Deep Dive into Charlie's Character: A Perks of a Wallflower Analysis

Analysis of Charlie

Charlie is a character from the fictional movie The Perks of a Wallflower, and will be analyzed in this case study. At a young age, Charlie’s Aunt Helen became an important part of his life while she was staying with the family. Aunt Helen was abused by men in her life, which resulted in her frequently living in Charlie’s home. While on her way to pick up Charlie’s birthday present, she was in a fatal car accident. The year before Charlie’s first year of highschool, his best friend Michael committed suicide and he spent time in “the hospital” and did not speak with anyone other than his family throughout his summer break.

Letters are written and sent to an anonymous recipient from Charlie, and the content is his innermost thoughts, feelings and experiences. He explains he anticipates his high school years will be difficult, but has made a plan to visualize his last day of senior year. Charlie expresses an

A study revealed 41.1% of the subjects with PTSD being analyzed experienced multiple traumatic events. (Lukaschek, Kruse, Emeny, Lacruz, Rothe, Ladwig 530). Consequently, the disorder effects an individual’s ability to control extreme emotions, results in flashbacks, and is typically coupled with an array of other mental illnesses such as depression, drug abuse, anxiety and bipolar. (Kreidler, Briscoe, Beech 136) Susceptibility in becoming suicidal increases in individuals suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Although there are many theories as to what contributes to suicide amongst PTSD victims, prolonged symptoms resulting in depression is the favored opinion. Furthermore, there are other factors to be considered, such as the type of trauma experienced and sex of the individual. (Panagioti, Gooding, Dunn, Tarrier