John Dunn

EN 219
10/27/22
Midterm Paper

The Arthur family was a typical family: mother, father, son, and twin girls. Caroline was the
mother of the family and was in her early forties. Blonde, pale, brown eyed, and very thin,
almost to the point of looking sickly. Her friends often joked that they were not sure how she had
given birth to twins. She was a stay-at-home mom and was, by all accounts, a fantastic cook and
homemaker. As the children got older and demanded less constant attention, Caroline had begun
to get more actively involved in the community. She worked at a homeless shelter on Tuesday
and Thursday nights, and she had recently been elected to the school board. Her naturally
cheerful and optimistic, although somewhat naive, personality made her very likable to most
people. Henry, Caroline's husband and the father of the family, was so impressed with his wife’s
election to the school board, that he had recently begun pushing her to run for town council.
During family dinners he would often quip to the kids that “At this rate, your mother might be
the president of the United States by the time you kids graduate from high school!” Mrs. Arthur
would always blush and make a comment about how she much preferred working in a
community where she knew everyone. 

Henry Arthur was an extremely successful man. He was tall, broad shouldered, and spoke with a
deep voice. His personality was naturally masculine and stoic, but he still gave off an air of
charisma and power. In his mid-twenties, Henry was discharged from the Navy with distinction,
and started a second career as a bank teller. He had no formal education but was very intelligent.
That intelligence and charisma allowed Henry to rapidly rise through the ranks of the bank and
eventually become the regional manager of one of the largest banking firms in the United States
at only 42. During his first few years as a banker, he had wooed the affection of one Caroline
Shultz who was the bank teller working next to him. Most of Henry’s co-workers at the bank
were shocked that Caroline, who was the most prominent bachelorette at the bank, had fallen for
him. Caroline was so bubbly and expressive, and Henry was so firm, stern, and reserved that no
one thought they would be able to have a happy relationship. However, Caroline seemed to be
the only person who could lower Henry’s walls, and Henry was the only one who could keep
Caroline grounded and make her feel secure. The match was a fruitful one, and they loved each
other very much. 

It was not long after they were married that Caroline became pregnant. Henry and Caroline
decided to name their new son Charles. Charles was a family name, and it was customary that
the eldest Arthur had the name Charles either as a first or middle name. Henry’s middle name
was, keeping with tradition, Charles as well. 

After the birth of her first child, Caroline stopped working at the bank. Henry had secured
enough promotions that he could sustain a family on his income, and Caroline agreed that it
would be best if she stayed at home to help raise the children. Charles’s bright blond hair and
glowing hazel eyes made him look like he was mischievous, but he was quiet and seemingly
well-mannered. As he grew up, he developed a reputation for being funny and charismatic,
similar to his father. He was loyal to his friends but was quick to take offense and was extremely
prideful. He was viewed within the community as a golden boy. His physical traits gave him a
golden glow to begin with, but to the outside public he seemed like he could do no wrong.
Within the Arthur household, however, it was a different story. Even as a child, Charles wouldn’t
throw tantrums, or tell overt lies that were bound to get him in trouble. However, Charles was
always pushing boundaries to see what he could get away with. Even more concerning was his
tendency, and natural ability towards getting around boundaries without having to face the
consequences. Caroline always joked with her friends that he was an ornery and sly child, but
she was genuinely concerned about the frequency and skill with which he lied at a young age. 

Charles deviousness conflicted greatly with Mr. Arthur's personality. Mr. Arthur was extremely
blunt, which could often be a flaw in its own right, and above all else valued honesty and justice.
While Charles’s mother often used the proverbial carrot to curb Charles’s bad behavior, Mr.
Arthur was quick to use the stick. Any time Charles would get caught lying, in any capacity, he
would get taken to the belt and get spanked by his father. 

The young boy rapidly grew to resent his father and developed a much closer bond with his
mother. Mr. Arthur, who by the time of Charles's adolescence was the manager of two banks,
often worked long hours and did not spend a significant amount of time with his family. Even
when he was at home, his natural introversion, stoicism, and fatigue from the workday came
across as cold and unloving to his young son. Later in life Charles would be able to articulate
that he greatly resented that his father was quick to punish him and held him to lofty standards,
but never actually participated in the small moments that build the bond between a parent and
child. Charles felt as though he was another one of his father’s financial investments. There was
not unconditional love, but the constant need to earn his father’s hard to obtain validation.  

Charles had a much stronger relationship with his mother, who called him Charlie. He thrived off
her positive reinforcement and unconditional love. She was always home when he got home
from school, and she always made an effort to help him as much as possible. As a result, Charlie
always tried to behave himself for his mother more than anyone else in his life. Mrs. Arthur was
also responsible for the more pleasant interactions between Mr. Arthur and his son. Charles's
pride had developed significantly as he had grown up and Mrs. Arthur had a talent for mediating
between their egos.

About five years after Charles was born, Caroline became pregnant again. This time she would
give birth to identical twins. Amelia and Alexandra were so similar that their mother could
hardly tell them apart as children. Their personalities, however, were quite different. Amelia was
very shy, and seemed to have inherited her mother’s propensity for art and organic ways of
approaching problems. Alexandrea had a much more analytical mind and was great at math and
linear thinking. 

By the time the twins were developing to the point that their personalities were developing, Mr.
Arthur had learned from his parenting mistakes with Charles and made an effort to be more
active in his daughter's lives from a young age. There was no ill will between the twins and their
father. Mr. Arthur also made an effort to reach and connect more deeply with Charles, but the
two never seemed to be able to reconcile. Anytime some growth seemed to be happening, one
bad interaction would send their troubled relationship spiraling downwards. 
Later, when he was reflecting on his life, Charles vividly remembered the one event that
permanently tainted his view of his father. It was a school night when Charles was thirteen. His
room was on the second story of their house, and his sister’s room was just down the hall. The
stairwell was next to the back entrance and kitchen/dining area on the bottom floor. On the
second floor, the stairs and opened right next to Charles’s room. As a result, Charles could, if he
kept his door open, hear any conversations that were being had in the kitchen.

Earlier in the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur had gotten into a heated argument while Mrs. Arthur
made breakfast. Amelia had gotten sick during the night and would need to stay home from
school. Someone would need to stay home to monitor the situation since their daughter was bed
ridden and was in a great deal of discomfort. However, both parents had important previously
scheduled engagements, and were not able to find anyone who could stay with Amelia. The
argument was sparked when Mr. Arthur in formed his wife that his board meeting was the more
important than her meeting with the director of the local homeless shelter, where she
volunteered. Mrs. Arthur, already irritable after a poor night of sleep, did not take kindly to how
easily her plans were dismissed, and objected in a snappy tone. The resulting confrontation grew
into a shouting match. The father of the family remained relatively calm and offered only
irritated and seemingly uninterested answerers, which infuriated his wife.

Charles and Alexandra listened to the whole affair sheepishly. They were not sure what they
were supposed to do so they just listened as the whole argument unfolded as they were eating
breakfast. Eventually nine-year-old Alexandra started crying, which brought the argument to a
close. Mrs. Arthur spat out, “Well you better not be late to work, dear!” with a heavy layer of
sarcasm. Then she bundled Alexandra up the stairs to calm her down and to get her cleaned up
before she had to go to school.

That evening, Mr. Arthur was working late. After the other four members of the family ate
dinner, they all stayed up a whole half hour past their bedtime so they could watch a movie
together. It was a very pleasant evening, and Charlie remembered Amelia looking the happiest
she had all day, even though she was still quite sick. After all the popcorn was eaten and the
credits were rolling Mrs. Arthur herded the kids upstairs and tucked them in to bed in a very
motherly fashion.

Charles was lying in bed when his father returned home from work. The light from his father’s
car shone through the closed blinds in his room. The gradually grew brighter and then
disappeared when the car shut off. The car door closed and then a few seconds later, the door in
the kitchen door opened.

At first Charles couldn’t hear anything. At this point in the evening, he would normally be fast
asleep. However, tonight he was rolling around restlessly in the bed, with memories of the movie
still rolling in his mind. About ten minutes after his dad had gotten home, Charles got up to go
use the bathroom. When he opened the door, he heard a flurry of agitated voices coming from
the kitchen. He paused in the door frame and listened in to the argument in the kitchen that had
apparently resumed from this morning.
“I wish you would just value how much I sacrifice to take care of the kids! I know you make the
money for our household, but you must respect the fact that I need something to do in my life
besides just be a housewife.”

“When we had Charles, you agreed that you thought it was best if you stayed at home with the
kids. I just don’t know why I am the bad guy for saying that for one day, you would have to not
volunteer for an organization.”

“Look, I agreed to raise our kids, not sacrifice my freedom for the rest of the time they are
growing. I know that today you needed to go to your meeting, but you just never seem to
acknowledge my feeling or point of view ever. And I have tried to bring this up before.”

“Okay so here is the thing. We have been arguing since I got home. We argued last night. I need
to go to bed. I am done.”

“No. You aren’t blowing this off again.”

“Yes…I am.”

“Henry Arthur, I swear I will raise hell. You haven’t seen anything yet!

“Caroline, I am not doing this right now.”

Charles could hear his mother starting to cry. “You are such a heartless bastard sometimes!”

“Look maybe you shouldn’t worry so much about doing stuff besides raise the kids, when
Charles is already a pompous ass half the time and can’t stay out of trouble! Charles is what you
should be focusing on instead of nagging me about how I need to neglect my duties so you can
go help some homeless bum that you don’t know and who will never help society.”

Charles was listening in shock. There was a long pause, then Mr. Arthur apologized and said that
he shouldn’t have said that, and he didn’t mean it. It was too late. His mother bawled her way up
the stairs and slammed the door to the master bedroom shut. Mr. Arthur stayed downstairs.
Charles closed his own door, no longer having to go to the bathroom. He laid down in his bed,
curled up in a fetal position. Then he started to cry too.