The Perks of Being a Wallflower Directed by Stephen Chbosky

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Recommended: Literary essay coming of age

There comes a time in everyone’s lives where we must transition from childhood to adulthood. This transition of growing up is also known as the “coming of age” stage in a person life. This “coming of age” stage is when someone is no longer a child and is becoming an adult. Many things can trigger this transition; whether it is a tragic event that affect someone so much that they have completely changed, or just simply growing and having a better understanding of the world we live in. Many people are aware of the “coming of age” theme through literature and other forms of entertainment. It is a major theme used in novels and movies such as Looking for Alaska – written by John Green in 2005 – and The Perks of Being a Wallflower – directed by Stephen Chbosky in 2012. Both artworks exhibit the coming of age of vary similar characters. They prove that through loss and suffering, as well as society pressures, trying to find yourself during your adolescence is one of the toughest things to do.
Looking for Alaska is the story of Miles Halter, also known as Pudge, and his craving for the “Great Perhaps”. He was born in Florida and went to a high school where he did not have any friends. So he decided to change schools to attend Culver Creek, a boarding school, in search for adventure. In Culver Creek he meets Alaska Young who is beautiful, clever and funny. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Pudge and his other friends create a lot mischief, but it’s when the beautiful Alaska Young dies in a car accident that could have been prevented by Pudge and Chip, that they realise they’ve taken things too far. Throughout all his adventures, Pudge goes through tragic events; such as Alaska as ...

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...to make mistakes while they are young so that they may learn from them and grow.
Life is like a labyrinth that represents a path of meaning to be experienced. Just like any labyrinth, it pulls you in and takes you through countless twists and turns. It may make you feel lost at time but that’s only because we can never see where we are going. The paths in a labyrinth force us to make decisions, to follow our dreams and wishes. Life is just like a labyrinth. During childhood we are curious to explore the unknowns even if we sometimes refused to find our way through all the twists and turns. As teenagers, we never know whether to choose the left or right path. But factors in our lives eventually push us to make a decision and take a path. Sadly, some of us cannot handle the labyrinth of life and make their choice of taking the “straight and fast” (Green 155) way.

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