Charles Character Analysis in Educated

One of Tara’s friends from town and her first “boyfriend,” though Tara struggles to behave intimately or romantically with Charles. She and Charles become close when Tara, whose beautiful voice moves Gene and many others at their church, is allowed to begin auditioning for local plays and musicals. Charles becomes important to Tara, and she nurses feelings of attractions to him—but her desire to grow closer to him is impacted by her father’s belief that Charles, and all secular people, are immoral, doomed “gentiles.” Charles is determined to be Tara’s friend and to help her understand that innocuous things such as ibuprofen and holding hands will not damn Tara or render her impure. Tara and Charles’s friendship cools when Tara shuts Charles out amidst worsening abuse at the hands of Shawn—she doesn’t want him to see what her life with her family is really like. When Charles and Tara reconnect via the internet years later, Tara learns that he works on an oil rig in Wyoming to support his wife and children. Charles remains of the belief that Tara needs to sever herself from her family in order to grow, and is amazed that she still sounds “the same as when [they] were seventeen.” Charles is empathetic, generous, and does all he can to be there for Tara. While his friendship makes her feel supported and seen, she ultimately cannot accept the kind of help he tries to give her.

Charles Character Timeline in Educated

The timeline below shows where the character Charles appears in Educated. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Family, Abuse, and Entrapment Theme Icon

...has many friends who are. Tara is immediately entranced by the boy, whose name is Charles, and he is similarly taken with her. He tells Tara that her singing is the... (full context)

The next night at rehearsal, Tara flirts with Charles, and he urges her to come to his school’s choir practices, even though she isn’t... (full context)

...day when she’s moving between buildings to watch her. When he sees her walking with Charles one day, he starts ignoring her phone calls until Sadie becomes desperate and promises she... (full context)

...lot of time together at rehearsals down in town. When Shawn notices Tara talking to Charles, he reprimands her for being “that kind of girl,” and “just like the rest.” He... (full context)

Memory, History, and Subjectivity Theme Icon

Shawn dumps Sadie and starts seeing an old girlfriend named Erin. When Charles and Sadie start going out, Shawn becomes irate. He takes Tara on a drive through... (full context)

...screams at her for “pretend[ing] to be saintly and churchish” while secretly “pranc[ing] around with Charles like a prostitute.” (full context)

...to obtain his GED. When Tara and Shawn attend a play at the local theater, Charles is there, and he asks Tara to go to the movies. She agrees. After their... (full context)

...them. Nevertheless, that night, she puts the clothes on in preparation for her date with Charles. They go out every night that week for burgers and ice cream, but never have... (full context)

One night, driving to his house to watch a movie, Charles—at last, for the first time—reaches for Tara’s hand. She longs to hold his hand, but... (full context)

Charles is Tara’s first real, true friend from “that other world”—the world her father has been... (full context)

...leaves to return to BYU is a Sunday, and she decides to spend it with Charles rather than going to church. She has an earache, and Charles asks what she’s taken... (full context)

Tara has designed her fall schedule with Charles’s help. She finds herself enjoying her music and religion classes but struggling greatly with algebra.... (full context)

...class, regardless of their previous grades. Up for the challenge, Tara goes home and calls Charles—she tells him that she is coming home for Thanksgiving and needs his help with algebra. (full context)

When Tara arrives back home, Mother is already cooking the Thanksgiving meal. Charles is coming for dinner—and Shawn is in a mood about it. As Tara lays out... (full context)

Charles comes over for dinner, and Shawn continues behaving badly. He brags about his gun collection... (full context)

Charles leaves. Several hours later, he calls Tara and asks her to meet him at church.... (full context)

...Shawn drive to the grocery store for a snack. In the parking lot, Tara spots Charles’s Jeep. Embarrassed by her filthy work clothes and dirty hair and face, Tara tells Shawn... (full context)

...in Tara’s dorm with her. She also receives an instant message from her old friend Charles, and they briefly catch up. When she tells him that she’s still struggling with her... (full context)