Family Life in the Short Story "The Chamer"

Family Life in “The Charmer”
“The Charmer” by Budge Wilson is a remarkable short story about a typical Canadian family that is faced with misfortune, lose and a mountain of emotions. Winifred narrates the story in third person, though throughout the story she seems to go unnoticed in the household unless beckoned upon by her oldest and only brother Zachary. Budge Wilson uses Zachary’s charming personality, smothered upbringing and improper behaviour to concoct critical circumstances in an otherwise stable family.
The misfortune in the family begins when Zachary develops a temper; he constantly charms his way out of any consequences with his devilishly good looks and flattering word choices. Zachary is lead to believe that he can get through life by using his good looks, and he is not taught how to handle hardship or how to control his temper. Not only was Zachary smothered with love and affection by his mother his younger sisters also idolised him and were easily talked into doing anything   “How be you wash my bike for me, Posie, Love?" I would be halfway to the kitchen for bucket and rags before he stopped speaking… I was Zachary's willing slave. Slavery in fact, was a vogue in our house"(Wilson, 101). By constantly receiving favours he did not learn to appreciate what is actually being done for him, which later results in a disheveled and lost young man. Winifred is the first to realize that Zachary’s actions where in fact sneaky and slimy and not at how she remembered them as a child. She begins to feel less pity and perhaps a bit of jealous when she says   "The kind of dramatic repentance has a lot more clout than simple, everyday good behaviour, and he really knew how to bring it off" (Wilson, 103).
The dreaded day when Lizzie is diagnosed with leukemia really takes a toll on the family and they all spend the majority of their time at the hospital trying to keep her spirits high with the exception of Zachary who was often out gambling or drinking. Lizzie...