THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
Czarina Ann B. Baptisma
Hum St 25
Ma’am Odal-Devora
October 18, 2013
INTRODUCTION
Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age novel about a 15-year-old boy, Charlie, who is unable to repress any emotions. The novel was first released on 1999 by MTV Books. It has quietly sold nearly half a million copies.1
Stephen Chbosky was born on January 25, 1970 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Upper St. Clair, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program in 1992, which is where he received his Bachelor of the Fine Arts degree. He is an American novelist, screenwriter and film director.
His
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They eventually break up because she got pregnant and he dumped her. She graduates second in her class. There is a specific memory that Charlie has when his family was watching the last episode of M*A*S*H and the feeling he got of how everyone was bonding and how much he loved it. He also explains how this bonding hasn't happened again until everyone gathered around the television to watch Charlie's brother play football together.
At school, Charlie finds a friend and mentor in his English teacher, Bill. He also overcomes his chronic shyness and approaches a classmate, Patrick, and his stepsister Sam, become two of Charlie's BFFs. Charlie’s new found friends – Sam, Patrick, Mary Elizabeth and Bob - aren't exactly popular and are outcasts themselves. They are all seniors and often hang out at the Big Boy except Bob who doesn't go to school.
During the course of the school year, Charlie has his first date and his first kiss, he deals with bullies, he experiments with drugs and drinking, and he makes friends, loses them, and gains them back. Sam and Patrick smoke very often. Charlie likes Sam a lot but she begins to date an older boy named Craig, until she learns he has been cheating on her the whole time. Craig's friend, Peter, told him enough was enough and that if Craig didn't tell Sam, he would. He ended up telling her and they broke up. Patrick is homosexual. His partner, Brad, is a closeted homosexual that has to abuse drugs
Scott overhears Kelly, Julia’s best friend, asking Julia is she finished her book review. The only people that do book reviews is the club that writes the school newspapers. Therefore, Scott decides to join the school newspaper club, so he can try to get closer to Julia, only to learn that Julia was a guest and never actually joined the club. Scott also finds out that Kelly and Julia are planning to join the drama club. By giving Scott another chance to get closer to Julia, he decides to join the drama club. After a horrible performance, Scott joins the stage crew, later to find out that Julia did not even make the cut. After failing twice trying to get closer to Julia, Scott finds out that Julia is running for student council. So again, Scott decided to run too. As usual, Julia does not make student council and Scott does. With piles of homework, a new baby brother on the way, and tons of activities to do Scott is barely getting enough sleep. After learning how hard starting high school was for him, Scott decides to start a survival guide for his upcoming younger brother. Later in the year, a new girl, named Lee, comes to J.P. Zenger High
The two kids teach Charlie about life, and how to enjoy it. During that time, he develops a crush on Sam, which led to the disbandment of their squad. Charlie must wait it off and think about what he has done, and also wonder what he will do after his friends graduate. The internal conflict is that Charlie must learn to cope with what will happen to his friends after graduation and the feelings of puberty, which is also his external conflict. The main conflict was that he near jeopardized his friendship with his friends, and the outcome was that he waited it out and led to everything being
Gene and Phineas, two contrasting sixteen year olds, are roommates at a boarding school, the Devon School. After meeting for the first time, Gene and Phineas, whose nickname is Finny, engage in several adventures together. These adventures include a treacherous jump from a tree, which only the seventeen year olds do as a requirement for graduation. Gene and Finny also travel to the beach, wrestle with each other, and play a made - up game, blitzball. From the outside in, these activities might paint a picture of a growing friendship, but time will tell otherwise.
To begin Laurie came home from the first day and was definitely frustrated. Charles came home and his” voice suddenly became raucous” (Jackson, 345). On the first day of school Laurie told his parents about a boy who received a spanking due to him not obeying the teacher. Charlie was extremely creative coming up with a whole new persona to tell his parents about.
‘We accept the love we think we deserve.” Whether you like or dislike Perks of Being a Wallflower, this one phrase can seriously make you wonder. The book may not be to your personal liking, but the least any one person can do is actually read through the entire book instead of immediately stereotyping it without reading a page.
Charlie begins to hang out with Sam and Patrick and is getting in the routine of going to football games and then going out afterwards to celebrate. Afterwhile he catches feelings for Sam and the way he expresses them further deepens our understanding of his depression. Instead of going with the flow and not telling her about the dreams he had about her, he professes his love for her in the form of sharing his dreams and telling her just how he feels. Perhaps, this isn’t all his fault because when Sam tells him that she’s too old for him, he becomes obsessed with his love for her and can’t stop thinking about how perfect she is in his eyes. The only thing this confession has done for him is make his feelings grow and send him in a downward spiral of
Teenagers today face a number of problems, ranging from peer pressure and alcohol, to depression and rape. These severe topics can have an intense effect on a growing child, now, and in the future. Many modern teenagers face the daily struggles of harmful situations, and the good and bad in them. In The Perks of Being a Wall Flower, Charlie faces almost every bad situation imaginable, in a heart breaking and realistic coming of age story. Charlie does not have the grandest high school experience, but the book represents the harsh and cruel reality of what so many students face today. Charlie, also being on the unclear side of what he was experiencing, was also hit hard with the outcomes of his actions. Drugs, alcohol, and sexual interaction contributed to the difficult standards that are held to growing students, in their fight to fit in. Every teen has faced the harsh reality of peer pressure and abuse, which takes a harsh effect on its victims. In the beginning of the story, Charlie faces the death of one of his friend Michael, to suicide. Starting the beginning of Charlie?s coming of age story, also known as a freshman in high school. Throughout the book, peer pressure, substance abuse, the fight to be normal, and the hope to have friends in the first place pushed Charlie to take the wrong path in some situations. Charlie?s coming of age story represents the teenage life today
Everything was the same, well except for Finn and Jessica. Finn was Charlie’s best friend since before he could remember, and Jessica was the love of Charlie’s life. “Hey Charlie boy!” Finn shouted. “Hi Charlie.” Jessica murmured timdly. “Hey guys. Man this place stinks, and I’ll just never get used to waking up every morning for something I hate.” Charlie grunted. “I hate it too man, but my Pops would kill me if I didn't get good marks, and I mean kill me.” Finn explained. “Same here Charlie, I don’t think anyone really likes school, but I do well anyways. You know maybe we could all study together sometime.” Jessica said. Charlie jumped on this opportunity to hang with Jessica outside of school. “Yes! I mean um...sure I will see if I can.” Charlie eagerly said. Charlie glanced around and noticed a guy standing against a locker down the hall. “Hey guys, I should probably get to class.” Charlie said skeptically. “What do you mean Charlie? There is still 10 minutes until class starts.” Finn questioned. “ I just got to go man!” Charlie said. As Charlie approached the boy against the locker, he reached into his bag for the money he
Charlie is asked to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Since they are dating, everyone thought that he was going to kiss Mary Elizabeth, they were wrong. Charlie kissed Sam and this caused problems in their friendship. Patrick tells Charlie that it is a good idea for him to stay away from them for a little bit until things cool off. Charlie is all alone again and his flashbacks slowly start coming back.
However, he tries to listen to his father, but it results in him acting impulsively and temporarily ruining his relationships with others (p. 135). With the help of his friends, he eventually learns that it is okay to feel the way he does and think the way he does. Patrick’s stepsister, Sam, is instrumental in teaching Charlie to be honest with himself and others, including recognizing, expressing, and even acting on his emotions (p.
Published in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower has won several literary awards from the American Library Association- the ALA Best Books for Young Adults award in 2000, the ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults award in 2002, and the ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers award in 2000 ("YALSA's Book Awards”). Steven Chbosky primarily works as a screenplay writer and director. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was the first novel he wrote and is one of the most popular novels amongst male readers. Charlie is said to resemble Duncan, one of Chbosky’s earlier characters that was created for The Four Corners of Nowhere, Chbosky’s first film, which he wrote and directed (Shuman). There are several controversial topics explored in
Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of being a Wallflower is an explicit coming of age novel that gives teenagers a sense of relation with the 16 year old protagonist, Charlie. This book was a bestseller in the year 1999. This book definitely has a more mature content and is very straight to the point, it includes drug usage from parties, sex, and violence. Although this book has explicit content, definitely do not let that distract you from the story.
After the death of his best friend and his aunt, Charlie faces new struggles when he arrives for his first day of high school. He meets Patrick and Sam, who become his friends. Charlie did not know it at first, but meeting Patrick and Sam would have a great influence on his future. His two friends attempt to bring stability in his life and
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.
In the first few weeks of school Laurie came home full of stories about Charles, the class rebel. Charles was rude to the teacher, hurt some of the other students, and yelled so loudly that it disrupted other classes in the school. He even hit the teacher, and kicked a presenter that came into their class. During those same weeks, Laurie’s behavior grew worse, mirroring Charles’ problems at school. He became loud and insolent,