The book that I have read is, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book consists of the letters, Charlie sent to an anonymous reader, about his perspective of life. From these letters, I have learned that Charlie is a considerate introvert who is both the protagonist and the antagonist, creating a conflict between himself. Throughout the letters the contrast of both perspectives becomes more apparent, as he is confused, and fighting with himself. Causing his abusive childhood, and the suicide of his only friend Micheal, even more challenging. As a result of all this, Charlie is motivated to have a new start in high school. At high school he experiences many parts of friendship with Bill, and Patrick, love with Sam, and Aunt Helen, in honesty with Mary Elizabeth, and addictions to many drugs. …show more content…
A main conflict involving Charlie, is his blinded compassion held for Aunt Helen, and the guilt held for her death, causing him to not hold her accountable for the abuse she gave him. This dream was finally acknowledged, after having a sexual interaction with Sam, which sent him into an even worse case of depression. However, Charlie forgave her after going to rehab, and realizing everything can be seen differently, causing him to exert feelings of hope for a second chance. Furthermore, after reading the book I realized that the author portrayed Charlie to be observant, to prove everything can be seen differently if you change the perspective. Thus, I believe the theme continued throughout the book is, you can only understand someone by seeing yourself in their perspective. Adding on, the teen issues derived from the book is, abuse and
Ideas- The main idea in this book changes all throughout it. There is one idea that goes throughout the whole story which has a protagonist and an antagonist. Charlie is the protagonist. The antagonist… high school. This develops miraculously throughout the book. Starting off with his first day, to the homecoming game where he meets Sam and Patrick, to his last days of being a freshman. “And I’m Patrick. And this is Sam” pg-19. At first Charlie is worried about high school and his english teacher Bill fixes that quickly. He meets his two new best friends Sam and Patrick at a football game. He then went from there going through tough times. All though ...
“Wallflowers” by Donna Vorreyer is a piece that truly makes one ponder over the slightest things the average human being overlooks every day. When one typically hears the word wallflower, one tends to think of those people standing on the wall at a party, just minding their own business. They do not say much, rather they stand around and take in all that is going on around them. It is seldom that they are noticed because they are so quiet and shy that they keep to themselves, but they still hold onto those hopes that the light will shine on them one day. Every person needs at least a bit of attention from someone every once in a while, whether they like to accept the fact or not. Therefore, the moral of the poem is that everyone has a place where they belong in this world; whether it be with those that pretend
They are both about a teenager trying to find out who they are in the world and trying to let go of the past. Though they have very different outcomes they share the same theme, which is ‘coming of age’. We see Holden and Charlie grow up and mature, they learn things from experiences and the people around them and learn to move on. “So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough. And I believe the same about you.” (Chbosky
Have you ever walked in snow? Well, you probably have. Then, have you realized how hard it is to walk in the path formed when it is icy and slippery? When this is the case, we chose not to walk on the icy track. Instead we walk on either side of it. One side is soft, nothing happens when you fall and even when you move rapidly on it. Many people chose to walk on this side, thus its sheer white color leaves its place to black. Very similarly, one of the two sides of the society is the black area as known as phonies. Many people are phonies even though they might have never chosen nor intended to be one. Unlike the easily-dirt-showing type of side, we shovel snow to the second side. As time passes it gets
The story is seen through the innocent eyes of a 13 year old boy called Charlie Bucktin. The first person central point of view helps us to understand Charlie, to identify with him and his attitudes and values and for reader positioning. Silvey uses language conventions such as descriptive language, dialogue, diction, register and imagery to construct Charlie’s point of view. Since we only see and know what Charlie does thus this helps us create and certain bond with him as he grows, learns, and faces new problems throughout the novel. The fact that Charlie is a teenager and the readers are provided with teenager reactions the teenager audience is able to identify with the character and why he does things that way. Charlie starts of as a the model son, ever the obedient never to do anything wrong… to eventually losing his innocence and naivety and having a better understanding of what is right and what is wrong.
Charlie struggles with apparent mental illness throughout his letters, but he never explicitly addresses this problem. His friends make him realize that he is different and it is okay to be different from everyone else. This change in perspective gives Charlie new opportunities to experience life from a side he was unfamiliar with. Without these new friends, Charlie would have never dared to try on the things he has. His friends have helped him develop from an antisocial wallflower to an adventurous young man who is both brave and loyal. Transitioning shapes how the individual enters into the workforce, live independently and gain some control over their future
Jennifer Egan’s use of structural classifications about Charlie’s role within her family displays the reason for Charlie’s
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
The main idea of the book was a girl learning to cope with her past and and trying to grow from it. Charlie starts of in a mental institution for self-harm. She is then taken out of the place because of her mother’s lack of money. She goes to Arizona to be helped out by her friend Mikey, which is gone most of the time. Charlie gets a job at a weird coffee place and meets a guy named Riley, where they instantly get a connection. The rest of the book is Charlie trying to learn how to deal with all of her past hardships and find a better way to deal with the memories and pain. The only two coping methods she seemed
Depression is an extremely delicate topic. In the novels “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher and “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” by Stephan Chbosky do an outstanding job hitting the topic depression. Both novels cover depression in its own style. In one, someone commits suicide while on the contrary, the other person surpasses depression. Support systems are vital during depression, lack of communication as well as self-expression all lead to an easy way out. Anyone who is suffering from depression should have at least one confident to be able to communicate to. Depression is a heavy weighed disease in which one needs all the support one can get. A voice is needed as well, in which many people are scared of having. In each of the novels each fictional
The coming of age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, follows the self-discovery of an introverted 15-year-old boy named Charlie. The novel is written in a series of letters to an anonymous person, which he sends, as he needs someone to talk to after his best friend’s suicide
“It would be very nice to have a friend again. I would like that even more than a date,” (21) Charlie remarks when he feels lonely. In the novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, the author uses the theme of friendship to help Charlie overcome obstacles. The novel is about a friendless boy named Charlie who struggles with some demons from his past. Charlie finds a group of friends, sort of misfits like himself, who take him under their wings and introduce him to experiences that are common in teens, including parties, drugs, and sex. His new group of friends gives Charlie something precious that he has never had before, a sense of belonging. After Michael 's death, Charlie is eagerly craving any sort of social interaction.
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
There is a great deal of social interaction that can be used for psychological analysis in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower directed by Stephen Chbosky. This movie holds a strong focal point regarding mental illness, coming of age, and acceptance. (Halfon, Malkovich, Smith & Chbosky, 2012) Social psychology concepts from the textbook Social Psychology and Human Nature: Brief Version will be used to describe some of the actions and cognitions of the characters. (Baumeister & Bushman, 2014) The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows the life of main character Charlie, a high school freshman who tries to find acceptance and validation of his troubles by the help of his peers. Charlie, as well as his friends, suffer from mental illness in several different ways. This movie shows how the characters overcome the fears they hold and develop into stronger individuals. The three people that Charlie interact with the most are Sam, her Step brother Patrick, and Mary Elizabeth. (Halfon,
I think that the main themes consisted of the different types of love between Sophie’s family and friends, relationships as well as a bit of an identity crisis because Sophie doesn’t know who her father is therefore she is missing a part of herself that makes her who she is.