What are some of the rites of passage in Jasper Jones?

Charlie must choose to do the right thing.Charlie has to plead ignorance when the townspeople begin to search for Laura. In a variety of circumstances, Charlie could have helped the search and told the truth about where Laura was (as he and Jasper had placed her body at the bottom of a dam). For instance, he was once at a town meeting about Laura's death where someone threw out Jasper's name, causing Charlie to feel guilty. Though in this case, Charlie realized that keeping quiet really had saved Jasper.

The second reason is that Charlie gradually grows closer to Laura's sister Eliza and often wants to tell her what he knows. Because Charlie knows that Eliza would want to know what happened to her sister, he is conflicted about keeping his promise, often wondering what the right thing to do is given his circumstances.