Secrecy In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower: An Exploration Into the Theme of Secrecy In Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (PBW), secrecy plays a huge role in the main character, Charlie’s, life. In the novel, Charlie is given many important secrets to keep, all of varying consequences. Some of these secrets are essential for Charlie to keep, as people will get hurt if he tells anyone. Some of these secrets are positives though, things for him to think back on and be happy about. Not only is Charlie in a position to decide whether to keep other character’s secrets, but he also has his own secrets, as most things Charlie shares with the anonymous letter-receiver are things he has not told anyone else. These secrets have a drastic effect …show more content…

PBW explores the theme of secrets throughout the novel, focusing on Charlie specifically, and does an outstanding job at portraying the effects it has on his life. In exploring the way secrecy has a positive effect on Charlie, it is essential to examine some important examples. The first example of how secrets affect Charlie’s life that occurs in the novel is between Charlie and his father. After Charlie’s family watches the M*A*S*H finale, Charlie sees his dad crying in the kitchen. This is the first time Charlie has ever seen his dad cry. Charlie’s dad tells him, “This is our little secret, okay, champ” (Chbosky, 17)? When Charlie remembers this, he remembers it as a special moment between his father and him. Charlie even …show more content…

Charlie has many secrets about those types of assaults, and he is forced to deal with them throughout the novel. First, Charlie has to make a decision whether to tell someone about his sister’s boyfriend hitting her, or keep it a secret like she asked him to. Charlie ends up telling his English teacher, Bill, about this event, and he tells Charlie’s dad. Charlie is not sure he did the right thing in this situation, as he says, “My sister is still mad at me, but my dad said I did the right thing. I hope that I did, but it’s hard to tell sometimes” (28). This quote illustrates how hard these decisions are, and foreshadows how Charlie will deal with these situations in the future. The next example of an abusive secret is one he chose to keep for a long time. Charlie witnesses a rape in his bedroom during a party his brother had when Charlie was young, but did not realize at the time what had happened. Charlie realizes what happened once he is in high school, and while at homecoming, he sees the same couple together, dancing. Charlie talks to Sam and Patrick about this, and says, “We should tell someone, shouldn’t we” (32)? Sam, however says not to tell anyone, since it is near impossible to prove anything. Instead, Charlie pops the tires of this guy’s car, and feels satisfaction from it. This decision not to report this is important

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