Engelsk B Terminsprøve - Like Charlie

"Like Charlie" is a short story by John Boyne published in 2012. We are introduced to a boy named Nick who goes to fish with his father Lewis. Nick is the opposite of his brother Charlie who is good at sport and more like a younger version of Lewis. He likes to read books and that is the first thing he does out at sea but his father gets furious and throws it away from him. He tries his best to impress his father so he asks if he can steer the boat. However Lewis does not trust him so he will not allow him. Then Nick looks at the bowsprit and thinks it looks beautiful so he describes it as such to Lewis but forgets that his father does not like it when he does that. Therefore he slaps Nick who falls on the boat. Nick begins to contemplate and in the end he pushes his father over the boat.

2) Characterization:

Nick is an introvert that is he likes to be by himself for the most part: whenever they announced that they were hosting a party." (page 8, lines 11-12), which shows that he does not feel comfortable around a lot of people. As the title suggest "Like Charlie" he wants to be more like him and I think he can sense that it is also what his father wants. Therefore he tries everything to change his personality but because of his young age he is ignorant of the fact that there is no reason to change. Because of pressure from his father he puts a lot of effort to change and the other reason is also to get more attention: "He wondered how much provocation it would take to make his father kill him." (page 11, line 124), and this kind of thought needs extraordinary circumstances. At his age he needs a lot of attention but because he does not get it then he has these extreme thoughts. Moreover it is also due to the fact that he has reached the boundaries of trying to change himself and believes that there is something wrong with him. As a consequence of this he does not think rationally which is why he pushes his father over the boat.