“Like Charlie” is a short story writing by John Boyne and was released in the year of 2012. This story is about a ten-year-old boy named Nick Dartie, who is taking his 13-year-old brother Charlie Darties seat going sailing in their dad´s boat. Nick only got onboard because Charlie soddenly got sick and their mother Annabel asked their dad Lewis if he could take Charlie with him instead. Annabel is not living with the rest of the family, and haven´t told Nick and Charlie the reasoning behind that yet.
Right from the get-go we see that Lewis doesn’t like Nick very much, as he tries to ignore Nick as much as possible. Lewis doesn´t see much in Nick, and doesn´t give him the respect that he gives his older brother Charlie. Nick is everything his father disapproves of and isn’t as boyish as his father would like him to be. Charlie is a perfect example of what Lewis seems to want in a boy, but Nick is almost the opposite of Charlie so in the story he tries to please his father by being more like Charlie hints the title.
We don’t know if the two parents recently split, but we do get the feeling that Lewis is in a bad place, since he doesn´t have the courage to love Nick like he loves Charlie, just because he isn´t what his ideal son looks like. It may be that Nick reminds him of his wife Annabel, or he also might just be a terrible father towards Nick.
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