Before reading this novel I have to admit that I did expect it to be quite average but after reading this novel I thought it was the most heartfelt, sincere book I have read so far.Great first sentence - I’ve got exactly how you feel about it immediately.
What struck me in this novels was the main character Charlie and his pure abundance of kindness. I thought that as much as Charlie was hurting the thing he most wanted was sheer happiness for the people around him. Eg? I thought this novel was extremely moving and I easily felt sympathy for the characters and what some had enduredEg? What did he endure? Explain and provide examples from the text..
It made think about the fact that we should be nice to people because we never know what
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I really admired Charlie’s character, and his goodwill. He means everything he says and is a very genuine person. “I’m so sorry that I wasted your time because you really do mean a lot to me and I hope you have a very nice life because I really think you deserve it.” This is just one of the many evidence that support this. He truly wanted the best for everyone even if he wasn’t having the best time himself. He understood pain, and wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. Charlie’s ability to recognize aspects around him was amazing however I feel that it also made him very sad.good point Happiness was a huge aspect in this novel. “In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys’ jackets, and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.“ Charlie often wondered if people around him were truly happy and that is what he hoped for. I wonder if the author is saying something here about the masks we all wear, whether it be through the clothes we wear or the job we have or the move we hang out with - through the character of Charlie is the author suggesting that we never really know what is going on behind those ‘masks’?Thoughts like this would constantly run through his …show more content…
good point - everything passes but we are responsible for the choices we make that can lead to our happiness/contentmentThis novel reminded me a lot of the movie “its kind of a funny story”. It surrounds a 16 year old boy named Craig, who is weighed down by adolescence. In both it is about a teenage boy who is struggling with self acceptance, self worth and fitting in. Along with this in both they go on a journey of self acceptance, and fall in love. Although there are significant differences between these two with both I felt had the similar messages portrayed. good linkWhile reading this novel, I could relate to Charlie at times. Especially when he didn’t participate in anything at just kept everything to himself. I learnt from Charlie sometimes getting yourself out there and engage is better than hiding in the background and not participating.well
It is only in the final moments of his intelligence that Charlie begins to forgive his family and receive love. If Charlie wasn’t so curious, and never had a taste of what he thought the light might bring, all good, then every harsh reality check that Charlie had to endure throughout the novella, might have been avoided.
I really rooted for her to save her brother and was surprised at at all the plot twists. The varying point of views can be a somewhat confusing but as the novel progresses, it helps the reader piece together the story. I really liked how the point of views all tied together in the end too. The characters are all very realistic and have their flaws, which helps the reader relate to them. One of my favorite quotes of the book is “Cruelty isn't a personality trait.
Charlie’s friendship with Jasper Jones, his parents, and witnessing the intolerance of Corrigan are the three biggest factors in Charlie's development from innocence to experience. Jasper Jones exposed him to fear and forced him to be brave and face his fears, the rampant intolerance in Corrigan, both racial and otherwise, exposed him to the injustices of the real world, and his relationship with his parents taught him to be diplomatic and control his
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
Charlie changes a lot throughout the book and gets a girlfriend along the way. Charlie shows the most courage
Charlie also learns love in a way to get him better and set him for life. When his mother makes him dig the hole and fill it back up, this is harsh love and will prepare Charlie for later life as it will teach him respect and manners. Charlie deep down knows this is what his mother is trying to teach him, but at the time he just wanted to believe that she was trying to punish, annoy and make him work. Charlie also discovers the love of peers. When Charlie is dragged into the drama of Laura by Jasper he didn’t know if to trust him. But when the truth came out and Jasper wasn’t a part of it, Charlie loved him for telling the truth and being a good friend. Also when Jasper asks Charlie to leave Corrigan with him when they are older, Charlie loves Jasper for the respect and friendship he is giving him. Charlie also sees the act of false love. This is seen by Charlie when he witnesses his mother cheating on his father in the backseat of a car. Charlie knew his parents relationship wasn’t going too well, but he didn’t expect this. He uses this to overcome his mothers power over him. But this example shows us how Charlie has learnt the difference between real love and false love, this will only help him later in life.
As a reader my reaction to the author was really inspiring because even thought he had a hard childhood, he kept his head up and kept doing what he had to do to successes and make his mother happy. Also the way
After the operation, in only a couple of months, Charlie starts showing signs of new intelligence. His grammar, improved, and he is able to reflect on what his does in the past something he wasn’t able to do before. He had finally gotten something use had always desired. Then, everything and everyone turned on him. In “PROGRESS REPORT 12” April 30th (pg. 60) Charlie writes: “now, they hate me for my knowledge and understanding. What in the name of god do they want of me? They’ve driven me out of the factory. Now I more alone than ever before…” Charlie got what he always wanted, and now he lost everything he had. It was a sacrifice it sounded like he didn’t want to make. I can tell just be the tone of his writing. This shows that we should embrace everything that we have. Charlie didn’t embrace everything, although he appreciated most of the thing he never became happy not being able to just enjoy life as it is.
We get to know Charlie through letters he writes to the unnamed “friend”. Charlie has a lot of internal conflicts which he deals with every second of his life. He deals with his best friend’s death and his aunt’s death and his past with his aunt. These internal conflicts make him withdrawn. Moreover, Charlie has a need to tell someone about his life and thoughts, maybe to feel less lonely. In the very start of the story Charlie expresses: “I don’t want you to find me”, which emphasizes that he does not want a concrete person to help him, he only needs to let his thoughts out. Charlie is absolutely a dynamic and round character. He is an intelligent, observant high school freshman who hides his beautiful personality because of having dealt with a lot of trauma in his childhood. Through the relationships he develops over the course of the school year, Charlie suddenly comes out of his shell and grows as a person. For example, what he tells Sam who has also dealt with a troubled past: “Even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there”. However, it is not until the very end of the book that he uncovers the repressed memories of sexual abuse of his aunt that are at the foundation of his internal
Overall, the book is really good and sticks to those three main ideas of courage, weakness and truth throughout it. As both a reader and a writer (I write my own little novels) this book is really goods and i would recommend it to anyone who asks
It is scary when you don’t know anybody and have to try to make new friends. Many of your young childhood friends will stay with you for a lifetime. Today, I am still friends with many of my oldest friends. They have become like family. I want to say that this novel is a great way for people to see how somebody from a diverse population lives. It is a great book from the view of somebody living a completely different life than I have lived. I think it was very well written and is easy to read. This makes it a great teaching tool for children of younger age groups or college students as well. I read this entire book at one sitting because it kept my interest the entire time. I couldn’t wait to see what
Charlie said that because he realized that he used to be just like that kid and that it was not fair to humiliate and harm a person that was born with low intelligence. Another example of how Charlie has become more caring is how at the end of the novel, his note to Miss Kinnian says, “P.P.S. Please if you get a chanse put some flowers on Algernons grave in the back yard …”(306). Making sure that Algernon’s grave has flowers on it is an example of how compassionate he is toward non-human creatures. Finally, Charlie had the courtesy to write a note explaining where he is going and why. That note shows that he doesn’t want
Throughout the novel Charlie’s personality and intelligence level changes a lot. In the beginning Charlie is happy, has friends, he’s retarded, and can’t remember a lot of things. “I fergot his last name because I dont remebir so good.” (Keyes 2),
His meltdown in Alan's office one could have seen from a mile away, with it the ultimate heralding of displacement for Charlie's pain, and final straw to let Charlie live his life alone. (Displacement is but one of many defense mechanisms that involves shifting aggressive or hurtful emotions away from one’s self to a more “acceptable” or less threatening outlet.) Yet for most who watched the movie most likely, Charlie didn't get immediately better right away to their surprise. In honest words taken from an episode of House I once watched, he uttered a line that rings particularly true in this circumstance: "We tell ourselves it helps. To make [them] talk about it. To help... heal. When all you've done is make [someone] cry." After Charlie's reveal of his true past he seems to be by all standards progressing. That is until he sets out to kill himself, if not by his own gun then a police officer's. In all three main areas of his mental make-up Charlie has been both affected and ravaged, his entire being but a husk of what he accomplished four years prior. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is illustrated through Charlie as a life-changer, a psychological diagnosis that alters your entire core of being without proper therapy or treatment. (Diagnosis in
I think that almost all teens go through a certain time of depression, some more than others but Charlie 's is kind of exaggerated I think. I can relate to Charlie though when he cried about losing his beloved Aunt Helen, because of what I went through when my grandfather passed away. I admire how maturely Charlie explained the quote, "I would die for you. But I won 't live for you". His idea that " every person has to live for his/her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people 'participate. '", is very strong and I think makes perfect sense and defines life a little bit. In my opinion also, I think that I and pretty much everyone else is alike Charlie, because we can be open and agree to other 's thoughts. We can all watch, and hear and talk about differing opinions and in the end not really judge the opinions. The fact that Stephen Chobsky chose to create a story about a boy growing up and being labeled different catagories, especially a "wallflower", is an interesting idea. Most authors wouldn 't be so daring to write about something so controversial. And Charlie 's story is controversial; most parents and teachers wouldn 't want their children to read something about the experiences that a boy has in high school, but at some point we have to realize what 's true and false. In the book, I really enjoyed reading the last 30 or so