Many people are drawn to the thrill seeking risk of skydiving, and some people become overconfident in their next jump and forget to pull their parachute (as seen in Star Trek The Future Begins). In Into the Wild, Krakauer displayed many themes. The importance of risk taking, one of the main themes, is constantly brought up throughout the book. Through into the wild, krakauer demonstrates the importance of slight risk taking to develop confidence and happiness, while being wary of taking extreme risks leading to dangers and arrogance.…
Imaginative Liberation In Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” the reader is able to see the traditional marital ways in the 1800’s, and goes on to show the mental instability that many women faced during this era. This story gives an infinite example of how women were treated as second class citizens with their authoritative male figures, and treating them and keeping them in their childish ways. John, the narrator’s husband a bright physician caught up in his own success and superiority over his wife goes about controlling every aspect of her life.…
Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been challenged or banned publicly eleven times since 2009. It is commonly called out for its depiction of homosexuality, sex, masturbation, and drug use. In 2010, this book, along with 17 others, was challenged in Fairfax County in Virginia by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools (PABBIS). PABBIS cites their reasons for challenging The Perks of Being a Wallflower for “containing profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct, and torture. ” PABBIS’s claims never got anywhere because of their disregard for the first amendment which includes freedom to read that extends to children.…
The treatment of mental patients has greatly improved since the 1960s, but it still is not perfect. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey and published in 1962. Chief Bromden, a schizophrenic patient in an insane asylum who pretends to be dumb and deaf to avoid confrontation, narrates what happens in the ward. When authority hating Randle McMurphy is committed to the ward, he notices the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, manipulates her patients to keep her authority, rather than actually benefit the patients. Nurse Ratched clearly mistreats her patients and gives them unnecessary treatments.…
Out of This Place by Emma Cameron lets the reader see the inside story of three teenagers, all whom deal with many different hardships, and how they find themselves and try to reach their dreams. Luke spends his days outside of school at the beach and working, wondering what else in life there is to do and live for. Casey longs to get away from home under the grasp of her overprotective father who will not let Casey experience life. The teens are ready to find a new life and find new a place where they belong. The story deals with many mature themes such as drug addiction, homelessness, unplanned pregnancy and of course dealing with whatever fate throws your way.…
What causes people to change? Experiences, who you may be surrounded by, or even simple words said by someone you look up to. All these things can play a part in someone’s life when they are developing their character. They can decide whether you will become a straight A student or someone who doesn 't care about school, a doctor or a drug addict, or even things like having a clean record or being in prison for life. In The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky uses these factors to develop the character of Charlie.…
A wallflower is defined as a “person who is shy or unpopular and who stands or sits apart from other people” by the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Charlie, the main character, is termed a “wallflower” in Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The novel portrays the transition from middle school to high school. But for Charlie, there are underlying issues that many high school students don’t have to face. He greatly struggles with the transition into high school, but later meets friends who lead him to experiment with all of the elements of high school life such as social life, football games, and even drugs.…
Feminist believe in equality for women in a male-dominated world in which women often do not receive the respect and consideration they deserve. This principle underlines Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which concerns a postpartum depressed woman experiencing life in a male dominant society struggling to find a voice for her own well-being. The author wrote the short story after a similar event occurred to her in her own life. A close textual study of the story from a Feminist Critical Approach shows oppression for women using symbolism with mundane and horror to camouflage feminist views, conveys the connections between the horror story and the author, and expresses the fight for a voice as a woman.…
Loneliness is when you are sad because you have no company or friends. Being lonely is not healthy for people. If you are isolated long enough it can lead to situations where you could cause harm to yourself. Depression and thoughts of suicide are only some of the hardships that may occur from being lonely for too long. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the characters are located on a ranch to work in a town called Soledad.…
The new Stephen Chbosky film, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, based on the novel of the same author and name seems like a much needed update of J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. The film provides a fresh perspective on the many heavy topics such as death, mental illness, and growing up brought up in Salinger’s novel. However, although “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a more relatable and heartwarming version, The Catcher in the Rye still proves to be the most groundbreaking tale of coming-of-age that literature has seen up to date. After viewing Chbosky’s film, I would agree with the many people that prefer it over The Catcher in the Rye. Like a large part of the population, I’m a sucker for the Hollywood endings where everything works out in the end, which is exactly why I prefered “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”.…
The Effects of Sexual Abuse in Perks of Being a Wallflower Charlie, the lead character in Stephen Chboksy’s Perks of Being a Wallflower, has a best friend who committed suicide the year before he would have entered high school with him. The reason is never revealed in Perks, but it can be inferred he had family troubles. This is considered a realistic scenario in our society. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in people age fifteen to nineteen, and as a society, people have recently come together and recognized it as a problem that must dealt with, and it has been deemed “mainstream” enough to be considered appropriate to talk about in teenage literature. Why, then, is sexuality and the abuse that can come with it - a problem nearly…
The movie, A Better Life, follows the relationship of a father and son and through their story captures the Mexican immigrant experience in the U.S. The movie begins with a focus on the father, Carlos Galindo and his job as a day laborer. Carlos, an undocumented immigrant, works hard everyday to provide for his son for the hope that his son will be able to have an easier life. Carlos’ son, Luis, does not respect his father 's work and does not value his schoolwork like his father wants. Luis is caught between the pull of his father to be a hardworking man and his friends who are associated with gangs.…
In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, author Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes the mental state of the main character, “the narrator”, through the narrator’s personal journal. In this short story, the narrator is a young new mother married to her husband who works as a doctor. She admits in her journal that her husband does not believe that she is sick and that may be the reason that she is not healing faster (467). During the late 1800’s, doctors did not have a good understanding of mental illness. It was very typical that they would send patients away for rest in isolation.…
Each and every day, teens succumb to the pressures of drugs and alcohol. Whether kids realize it or not, their lifestyle and daily activities have a major impact on the choices they make. Given that over 50 percent of high school seniors have abused some type of drug , it is clear that they are becoming a major issue (Substance Abuse Concerns par. 16). Drug and alcohol abuse is also actively present in the novel, The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, when Charlie and his newly found group of friends struggle with their identities.…
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is by no means a typical narrative. What do I mean by “not a typical narrative”? I mean that this book is full of crazy surprises that life will throw at you! I have learned quite a few life lessons throughout my time reading this novel. This novel is the best book out there to read, some might say they do not like it, only because they can relate little to much of what happens and it hits hard if it hits home.…