Trust

Unlike the residents in Charles’ town, he happens to be the one person who looks pass Mr. McLeod’s face. However, his familiarity with Mr. McLeod evolved over time due to his ability to gradually become responsive to authority. Throughout Charles’ life people always spoke at him instead of to him. People such as his mother and Gloria only saw the little child that he was instead of the actual person inside, who was seeking comfort and help. They bossed him around, but never truly understood him or took the time out to nurture and help his fragile heart. He lacked a father figure and sought the answers through his spacing out, which involved his dreaming about different things. When he met Mr. McLeod, he was resistant towards McLeod’s authority because he was not used to submitting to it. He was used to taking orders from women, but not a man. Men represent strength and power, and he was able to gradually become responsive to these characteristics through his strengthened trust and shared experiences with McLeod.

                Charles’ ability to let his defiance slowly fade, allowed him to listen to authority which was facilitated by the trust that he had in McLeod. Charles was in search of a father figure. He needed stability and a reliable source to provide him with help when he needed it. Charles had a need, and that need was to get help in passing his Latin exam. Growing up, parents are the first people who children usually go to for help because they seem to have the answers, or they’re capable of providing us with the necessary resources to help us with something. Charles subconsciously sought to get help from McLeod for academic reasons, but also for the emotional element of himself. Along with Charles becoming more knowledgeable in his studies, he also came to trust McLeod through his personal experiences. Initially, Charles had his guard up when he went to McLeod. Progressively, Charles decided to let go of his defiance and listen to McLeod. His first act of trust was when he dug the holes. He allowed himself to listen and see the outcome. He took a risk, because in his mind he thought that digging holes was absolutely absurd. He didn’t understand the concept or outcome of digging holes, but he took a chance, and this chance derived from his willingness to trust McLeod. Charles’ trust of McLeod grew further when he started to share experiences with McLeod. The act of friendship is developed through trust and experience, and this is what Charles and McLeod encountered. Charles started to see that the town’s perception of McLeod did not match up with the person that he saw. McLeod played with him, taught him, cared for him, listened to him, and rewarded him. As they spent time with each other, they were more inclined to trust one another because they were exposed to each other’s personalities. Through the sharing of time, they not only got to know each other but they had to sacrifice their time for each other. Their relationship evolved into a fondness for each other, and they began to truly trust each other based on their willingness to become vulnerable and through their experiences.

                McLeod is so serious about Charles making his own judgment to discern whether the rumors are true because McLeod wants to see if Charles really has the capacity to believe these rumors despite all the genuine experiences they had together. It’s easy for Charles to resort to rumors that the majority upholds. But McLeod does not want Charles to do this. He wants him to depend on his own reasoning and understanding of their relationship to make his decision. Compared to the people in the town, Charles knows McLeod, and he knows the type of person he is. Those townspeople don’t know him, nor did they ever take the time to get to know him. Their judgments are based off of their own opinions and are not true because they have never spent time with McLeod. Whereas, Charles came to trust and open himself up to McLeod. He went to him when he had no one else to turn to, and McLeod served as a shoulder to lean on. He never dared hurt or take advantage of Charles, which is why he didn't want Charles to automatically believe the misrepresentations. Instead, McLeod wants Charles to turn to his understanding of whom McLeod is and not other people’s notions of him.