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The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Coming Of Age Analysis

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The Realization of Passivity “‘Where should I go?' asked Alice. 'That depends on where you want to end up' responded The Cheshire Cat.”(Carroll Lewis) “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky is a phenomenal coming of age novel that depicts how Charlie, the introverted protagonist, develops a new understanding of life. Set in the early 1990s, Charlie narrates his freshmen year of high school experience through an anonymous series of letters to a stranger. He begins the novel isolated by his peers and feeling lonely until he is befriended by Sam and Patrick, two seniors who encourage Charlie to experience new things and life live to its fullest. Charlie is considered to be a wallflower, which is someone who, because of shyness …show more content…

In fact, his passivity is evident, after a fight in the cafeteria involving himself and Sean, the student who was bullying him. A student who witnessed the fight, tells the truth to authorities about what really occurred and how the fight was not Charlie’s fault. Charlie hopes that the student can eventually become friends with him but instead Charlie writes this opportunity off by doing nothing to become friends with this student. This is palpable when Charlie states in his novel, “I was hoping that the kid who told the truth could become a friend of mine, but I think he was just being a good guy”(Chbosky 8). Although Charlie would very much like to have become friends with this student, his passive nature influences him to not do anything about it. Until Charlie recognizes that it is his own passivity that is preventing him from developing relationships and being the person he would like to be, he will remain lonely and ostracized. Consequently, with the guidance of his english teacher, Bill, Charlie learns from his character flaw which helps him be able to thrive in a community he once felt lost in. Bill recognizes Charlie’s wallflower stance and how lonely he is, and spiritually stimulates him to seek new opportunities. Charlie takes this advice by, among other things, writing less letters. “I’m …show more content…

The first symbol is revealed when Sam is speaking to Charlie to truly participate about how it’s not enough to have friends or just be there but that, Charlie really needs to engage with his friends. “It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when somebody doesn’t need a shoulder? What if they need arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things”(Chbosky 200). In other words, Sam uses a shoulder to represent Charlie’s passivity and wallflower status. The shoulder symbolizes his inaction, a stationary anatomy to be leaned on. It symbolizes how Charlie listens and is always there for his friends but the arm symbolizes how Charlie needs to put himself out there; give his opinions, speak up and challenge others, be a man of action, be the “arms”. It demonstrates how he emotionally grew to become a “shoulder” but also how he needs to continue to grow. Undoubtedly, Charlie has become someone who participates in life. This is demonstrated in Charlie’s final letter when he describes his ride through the Fort Pitt tunnel with Sam and Patrick. Instead of overanalyzing his drive through the tunnel as he did the previous times, Charlie allows

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