
bread and butter and cookies. The only incongruous thing about this setting is Lauries behavior.
We have no indication that he was a disrespectful or ornery child before starting school, and
yet he addresses his parents very casually, often insultingly. Our narrator, Lauries mother,
assumes this is due to Charless influence in class. In this way, she interacts with the
kindergarten only through her sons stories, and Charles seems to be wreaking havoc in Lauries
classthrowing chalk, hitting the teacher, making a little girl bleed€¦ The tales of disruption
and violence are endless. Lauries parents have no reason to suspect Laurie of any wrongdoing,
and as long as the child keeps what happens in the storys two settings separate, he is golden.
However, a few weeks into his school career, his mother attends a PTA meeting, and with this
action the home and the school settings intermingle. It is only here, when our two settings
converge, that the truth about Charles is revealed.