The Perks of being a Wallflower
Author/Setting
Stephen Chbosky wrote the novel The Perks of being a Wallflower in the 1990’s and published the book in 1999. He enjoys horror and fantasy novels and he was greatly influenced by novel The Catcher in the Rye. The story is written in letters from a teenager boy named Charlie who is also the narrator. He writes letters to the reader about all the problems and things going on in his life. My friend referred this book to me and I enjoyed how it kept me at the edge of my seat. I had trouble putting this book down, and it is certainly one of my favorites.
Plot/Character
This story started off right away with a bang and caught my attention. Charlie lost one of his best friends and had trouble coping with this issue he was dealing with while at school. He just couldn’t take in what all was happening while he was still in high school. He eventually seeks help from the counselor at the school and she talks to him and a few other friends who knew the boy who committed suicide. They comforted them and let the teenagers vent out positively or negatively. In the beginning of the book Charlie started out unpopular and barely knowing anybody. But as the book progressed Charlie made new friends who stayed with him till the end. Charlie experiments with drugs and sexual activities like most teenagers with raging hormones and falls in love with a girl. Though Charlie does not get the girl from the start he stays with her as her best friend till she finally admits she liked him all along as well near the end of the novel. Basically this book addresses the issues most teenagers are faced with when they go into high school. Here is an excerpt from the book…“And Sam looked at the paper and then she looked at me."Charlie. . . Have you ever kissed a girl?" I shook my head no. It was so quiet. "Not even when you were little?" I shook my head no again. And she looked very sad. She told me about the first time she was kissed. She told me that it was with one of her dad's friends. She was seven. And she told nobody except Mary Elizebeth and then Patrick a year ago. And she started to cry. And she said something that I won't forget. Ever. "I know that you know that I like Craig. And I know that I told you not to think of me that way. And I know that we can't be together like that. But I want to forget all those things for a minute. Okay?" "Okay" "I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you. Okay?" "Okay" She was crying harder now. And I was, too, because when I hear something like that I just can't help it. "I just want to make sure of that. Okay?" "Okay" And she kissed me. And it was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.”Near the end of the novel Charlie faces his challenges head on and is no longer the shy person he was when he was a freshman in high school. His teacher who gave him additional work by having him read books that were of his interests helped him along his way.
Analysis
I really enjoyed reading this book because I could relate to some of the problems Charlie was going through, through-out the book. For instance when he would talk about his girl problems and how he didn’t know how to break it to the girl he was dating, he didn’t like her anymore. When I was reading this it reminded me of some of the boy problems I have had before. Although Charlie talks about drugs in the novel, I couldn’t necessarily relate to it, but it gave me a better idea of why it’s the thing to do in high school supposedly. One part that shocked me in the novel was when one of Charlie’s friends was having trouble with his sexuality. The guy he loved didn’t want to be with him not only because of his family, but since he was popular at school he could not let it ruin his reputation. Sadly he never broke the silence and this addressed another issue that takes place in high school. Through it all, Charlie remains a good friend to those he loves.
