(opening letters) # 5

In his letters, Charlie leaves his family unnamed in order to preserve his identity. His immediate family consists of his mother, father, older brother, and older sister. Throughout his accounts, Charlie seeks to understand his family and learn more about what motivates their actions and emotions. The family is not very intimate, and they often fight or shield their feelings, only presenting specific versions of themselves to one another. Secrets and lapses, more than anything else, tie his family together; however, Charlie and his relatives do support each other during trying times and take pride in family achievements. The behavior of Charlie's family mirrors the behavior that Charlie sees at school, which causes him additional distress as he tries to become a participant rather than a detached observer. Charlie lives with his parents, he has an older brother and sister, and his favorite person in the whole world was his Aunt Helen.