Charles' parents

Mrs Manders cares about status but not her son

Mrs Manders is Charles’ mother in “The Happiest Days of Your Life” by Penelope Lively.  One of her key characteristics is that she is preoccupied with appearance and status - two elements which seem to be linked in her mind. 

We see Mrs Manders paying attention to her own or other people’s appearances and clothing throughout the story. For example, she thinks about how she will have to dress at future school events: “ ‘Sally says it’s quite dressy – she bought that cream linen coat for coming here.’ ” (p. 56, ll. 17-18). This suggests that Mrs Manders is concerned with fitting in, which also implies that she sees clothing as a symbol of social status.

Mrs Manders constantly evaluates the way other people ...