Essay On The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, tells the story of a fifteen-year-old boy named Charlie. The entire story is comprised of letters that Charlie writes to a friend, who is not named, but it can be presumed that the friend is the reader of the book. This type of writing allows the readers to get a first person perspective of how Charlie lives his life and what he is thinking. The story begins with Charlie attempting to cope with the loss of his friend Michael, who committed suicide, the summer before the boys were going to start high school. Charlie is described as extremely shy and as a social outcast, therefore starting high school without his friend by his side was a struggle for him. In order to get through the school year, Charlie befriended his English teacher and two classmates, Sam and Patrick, who soon became his best friends. Charlie is described as a …show more content…
Dissociative amnesia is a type of dissociative disorder in which, there is a sudden loss of memory of information that is specific to that person, their personality is intact, and there is no medical reason behind it. The loss of memory usually happens after a traumatic event. In Charlie’s case, I believe that he has selective amnesia, which is a type of dissociative amnesia. Selective amnesia is the ability to remember bits and pieces of a traumatic or stressful event that happens, and forgetting the rest. Charlie’s loss of memory began after the traumatic event with his aunt. He remembers watching television with her and his siblings, but forgets what she did to him while they were watching television. In other words, Charlie remembered all the positive memories and forgot all the negative ones. Also, his personality was intact and there was no physical cause for the loss of