The perks of being a wallflower

The perks of being a wall flower

By Stephen Chbosky

The book. Released in 1999.

Since it was published in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower has sold more than 1.5 million copies, been published in 16 countries and was made into a movie in 2012.

Stephen Chbosky

American novelist, , screenwriter, film director, best knonw for his comming of age novel "The perks of being a wall flower"

I chose this book because the cover attracted me. Then I read the summary and i liked the story so I decided to take it.

I also like coming of age books and stories in general so I though it could be interesting.

Summary of the story

Summary of the story

Charlie is a rather lonely boy, living in the '90s, who wrights letters to a "friend" wy don't know anything about. Through these letters, he talks about his daily life and thoughts. He is entering high school with a lot of apprehensions. A few events such as the death of his beloved aunt Helen and the suicide of his friend Michael left him traumatized and anxious. Throughout the book, we see the evolution of Charlie and his friends and their early teenage lives.

At the beginning of the story, Charlie has trouble making friends and the only person close to him is his English teacher who gives him books to study and essays to write about them. He finally starts to open up but has to deal with difficult times such as the Holyday which brings him bad memories and depression.

The main characters

Charlie

Charlie is 15 years old freshman in high school. He is calm, shy, well-mannered, and observant. He has suffered from a lot of trauma during his childhood. He tries to get past it by discovering himself and high school life. Throughout the novel, charlie gains maturity. At the end of the novel Charlie realizes he was molested by his aunt Helen wich explains his past trauma and own behaviour toward sexual desires and relations.

Mary Elizabeth

Patrick

Sam

High school senior, Sam's step brother, one of Charlie's best friends. he has a relationship with Brad. He accepts Charlie for what he is and is very supportive.

High school senior, Patrick's stap sister, one of Charlie's best friends. (Charlie has a crush in her) She was sexually abused in the past.

She dated Charlie but is very self-centered wich didn't allow their relationship to evolve much. She is intelligent and beautiful.

3. The writing style

This book is written in a very simple and modern style. The choice of word was very average because it is supposed to be hand written by a teenager.

4.

Important themes

Inclusivity and tolerence

This book is about inclusivity and tolerence. The author talked about the topical issue that is sexual orientation for teenagers. He showed how hard it can be to be homosexual and how great it is to accept it with Patrick and Brad's love story. More over he showed that anyone can be accepted, no matter what their convictions are and how they behave. for example, Sam and Patrick accepted Charlie for who he was and didn't try to change him.

Discovery

Throughout the book, we see Charlie discovering himself physicaly and mentaly. He begings to feel new things such as desire and love. He also rediscovers freiendship with a new group a friends. He discovers a new lifestyle in high school with new classes, new problems, parties, relationships...

Standing out and growing

Charlie begins to grow and to understands things. His relationship with his sister is getting better when he understands she is in trouble with her pregnancy and her abortion. He starts to take decisions for himself even when he is not comfortable with it. for example going to a party or going on a date with Mary Elizabeth.

5.

My opinion on the book

Overall, I realy liked this book. It was easy to understand and to identify to the characters since they are teenagers. Many topics are approached and everyone can find something that is interesting for them. The story itself is very dark especially for Charlie because of everything he has to go through (loss, grief, sexual abuse, fear, anxiety, mental health problems...), but it is a great message of "hope" for teenagers who feel like nothing is going in their way. This book can be seen as a typical and basic coming-of-age story but in reality, it is all about growing and empowerment. I recommend anyone to reed this book.

Thank you for your attention