Perks Of Being A Wallflower Essay

And I don’t know what it is.” (137) throughout the story, getting more and more concentrated towards the end. Charlie engages in spirals of thought, often leading in him to abandon some letters, “I have to stop doing this, I am getting to sad.” (168) and his negative character development begins to be the driving plotline of this story.

‘If people were rain, I was a drizzle and she was a hurricane.’ Miles Halters feelings about his what he thinks is the love of his life Alaska Young in John Greens Looking for Alaska could quite easily be mistaken for words spoken by Charlie about secret love Sam in the popular film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower directed by the writer of the book Stephen Chbosky. Both Green and Chbosky chose to place their young protagonists in confronting yet relatable situations in which they must confront death and love all while struggling their way through high school at the same time which not only impacts themselves but those close to them as well. Both books enlighten the readers with the important themes of emotional sanity, love and belonging.

Charlie is very far from what most people call normal: he is shy, introverted, awkward, independent, paranoid, confused, respectable and kind; showing many examples of this throughout the book. He keeps to himself for the most part and is constantly in his own head. Aside from the many negative traits he also has many attributes: he is a loyal friend and listens to the people he talks to, he is a caring person and comforts those in need. However he has his flaws as well: Charlie can get very angry and upset at others which causes him to lash out with violence or sadness, he is extremely sensitive, crying frequently and constantly questioning himself. Several of his peers labeled him as nerd or a weirdo, which damaged

At the beginning, Charlie is without friends and is rather alone. He is very gifted and quite an overthinker which expels him from the usual teenage social groups. This changes, however, when he meets Sam and Patrick at a football game. They expose him to all new experiences. Resulting from his new friendships, is his relationship with Mary Elizabeth, his experimentations with drugs, and new knowledge of being a person. During this time, he is increasingly happy because Charlie was finally living.

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ fits into the romance and drama genres, but the movie truly shines in its role as a coming of age film. ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ tackles the hardships and pain that growing up can sometimes make you feel, and depicts high school in the most realistic way I have seen for a while. Other coming of age films like ‘Clueless’ and ‘Mean Girls’ portray high school in a sort of innocence, with issues going on in the protagonist’s lives only occurring during their times at school. This film doesn’t sugar coat things. It shows Charlie’s struggles from all different angles of growing up and

However, Charlie’s willingness to engage himself in school events ultimately provides healing; whereas Holden remains stagnant from grief. First, Charlie takes the initiative to be more involved in school. In his first attempt at becoming more outgoing, he meets Sam and Patrick, who later become his best friends. Later, at a party Charlie cries out of joy when Sam and Patrick introduces him as their friend and cries even harder when all of their friends make a toast to him. He says, “I don’t know why they did that, but it was very special to me that they did” (Chbosky 38).

Throughout the story, Charlie begins to have flashbacks of his past life as a child. He starts to recollect childhood memories and begins to recall his mother Rose, his father Matt, and his sister Norma. Throughout these childhood memories, Charlie starts to realize how emotionally

Charlie’s mental and emotional state. Many times in the story one must question his mental state and why he seems to be so sensitive to everything enough to cry. Not to mention at one point he blacks out probably due to the rage he felt at the time of Patrick getting beat up by his ex-boyfriend and his friends (Chbosky pgs. 150-151). It is later shown that Charlie does have PTSD, which is a disorder that develops in some people after a traumatic event in their life. In this case, him being molested by his Aunt as a child and her death on his birthday. As for his emotions they are a roller coaster on their own on page two of the book, he says he is “both happy and sad, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could

The dramatic shift in the protagonists backstory after most of the story has already passed forces the audience to redefines what they think of Charlie. The director invokes those memories getting to know someone who was misunderstood growing up, and shamefully realizing your understanding of them was based on false

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

January 2015, there was a girl who was living in a home filled with fighting causing the tension in the air to be so thick you could cut it with a knife. Being the ripe old age of 15, and being a pastor’s kid, this girl, having only ever known parents who lived together and experienced a seemingly happy life, quickly had to adjust to a life the exact opposite. This girl had to learn to live with her parents at two different addresses, her dad changing professions, not seeing her brother all the time, and hours upon hours of counseling. Within the past year or two, I have had to grow tremendously as a person. As a teenager, we are supposed to be confused with who we are and high school is the time that we are supposed to start finding ourselves,

The main conflict of the story is while he is dating a girl named Mary Elizabeth, he kisses Sam. Sam is Nothing’s step sister. When the two teens were introduced to Charlie at the football game, him and Sam had an instant connection. That night he writes, “I would really like to ask Sam on a date someday. I really would. She is so nice” (pg 21). Charlie characterizes same as very beautiful and nice. Characterization plays a big role in the book as well. Chbosky creates a clear picture of each character in the story through Charlie’s letters. Even though the descriptions aren’t as advanced, because of Charlie’s age, he still is able to create vivid imagery. For example,”Sam has brown hair and very very pretty green eyes. The kind of green that doesn’t make a big deal about itself” (pg

First, Charlie has no shame and does not grasp the concept of privacy, on many occasions he witnesses things that are normally done in private. For example,

Having sold over 2 million copies, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a #1 New York Times Bestseller novel that has captured millions of people’s attention worldwide. Taking place in the early 90’s, a fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie is experiencing his first year of high school. Unfortunately, Charlie has lost his only friend and now has to navigate his own way to fit in. As a person who is naturally withdrawn, Charlie finds himself struggling to discover and maintain his new friendships, love life and sexuality. With the secret of having an abusive childhood, Charlie’s past slowly begins to haunt him. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a spectacular novel because of the cathartic installments, a compelling main character

His Aunt Helen, his favorite person, had been killed when he was seven years old. To better express all of his emotions and help sort through his life, Charlie decides to start writing letters to an unknown character. The story is presented to the reader in the form of Charlie’s letters. One day, Charlie decides to go to the football game at school. This is where we are really introduced to Patrick and Sam.