Charlie In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Though Charlie is an unreliable narrator in both film and novel form, he offers a sense of complete realism. From not quite dysfunctional families to first parties, Perks of Being a Wallflower immortalizes realistic moments in time like listening to a song for the first time in a car with friends. In one of the most memorable scenes from both the novel and the film, Charlie is in the car with Patrick and Sam and they’re driving through the tunnel after a dance. Charlie is there, completely in the moment with them and he says “…in that moment I swear, we were infinite,” (p 80). True reality is seemingly just out of grasp for Charlie until he meets Patrick and Sam. They tether him to reality and, alongside the rest of the “island of misfit toys” (movie quote), enable him to be and feel present in the moment. The narrative of the movie reflects that subtle change as when Charlie begins making friends with the step-siblings, the voice-overs, or Charlie’s inner monologue

I’m a firm believer that movies should always have at least one character that can be considered relatable to the viewer. While most movies do the bare minimum to fulfill this requirement, Perks of Being a Wallflower goes above and beyond. This movie somehow manages to make every single character relatable, no matter your age, gender, sexual orientation or level of academic achievement. At first, I wasn’t sure if the subject matter was appropriate for a teen, feel good movie, however, I now understand why this movie is adored by so many people.

The Perks of being a Wildflower movie is a great demonstration on adolescence and childhood development as it portrays how much we as humans are effected by our early childhood years and how we struggle to make sense of life while navigating through adolescence. We are molded by our environment, but also shaped by the neglect or abuse we suffer as children. The traumatic experiences are life altering and if not dealt with can have dramatic outcomes for our future. The movie has a great story line and walks the audience through the character and identity development of an adolescence. Dissecting Charlies character will be helpful in understanding that part of a human’s life and development.

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ follows shy and kind-natured Charlie Kelmeckis (Logan Lerman- Percy Jackson, The Butterfly Effect) as he enters high school alone, after the recent loss of his middle school best friend to suicide. Charlie gets befriended by seniors Sam (Emma Watson- Harry Potter-Beauty and the Beast) and Patrick (Ezra Miller- Justice League, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and finally feels accepted.

In both the novels Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Chbosky’s the perks of being a wallflower, the main characters Holden Caulfield and Charlie are troubled teens. Although they were teenagers in different time periods they shared many similar teenage difficulties. Both novels portray a male protagonist growing up while struggling to find his identity, while loathing their lives. Thus both novels are of the coming of age genre. Both boys are socially awkward and are not able to integrate into society. In this case, Charlie is insulted by senior students of his high school, “God, that kid is such a fucking freak,” (Chbosky 145). Throughout the novel Holden and Charlie strive to become a part of society. While Charlie

Brad happens to be the high schools very popular quarter back. These characters play a significant role because without they’re influence Charlie would have never been exposed to a world of parties, drugs, high school dances, dates, sexuality, and friendship. Most importantly Sam, Patrick, and Brad helped Charlie see the perks of being a wallflower.

Scott is short, smart and pretty witty, he’s essentially the narrator of the book. He has an older brother and a soon to be born baby brother whom he’s writing a high school “survival guide” of sorts to. Throughout the book we follow this book lover through is first year at J.P. Zenger High. Also, he’s a red head (learned at the very end).

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.

Believing in yourself is one of the most important concepts to focus on when you're in a tough situation. In Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie is put in a situation that he must believe in himself or he would start to go into a deeper state of mind. After Charlie came to realization of what his favorite person, Aunt Helen did to him Charlie had to believe in himself or his therapy and his decisions could have affected his life dramatically. For the therapy to work for Charlie to the fullest he needed to believe that therapy could work and his determination can help him improve quicker. You can't just sit there and put everyone's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love.

For my paper, I am diagnosing Charlie from the film, Perks of Being a Wallflower. Before I delve into Charlie’s diagnosis, I will provide some background information about his character. In the film, Charlie is a 15 year old boy who has recently started high school as a freshman. He lives with both parents, and his sister who is a couple years older than him. Charlie also has a brother who has gone away to college. In school, Charlie is seen to be good with academics, particularly in English, since he has an interest in writing. However, Charlie does not have any friends and his best friend had kill himself in the last year. Furthermore, Charlie is seen to be quite socially awkward around his peers and usually keeps to himself.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a book about the changes teens go through as they mature and the obstacles they face during this time. Charlie comes across changes in his relationships, his own stance in his family, school, and friends, and how he thinks of himself. He learns about his past and makes changes towards how he thinks about himself and why he is who he is.

Every kid who grows up in the suburbs loves to visit the big city. Stephen Chbosky’s novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is based in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that is filled with the problems most suburbs face. Further, Chbosky continuously describes different very troubling mental illnesses which directly and indirectly affect his main character Charlie and all the people around him. Moreover, the proximity in which Charlie lives to the city contributes to his relationships with his friends and family. In the cold suburbs of Pennsylvania, life is different than life in the city, this greatly influences the lifestyle of people throughout the novel.

In "The Perks..." there are a variety of personalities portrayed through the book. Charlie being the "wallflower" of the title, was different from most of the other students at his high school. He understood what most didn 't and didn 't judge anyone for who they are or what they were like; on the contrary, he actually thought about and sometimes asked why they decided to be that way, and there was nothing more to it. Through out the book, entirely composed of letters to an unnamed "friend", he explains how he met eccentric people, like Sam and her step-brother Patrick; two kids a few years older than the at the time freshman Charlie. Sam

In the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character, Charlie, struggles with depression and anxiety as a result of his post traumatic stress disorder. Charlie enters freshman year and has a difficult time meeting people, but a group of seniors become his friends and help him learn more about himself and the world. They take him to parties and give him the high school experience he always wanted.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age film about a 15 year old boy, Charlie, who has been through much trauma. As a freshman Charlie is left with no friends, because of the suicide of his best friend Michael, but he has the support of an english teacher who inspires his dreams of becoming a writer. Eventually, step-siblings Sam and Patrick discover that Charlie is lonely and in need of a friend, so they take him under their wing. Sam, Patrick, and their group of friends have much wisdom about life, because they are older, much of which they share with Charlie. Under the wing of Sam and Patrick, Charlie becomes more excited about life. Although, he still struggles with the side effects of past traumas, and dreads the day his new friends leave for their lives after high school.