Perks Of Being A Wallflower Trauma Essay

The novel translates our problems into real life by showing us how people can, without knowing it, emotionally abuse others because of their lack of knowledge or decisions they have made. The main character Kate, in her adulthood, sees Matt (her older brother) as an unhappy man - because he was unable to follow through with his university dreams. Kate, later attends university expanding her knowledge past that of her brother Matt’s making her feel as if she cannot speak to him in the same way that she used to. At one point in her adulthood Kate said “He was waiting for me to go on, to describe my work to him, but I could not bring myself to do that” (Lawson 275). This connects with the subject matter of emotional abuse because Kate is hurting her older brother Matt. She does not realize that he wants to speak with her and have a relationship with her - she feels that because of her university education she cannot interact with him any more. In the real world many people face emotional abuse. People are ostracized for many reasons including level of intellect or the decisions they have made. Family members and close friends have changed their loved one’s lives because of their opinions on them. In the article Nature vs. Nurture: Mental Illness Triggered By Life Events And Not Through Genetics it is stated that “despite the fact that genetics can potentially influence the individual's mental health, traumatic events are still considered as the most influential factor”. The traumatic event of their parent’s dying resulted in Matt making bad decisions and then later not going university as a result. This caused the greatest tragedy in the novel; the loss of the relationship between Kate and Matt. Kate began to speak less with Matt and when she came to visit him he suffered from anxiety, lack of sleep, etc.. Kate stopped talking to Matt even though

Moreover, Rosemary takes advantage of the children’s personalities by asking to forgive her for her extraordinary selfishness. Although the children are provided with a voice to forgive, Rosemary’s voice overpowers their identity. In comparison, psychological analysis supports how difficult it is to identify emotional and psychological abuse. The fact that the children have undergone such a heartbreaking experience, it does not mean the experience can be easily identified or treated because of its abstract nature. The victims of emotional abuse can only tell a story; they cannot transfer an exact replica of their experience to the person that is treating them. Jeannette and her siblings too, can only tell a story of how emotional abuse took away their voice. That being said, victims of emotional abuse in reality often should require psychological therapy, but, The Glass Castle optimistically shows that the children did not require treatment because the author herself seeks treatment through writing the book

For example, Jacobs describes her experiences being sexually abused by her master, Dr. Flint. Her life is consumed by fear, as she is constantly worrying

A person has been exposed to a traumatic event. For Charlie, there were two childhood instances that could count as “trauma.” First, he was sexually abused by his Aunt Helen as a child, a person he considered really close and important to him, “She was my favourite person in the world.” Second, she was killed around Christmas while driving to buy his present. As he loved her, the death had a toll on him. Another source of trauma is the death of his junior high friend by suicide. He describes

It can be very upsetting to find out that sexual abuse is happening in your family. Sibling sexual abuse remains one of the last taboos to be addressed by the society- and as such, it is rarely discussed in the media, or even among survivors themselves. It comes as a shock to many people that children can present a risk to other children, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that children (even children within families) can post a very real risk. (Leder, 1991). Abuse situations similar to Tina’s can be attributed to her mother’s marriage to John’s father. Because sibling sexual abuse is often very harmful and when sexual abuse is perpetrated by a sibling, in many ways, it is even harder to break the silence, and there are certainly some special reasons that made Tina’s abuse especially difficult to disclose.

A trait that stands out in the book is the symptom of bodily memories. In Melinda’s case, during a frog dissection in her science class, she remembers the opening up and even says, “She doesn’t say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut – I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, feel the leaves in my hair.” (81). One of the other symptoms that Melinda has is self-harm. The first time that this is shown in the book, Melinda says this, “I open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper, a peep?” (87). Melinda also has a hard time talking to her parents about the rape to which she says, “How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start?” (72). Some victims recover from such a traumatic experience, while others don’t and live a lifetime of depression and must undergo intense therapy. In Melinda’s case, she finds redemption by talking to her parents and the guidance counselor, and putting her faith into her teachers, friends, and her art project at school. Because rape can affect anybody anywhere, everyone should be aware of the circumstances, and how to deal with it.

In the novel ,The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character, Charlie, adores his Aunt Helen who has had a very time with men in her life. Growing up, Aunt Helen was molested by a friend of the family. When she finally told her parents, they didn't believe her. They did nothing to stop it, and even continued inviting the man into their home. Eventually, Aunt Helen grew up and got away.

“It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini: I compare the “Perks of Being a Wallflower” to this novel because they’re very similar in the themes and what the author is trying to get across. Both novels are about teenagers and the struggles of adolescents and they go through the lives of each teen. These authors have similar techniques in writing and I think that they both have the same mindset which is part of what interested me. It also caught my attention that both books mention suicide in a way. Stephen writes about “Charlie” dealing with the suicide of his friend while Ned writes about “Craig” dealing with thoughts of suicide.

An adult who functions inappropriately in society victimizes a childhood sexual abuse victim. When the victim spirals into shame and guilt related to PTSD, as a child or an adult, their emotions and actions will affect the society they come into contact with. What is hoped to be understood is that childhood sexual abuse does not only effect the short term. Those that do not have a healthy relationship to turn to in order to disclose the abuse will come to an end where their daily life is consumed by guilt and shame.

Impact of Abuse And Effect of Trauma: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being A Wallflower D. Wilfin John M.Phil. Department of English St. John’s College Palayamkottai “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered” -Michael J. Fox Psychology which is said to be the scientific study of human psyche helps in analyzing the unconsciousness in human mind. When human behavior is analyzed signs of abnormalities can be traced. An individual’s personality depends upon the variation level between normal and abnormal behavior and if the abnormalities exceeds in a varied proportion it is said to be disintegrated personality.

“In their controversial 1998 meta-analytic study, Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman concluded that the harm resulting from childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is not necessarily intense or pervasive, and that the consensus that CSA is associated with long-term maladjustment is flawed” (Heusser & Elkonin 2014). However, according to Briere and Elliott (2003), child sexual abuse and the effects it have on someone have been studied over the last three decades. Because of the growing literature when it comes to the subject, it is safe to specify that on-going psychological problems among those who have been sexually abused as a child are more common than those who have been fortunate enough to not had those traumatic events occur to them. As a child, when something as traumatic as being sexual abused occurs, they usually are silent about the acts because they may feel as if it is their fault that something like that happened to them. They are also silenced by their abuser, which in many cases is someone they know, like a close relative or babysitter with them making promises to them. The promises can either be negative or positive; a positive promise would be buying their silence by actually getting them whatever it is that they may want, whereas the negative promise being that they may harm them physically or promising that an adult would not believe them if they told. In most cases, children who have been traumatized see the world as a frightening and dangerous place. When childhood trauma is not resolved, a sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, which can possibly lead to further trauma. Because of the tardiness of being bought to one's attention and the negative aspect of the memory, it

Semiotic ideas connect and allow us to dissect many aspects of the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. One important semiological idea is that of “The Lacanian Model”. Through this model, a subject undergoes events that lead them towards the entrance to the symbolic order and the birth of Desire. According to Lacan, a French psychoanalyst, entrance into the symbolic order is predicated as steps that include, birth, territorialization, and lack, the imaginary, signification, and the entry into the symbolic order. The entrance into the symbolic order is marked by a succession of losses and is defined by lack.

Helen evidently has PTSD from the rape she experienced over twenty years ago. Since the topic of the trauma itself has been avoided most of her life, it has been easy for her to repress the memories which have been lying dormant in her unconscious mind. Revisiting the place of the rape triggered memories, emotions, and thoughts associated with the traumatic event which caused her to experience symptoms of PTSD. Her PTSD symptoms are a reaction to a situational variable demonstrated by her unconscious defenses as her memories came back into her conscious mind. Strean (2000)

Everyone has a movie that helped them through a specific time in their life. Either they watched it over and over again, or it was related to what they are going through. Perks of Being a Wallflower is the movie that influences me the most. This movie is continuing to help me deal with my journey of being in high school. I relate to Perks of Being a Wallflower because I was a scared freshman, watched my senior friends graduate, and now I am the older sister to a freshman.

One in six boys in the United States have experience childhood sexual abuse by the time they are 18 years old. The effects of childhood sexual abuse can be long-lasting and is a huge public health problem. There is a belief that male victims of sexual abuse do not suffer from the same negative impact that female victims do and we, as a society seem to turn a blind eye and minimize the impact when it comes to male victims. However, there is empirical support that shows men, like women, who experience sexual assault may suffer from mental and physical health problems as a result of sexual abuse which can lead to a variety of problems which includes internalizing and externalizing problems such as depression and anxiety, shame, fear, embarrassment, aggression, drug and alcohol addiction, avoidance, and low self-esteem. Sexual abuse is painful and traumatic no matter who it happens to, but males who have been sexually abused often delay disclosure and carry their feelings around in silence or use avoidance coping strategies so they can try and live a normal life.