Journey in the Perks of Being a Wallflower
A journey of some length or depth is taken by every protagonist in a story. Whether it is a knight in shining armor rescuing a princess or an awkward teenager discovering his true self, an adventure is always there. Thomas Foster from the university of Flint Michigan wrote an explanatory book called How to Read Literature like a Professor Which explains the stages of journey in stories. How there is a hero, a place to go,a reason to go, a challenge, and a real reason for the adventure.This classification can fit into many different fictional or non-fictional pieces of writing, each using it in their own unique way. Charlie, from Stephen Chbosky’s novel the Perks of Being a Wallflower is just one …show more content…
In Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor he explains that there are five stages of journey as mentioned above. The first, being a quester, is the hero, the one who goes on a quest of some sort. They are the main focus of the story and normally have something unique or different about them. Charlie, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is the quester of the novel. The next stage of journey is a place for the quester to go, somewhere to continue their adventure. Charlie’s place is high school. He starts off the letters saying he is struggling because his only friend had committed suicide suddenly. Charlie then talks about how high school is coming up soon, and he was nervous for that. The rest of the novel is structured around his time in school, both joyous occasions and the rough patches of his new environment. Charlie is the quester because the story takes place in his letters, in his account of what happened throughout the year. Not only that, but the quester has to go somewhere, and Charlie is heading off to high school, all …show more content…
Next, there is the stated reason for going there. For example, for a knight, his stated purpose would to save the princess from the dragon. Charlie 's stated purpose for going to high school is to make new friends and come out of his shell. He later says in the book that he watches life go by, instead of participates. Going to high school would be his only opportunity to completely start fresh and hopefully make new friends. Charlie later in the novel does change, he make new friends who called themselves the “island of misfit toys.” They know they are different and are proud of it. After Charlie met his new friends, they encouraged him to participate in life, to live life to the fullest. Charlie starts going to parties and being reckless because of his new environment. If he never went to high school, he might have never done the incredible things he got to do, such as stand in the back of the truck while driving. Charlie 's stated
A journey of some length or depth is taken by every protagonist in a story. Whether it is a knight in shining armor rescuing a princess or an awkward teenager discovering his true self, an adventure is always there. Thomas Foster from the university of Flint Michigan wrote an explanatory book called How to Read Literature like a Professor Which explains the stages of journey in stories. How there is a hero, a place to go,a reason to go, a challenge, and a real reason for the adventure.This classification can fit into many different fictional or non-fictional pieces of writing, each using it in their own unique way. Charlie, from Stephen Chbosky’s novel the Perks of Being a Wallflower is just one …show more content…
In Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor he explains that there are five stages of journey as mentioned above. The first, being a quester, is the hero, the one who goes on a quest of some sort. They are the main focus of the story and normally have something unique or different about them. Charlie, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is the quester of the novel. The next stage of journey is a place for the quester to go, somewhere to continue their adventure. Charlie’s place is high school. He starts off the letters saying he is struggling because his only friend had committed suicide suddenly. Charlie then talks about how high school is coming up soon, and he was nervous for that. The rest of the novel is structured around his time in school, both joyous occasions and the rough patches of his new environment. Charlie is the quester because the story takes place in his letters, in his account of what happened throughout the year. Not only that, but the quester has to go somewhere, and Charlie is heading off to high school, all …show more content…
Next, there is the stated reason for going there. For example, for a knight, his stated purpose would to save the princess from the dragon. Charlie 's stated purpose for going to high school is to make new friends and come out of his shell. He later says in the book that he watches life go by, instead of participates. Going to high school would be his only opportunity to completely start fresh and hopefully make new friends. Charlie later in the novel does change, he make new friends who called themselves the “island of misfit toys.” They know they are different and are proud of it. After Charlie met his new friends, they encouraged him to participate in life, to live life to the fullest. Charlie starts going to parties and being reckless because of his new environment. If he never went to high school, he might have never done the incredible things he got to do, such as stand in the back of the truck while driving. Charlie 's stated