In Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (PBW), secrecy plays a significant role in the development of the main character, Charlie’s, life. In the novel, Charlie is in a position to keep important secrets, all with varying consequences. Some of these secrets are essential for Charlie to keep to avoid people from getting hurt. Some of these secrets have a positive effect on Charlie. They allow him to reflect and provide some happiness and satisfaction to him. Not only is Charlie in a position to decide whether to keep other character’s secrets, but he also has his own secrets. Charlie shares these secrets with the anonymous letter-receiver. These are secrets that he has never told anyone else. These secrets have a drastic effect …show more content…
Another secret that brings Charlie closer to one of his family member is the secret of his sister’s abortion. His sister gets pregnant with the boy who had actually physically abused her earlier in the novel. The boyfriend then abandons his sister to handle the pregnancy on her own. Charlie and his sister then go to the abortion clinic, which turned into a situation where he bonded with his sister. They connect with each other by discussing each other’s problems. Although this is a negative event in his sister’s life, Charlie reflects on this time when they really bonded and came together. Another secret that has a positive impact on his life is Brad and Patrick’s. Charlie walks into a room where Brad and Patrick are hooking up, and Patrick then makes sure Charlie won’t tell anyone, saying, “…This will be our little secret.” (37). This makes Charlie feel special, as the last time someone said those same words; it was Charlie’s dad. Charlie feels like he is someone who is able to be trusted because of those words, and it makes him feel respected. The Perks of Being A Wallflower is filled with examples of physical and sexual abuse. These illustrate secrets that have a detrimental effect on Charlie. Charlie …show more content…
Charlie is deeply affected by secrets throughout the novel, whether they have a positive or negative effect on him. The role of keeping a secret allows Charlie to connect with people and develop a special bond. One way this is demonstrated is by the way he and his sister bond after her pregnancy scare and how his friendship with Patrick blossoms after Patrick tells him about his relationship with Brad. Secrets, however, can have a negative effect on Charlie. Charlie becomes depressed and often questions himself. Whether he tells someone the secret because he wants to help or whether he decides to keep the secret to protect someone, Charlie always ends up questioning his decision. The biggest secret Charlie decides to keep to protect someone is his being abused by Aunt Helen. Charlie feels bad for Aunt Helen, she was abused, so Charlie wants to cut her some slack, but this only makes him depressed and anxious. Charlie uses these letters to an anonymous person to tell other people’s secrets, but he leaves his own out, which ends up costing him, as he becomes depressed. At the end of the novel, Charlie realizes that burying this secret so deep within himself hurts him and he tells the doctors and his parents. Because he finally told someone this secret, it allows him to rehabilitate and recover from this traumatic experience. As Charlie learns, and as his father says, “not everyone has a sob story,
Growing up, Charlie faced two difficult loses that changed his life by getting him admitted in the hospital. As a young boy, he lost his aunt in a car accident, and in middle school, he lost his best friend who shot himself. That Fall, Charlie walks through the doors his first day of highschool, and he sees how all the people he used to talk to and hang out with treat him like he’s not there. While in English class, Mr. Anderson, Charlie’s English teacher, notices that Charlie knew the correct answer, but he did not want to speak up and let his voice be heard. As his first day went on, Charlie met two people that would change named Sam and Patrick who took Charlie in and helped him find himself. When his friends were leaving for college, they took one last ride together in the tunnel and played their favorite song. The movie ends with Charlie reading aloud his final letter to his friend, “This one moment when you know you’re not a sad story, you are alive. And you stand up and see the lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder, when you were listening to that song” (Chbosky). Ever since the first day, Charlie realized that his old friends and classmates conformed into the average high schooler and paid no attention to him. Sam and Patrick along with Mr. Anderson, changed his views on life and helped him come out of his shell. Charlie found a
Soon however, Charlie would encounter challenges he never faced with the intelligence of a 6 year old. Before his surgery, Charlie had great friends in Miss Kinnian and the bakery workers. After the surgery, the relationship between Charlie and everyone he knew would take a drastic turn. A growing problem for Charlie’s is his extremely mixed emotions toward the opposite gender. He starts a serious relationship with Alice Kinnian, his former teacher.
At this stage of the story we are compelled to feel a little bit sorry for Charlie who has been separated from his father.
Plethoras of symbols are represented in a coming-of-age novel Perks of Being a Wallflower written by Stephen Chbosky. Throughout Charlie's novel, he writes letters about his daily life to an unknown reader. In his high school year, he goes through many phases and emotions trying to seek him out. He faces his friend dying in the beginning of his high school year, to finding out news to what his Aunt Helen did to him. He receives mixed emotions to everything that happened to him, and blames he is the problem. Getting stoned and drinking is something Charlie does to help numb the pain because he deals with panic attacks in sort of a situation and depression. Depression makes him to face the real world, and it makes him question more about his
Charlie loses his Aunt Helen on his seventh birthday, but what does he do? not know is that his aunt molested him when he was little. Charlie does not realize this till his freshman year in high school. Childhood trauma can have lasting consequences if the person. goes untreated, PTSD can manifest as anxiety and depression, much like Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
Charlie was innocent, he didn’t have many social experiences. Think back when the first time Charlie saw Laura’s dead body. “Why would you bring me here? I shouldn’t be here. I have to go back home. You have to tell someone about this.” His anxious shows he didn’t want to participate this mess, in part, he’s smart enough to know it would be a trouble, but he’s also full of fear. After Jasper’s persuasion, Charlie decides to help him find the real murderer. Craig Silvey gives us a huge surprise at the beginning of the book, we might think it’s a story about children’s adventure. On the contrary, as things happened, we come to realize it is not just a simple story, it’s more about a horrific thing. When Charlie run into this horrific thing, he is feared. Maybe, it’s more appropriate to
Almost in all sections of the book, Charlie has to display courage in some way or another. But what showed the most courage and what most people could never do, was when Charlie had to endure seeing Laura dead and hanging from the tree, and keep a secret that Laura's been murdered from everyone, including his own family. It was hard to even
... reader. Throughout the book, Charlie unfolds secrets and truths about the world and the society that he lives in; secrets and truths that cause him to grow up and transition into adulthood. He also makes a life changing decision and rebelled against was he thought was the right thing. This reflects his maturity and bravery throughout the journey he travels that summer. Charlie eyes suddenly become open to the injustice that the town of Corrigan demonstrates. He also comes to face the issue of racism; not only shown towards his best friend Jeffrey and the Lu family but to Jasper Jones as well. He realises the town of Corrigan is unwilling to accept outsiders. Charlie not only finds out things that summer about the people that surround him, but he also finds out who he is personally.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was brought to screen in 2012 by author and director Stephen Chbosky. The movie is about a 15 year old adolescent named Charlie who is beginning high school with a little more baggage than the normal freshman. The viewer quickly discovers that Charlie’s best friend, Michael, committed suicide during May of their 8th grade school year and the viewer later learns that Charlie’s aunt Helen molested him as a child. Charlie begins school determined to make some new friends and is befriended by step siblings Patrick and Sam during the first week of school. The movie spans for Charlie’s entire freshman year and shows the struggles he has with relationships, bullying, risky behaviors, as well remnants from his past trauma. He has a lot in common with Sam and falls in love with her, but accidentally ends up in a relationship with another one of the members of their clique, Mary Elizabeth. His relationship with her ends poorly and he is exiled from the clique for a few weeks. Upon the school year ending, Charlie is faced with the harsh reality that his group of friends, including his love Sam, are all seniors and are all going on to college. Charlie has a mental breakdown, but is able to reconcile many of his past struggles with the help of a doctor and the support from his parents and siblings. The movie ends with Sam and Patrick coming
The role of identity plays an important role in all adolescence which can help shape their future. In psychology, identity is the conception, qualities, beliefs, and expressions that make a person or group. The movie, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, illustrates how teens struggle with identity. Charlie is an anti-social freshman who is befriended by a group of high school seniors, who introduces him to the world of drugs, love, sexulatity, friendship, and lies. His friends play a huge role in his development. Throughout the movie, Charlie was able to build upon his character and develop friendships that gave him a new perspective that life needs, to live life rather than watching it.
In one scene, Mr. Anderson is asked by Charlie why people stay with others who are wrong for them, speaking of Sam and her boyfriend, and he responds with his famous quote, “We accept the love we think we deserve.” That statement is very powerful and makes a lot of sense in the world of psychology. It is shown that many of the characters in the film accepted the love they thought they deserved whether it be Sam with her boyfriend, Patrick with Brad, or even Charlie with Mary Elizabeth. However, with the ability of change, they all stood up for themselves and one another and started to embrace pure love and friendship and accepted nothing that defies that. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a very emotional and influential movie that could easily be used for a psychological analysis. (Halfon, Malkovich, Smith & Chbosky,
We can all sympathize with Charlie on the surface, we have all made mistakes that we have to live with. Charlie is attempting to move forward with his life and erase the mistakes of his past. The ghosts of his past torment him repeatedly throughout the story, his child's guardians despise him and his old friends do not understand him.
In adolescence social interactions are a very important part of young adult development. Within this transitional period the young adult experiences social changes even though such changes vary from youth to youth. In The Perks of being a wallflower Charlie was socially awkward, but intellectually he was a genius. He was faced with a few social extremes throughout the movie. For instance, His social awkwardness is partially due to the death of his best friend Michael. The summer before High School started Michael committed suicide. Dealing with this trauma was no easy feat for Charlie. As a result, he withdrew from the world around him. Upon entering High School Charlie was weary of his surroundings. He tried to reach out to a girl whom was in Middle School with him but she acted as if she did not know him. He was left feeling alone. As the movie went on he was exposed to yet another social
In the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower the audience learns a great deal about, Charlie, the main character’s life and how his past traumas affect him psychologically (Chbosky, 2012). Charlie is a 15-year-old boy who is coping with his best friend’s suicide, in addition to struggling with Posttraumic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Chbosky, 2012). When Charlie was younger, his favorite Aunt, Helen, raped him, although he did not seem to fully understand that until he was hospitalized (Chbosky, 2012). However, Charlie was not hospitalized until right after he learned his best friend, Michael, committed suicide. Charlie is also shy, therefore has difficulties making friends. At the beginning of the movie, Charlie is writing to a new friend and
Because of the parties he attends with his new friends he has tried using some drugs. These new friends help Charlie see things with a positive perspective, and to be confident in himself. When his friends move away, Charlie experience isolation and has a mental crisis that leads him to be internalized in a clinic.