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I recently saw a post that said Charles doesn’t have anger issues, just trauma, and something about it rubbed me the wrong way. The point they were making was valid-ish, how anger isn’t the core part of his character and his anger comes from how messed up his childhood is, but the way they said it painted anger as this evil and vile thing, which is incredibly harmful to people who do struggle with it.
No, Charles’ trauma is not his core, but it does make up a large part of how he interacts with life (death). Anyone who has been through a lot of trauma will tell you that it colours every aspect of your life, and it takes time to work through it. Charles’ anger is not a bad thing, he should be allowed to be angry to let out everything he keeps inside, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t struggle with that anger.
He grew up in a violent household, that affects someone. He has a complicated relationship with anger, and that means he pushes it down until he snaps. That’s an anger issue. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, he’s probably the kindest person in the show (besides maybe Niko).
Anyway, I mean no hate to the person whose post I saw, I just felt the need to address it. Our society treats anger as if it is an evil trait (see Edwin’s reaction. That was extreme, he says. That’s how people view anger, and it’s wrong), and to see Charles struggle with his anger issues but ultimately be such a good person is very gratifying for those of us that also struggle in similar ways. Maybe someone smarter than me can put it better, but I needed to get this out.
Charles Rowland has anger issues, and that’s okay