Being A Wallflower Belonging

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the story of a unique high school student named Charlie and his journey of self-discovery throughout his freshman year. Charlie’s personality changes drastically from the beginning of the book to the end of it; and this is what I want to focus on. First I am going to detail Charlie’s personality at the beginning of the book and then use Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Development, Kohlberg’s theory of Moral Development, Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and an article about adolescent bulling to analyze them. I will then use examples from the book and film to illustrate his growth in the respected areas. Through these major theories of psychology I will show Charlie’s evolution from a wallflower to a human being.

Sociology is the scientific study of being behavior in human groups (Schaefer). There are very many examples of sociology in the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I view alienation, deviance, and gender roles to be the most prominent. This movie is about the struggles of a teenage boy named Charlie’s freshman year of high school. Charlie is seen as a social outcast and he just barely makes it through the year with the help of his best friends Sam and Patrick. Throughout the movie Charlie experiences most of the basic struggles of starting high school and some. This movie is very relateable since it gives a more realistic view of high school for some people. Charlie , and the audience, learns the importance of love and friendship in growing up in today’s society.

Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development of identity versus role confusion explains the position that Charlie is in. In the beginning of the movie, Charlie is this shy, introverted boy, but as he meet new friends, he starts to open up to them and becoming more comfortable in social situations, he has developed a change of who he is. Charlie even stood up for Patrick by punching the two boys, which is something that is very out of the ordinary, and not like what the old Charlie would do. Charlie has been terrified ever since the cafeteria incident, and wonders what kind of person he is. As Charlie turn to Sam for comfort, he develops a sense of connectedness and intimacy with her--intimacy versus isolation. Charlie confides with Sam and asks her if what he did was wrong, and Sam told Charlie that he is a hero for saving Patrick, but Charlie still feels somewhat disrupted from his blackout

The main character Charlie, is a young teenager who is shy, socially awkward, and an introvert who is ready to begin his freshman year of high school. Charlie struggles with his new transition from middle to high school, and he is uncertain what to expect as he prepares to enter this new life event. His social circle is minimal to non-existent while he is dealing with the suicide of his best friend earlier in the year. In addition, he also seems to struggle with the loss of his aunt who was killed in a car accident when he was a young boy. While he does appear to have good family support with his mother, father, older brother and sister. He also appears to

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a novel about coming of age that is seen through the perspective of Charlie, a young ‘wallflower’ that is starting high school and experiences the troublesome teenage life filled with drugs, sexuality and love. Charlie writes this book in a series of letters to an anonymous person. Charlie is the main protagonist of the story who is apprehensive and a kind-hearted boy however he has many problems happening in his life that he doesn’t like to concern others with “I just don’t want you to worry about me, or think you’ve met me, or waste your time anymore”. I admire Charlie because he is very considerate of others and although he is shy he overcomes this fear when he tries to find friends and step out of his comfort zone” Normally I am very shy, but (Patrick) seemed like the kind of guy you could just walk up to at a football game even though you were three years younger and not popular”. In return Charlie is rewarded with his first real friend at high school. I also admire Charlie for his mature attitude towards finding new friends and moving on from the death of his friend Michael. Charlie really needed to start interacting more with people, during the story we find out that Charlie misses having a friend and that being alone can be difficult and cause negative effects “It would be very nice to have a friend again. I would like that even more than a date”. I think

The book is like a life map for struggling teenagers in high school and could be beneficial on making them feel better about themselves. Charlie expresses the feeling of relief Patrick has when he first has relations with another male; “Patrick said it was like the weight of the whole world left both their shoulders” (Chbosky 43). Charlie stating what Patrick says may give some teenagers courage to come out to some people, or maybe just let someone know. Patrick is a very influential person in Charlie’s life; he makes Charlie actually feel like good about himself. When Charlie begins to cry, they made a toast; “I didn’t know why they did that, but it was very special to me that they did” (Chbosky 38). The book is a feel-good novel that helps teenagers in a time of

Perks of Being a Wallflower Investigative Essay Different mediums of creative outlets such as music, books, and movies, often guide people through their lives. Various texts translate meaning into any circumstance, and allow discoveries to be made in order to deepen understanding of not only oneself, but of the world around as well. In Stephen Chbosky’s, Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main protagonist Charlie, finds himself discovering a plethora of new experiences, from his own sexuality, to the use of drugs. These experiences are often guided by different pieces of literature provided by his teacher and mentor, Bill. Likewise, works of music and movies provided by his closest friends Sam and Patrick, allow Charlie to discover himself throughout

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, is about teenage freshmen in high school, Charlie. So far throughout the book, we see that Charlie is not the most popular kid in school, nor is he a "loser geek. " Charlie is more of the shy quiet boy who doesn't find the time to socialise and remains the intelligent invisible freshmen. However, we see all this escalate.

For the vast majority of graduating seniors, freshman year is repeatedly picked as one’s worst year. Going into freshman year, I watched the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which recalled one boy’s adventure through freshman year facing repetitive bullying, peer pressure, and mental illness. Little did I know, my first year of high school would be filled with the same memories and struggles that Charlie had, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower would quickly become my favorite movie for both its personal impact and the meaning it has for high school students nationwide. As I eased into freshman year, bullying and stress took over on a regular basis.

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age novel about a 15-year-old boy, Charlie, who is unable to repress any emotions. The novel was first released on 1999 by MTV Books. It has quietly sold nearly half a million copies.1

In experiencing these tragic moments, Charlie goes completely dull and emotionless. He is internally distorted by which the depression that consumes him. As time moves along, Charlie finds his “calling” in high school after meeting Sam and Patrick, or I like to call them “the misfits”. These two supporting characters take Charlie completely under the wing and expose him to things like drugs and explicit sexual content to relieve stress. Sam and Patrick show Charlie to let loose and find temporary happiness fore, they believe that lasting happiness is truly non existent. Charlie grows from an attitude of pessimism to optimism after finding that happiness differs from everyone. I personally believe there were two points of climax in this story line, one where Charlie and Sam share a moment in Sam’s bedroom. Sam states “...If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am…”(Chbosky 201). I believe this moment shows great growth significance because a Charlie has never felt such an intimate love for

Opposed to the other ideas within the texts, Chbosky, Boden and Fleck use the same stylistic feature of first person perspective to convey this idea to the reader. Throughout The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky illustrates that Charlie would do anything for his sister. From Charlie’s personal perspective, he retells the events and dialogue between himself and his sister. Charlie said “[his sister’s boyfriend] wound up and hit [his sister] hard across the face…she said…not to tell mum and dad what happened’. Here, it is made clear to the reader that despite this awful incident, he (Charlie) does not tell his parents about it as a result of his unconditional care for her.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age epistolary novel written by American novelist Stephen Chbosky set in the suburbs of Pittsburgh in the 1990's (Wikipedia, 2012). It follows the life of a teenage boy named Charlie.

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of being a Wallflower is an explicit coming of age novel that gives teenagers a sense of relation with the 16 year old protagonist, Charlie. This book was a bestseller in the year 1999. This book definitely has a more mature content and is very straight to the point, it includes drug usage from parties, sex, and violence. Although this book has explicit content, definitely do not let that distract you from the story.

The struggle to belong and find one’s place is significant in the lives of some people.