The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

The book that I am reading is, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This book consists of the letters of Charlie to an anonymous reader, the setting of these letters is in Charlie's perspective on his school life, and his house life. Charlie is a considerate introvert who is both the protagonist and the antagonist of the story, creating a conflict between himself. This conflict is the relationship of Charlie and himself, there is a progressive contrast of both perspectives throughout the letters. Moreover, I have learned from reading that Charlie is a timid boy, torn apart from his abusive childhood, filled with the guilt of his aunt Helen’s death. He is later heartbroken by his only friend, Timothy, after discovering he had …show more content…
“I think it was the first time in my life I ever felt like I looked ‘good.’” (Chbosky, 67). I can relate to this because, I always feel like I am not good enough, as a result of me not being perfect. Moreover, I have a scar which resembles an “L”, causing me to always feel trapped in an insecure body which limited my value. Through this connection, I am able to better understand and create other reasons why Charlie would limit himself from participating socially. I emphasize with Charlie when he does not realize his value, because I know how it feels to be hopeless in your appearance. The theme that is prominent in the first half of the book is, you can only understand someone by seeing things in their perspective, as everything can be seen from a different perspective. “You’re a freak, you know that? You’ve always been a freak. Everyone says so. They always have.” (Chbosky, 18). In the novel, Charlie had always been misunderstood, as no one understands his perspective, causing him to be seen as different. In the novel Charlie saw his sister get hit by her boyfriend, causing him to tell his English teacher. Resulting in Candice to not be able to have a further relationship with that boy, consequently she called Charlie a freak. However, in Charlie’s perspective, he was protecting her, not shaming or punishing her. Thus, if …show more content…
Although, Charlie was portrayed as someone who was unconfident in his personality, he was still not stereotyped to be the weak kid who gets bullied, and cannot talk to someone especially if that someone is a girl. These are all stereotypes linked with being insecure in yourself, however, being insecure does not mean you have to follow these stereotypes, as Charlie does not. The issue of depression is also treated fairly because, the author portrays depression as a serious disability which can negatively impair your outlook on life. Although most people have a mild interaction with depression, a few have a serious interaction. This causes these contradicting levels of depression to be confused with each other, depleting the importance of the rising teen issue of serious depression. Furthermore, the author correctly phrases the progressive severity of depression on anybody. “That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist.” (Chbosky, 54). The author correctly impressionates that depression can progress within anybody, and severely change the mindset of that individual. Additionally, that individual will start having darker and darker thoughts, from “sleep for a thousand years” (Chbosky, 54) to “just not exist” (Chbosky, 54). The author fairly judges society by, showing how