TRWR: How does Charlie Bauer help the citizens of Jewel?

Charlie’s childhood was difficult. Her mother died birthing her. Her Mennonite father considered her a punishment. She didn’t resemble her mother and she challenged her father at every turn. She was smart and loved to read, but the Bible was the only book her father allowed her to read. He only sent her to school because it was the law. Charlotte would sneak books home and read at night by candlelight. He caught her with Jane Eyre and the confrontation ensued during a thunderstorm. She ran out into the storm and hoped he would rescue her or she would be struck by lightning. Neither happened. “But what Charlotte truly suspected was that deep down he wished her dead for not being the child he wanted.” She left Jewel at eighteen and became a lawyer. She used the pain of her childhood for good and spent most of her career defending the defenseless, including a number of Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps in California.

Over the years, Charlie learned to see the beautiful in herself and she tried to look at others with the same forgiving eye. Angie saw Charlie as “a kindred spirit, independent, strong and outspoken.” Knowing the animosity of some residents to the Bluestones, Charlie warned Kyoko of the dangers to herself because of the remote location of the farm. She comforted Colleen when the cinnamon bread burned and Colleen blamed herself in not being able to do anything right. Charlie lets her know that everyone makes mistakes and there are always second chances with bread. Charlie refused to give up on Noah, despite his unwillingness to cooperate, but continued to investigate in hope of finding evidence to free him. In various other ways, Charlie is a supportive presence and confidante.

Charlie suffers from injustice in her childhood by having a father that rejects her and wants her to conform to his idea of a good child at the expense of who she is. He wants her to obey, not be independent. He doesn’t want her educated or “contaminated” with books outside the bible, and ultimately he doesn’t love her. She instinctively knows this. So I think she understands all the complicated emotions like rejection, feeling defenceless against authority (she is defiant with her father when she runs into the storm but she also risks her life). As Nancy outlines she helps many of the people in the town both with her legal services and being a confidant. I’d add Marta to the list. By hearing her secret she can ease Marta’s burden and also put all the pieces around Jimmy’s death together. Ultimately, Charlie brings compassion and courage to the law, which is why the citizens of Jewel trust and respect her.

Charlie knows what it is to be an outsider and what it takes to move forward with one’s life. Tara and Nancy reference her childhood and her father. Charlie turned that into a career defending vulnerable people and often losing causes.

In Jewel, Charlies is both outsider and insider. She is trusted and accepted as counselor, confidant and consoler because of her connection to the people of Jewel. She is willing and able to defend Noah Bluestone because she is also comfortable with being an outsider.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 2 days ago by Jane Baechle.