Character Review: Charlie from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'

In the novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, the protagonist, Charlie, narrates the story through a series of letters written to an anonymous “friend”. The letters consist of details about his current and past days, his previous experiences, and his feelings in the past and present both. Throughout the letters, Charlie shows symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety, due to previous events that have heavily impacted Charlie. These mental “illnesses” play a big role in the way deals with given situations, interacts with other people, and also leaves Charlie blaming a lot of circumstances on himself, when they are not his fault. Charlie has a difficult time dealing with any given situation, due to all the disturbing events that have taken place previously in his life. This makes it hard for Charlie not to relate the old memories to the situation he is in. For example, when Charlie first met his new best friends,

Charlie has repressed memories of this out of his mind, until they later come back in flashbacks. Despite this harrowing event, Charlie acts as if he does not know what has happened to him. His Aunt Helen later dies in a car accident in which she was on her way to get a gift for Charlie. The death of Charlie’s “favorite person in the whole world” (Chbosky, 5), Aunt Helen, leaves Charlie feeling like it is his fault. He loved his aunt, and felt responsible for her death. Such feelings are a toll on most adult heads, think about Charlie who was just a child then. “Aunt Helen didn’t hurt me, she loved me, we were great friends. Why did she have to die? It was all my fault she was getting my birthday present, it was all my fault she died. She was such a good person.” (Chbosky, 74) Charlie blaming himself puts a huge, unnecessary weight on his shoulders, which causes Charlie exceptional stress and