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 …show more content…
However, LGBT characters are must be looked at differently than straight or cisgendered ones. Although Patrick is not defined by his sexuality, it is the only motivating force behind his character’s plot line (Perks of Thinking Queer 1). He is in a relationship with the high school quarterback, Brad, who as far as any of his classmates know is straight. The only people who know about the relationship are Patrick, Sam, Charlie, and a very few select others. Charlie was not even supposed to find out about the relationship, he just happens to walk in on the two of them when he is high (Chbosky 36). The fact that Patrick and Brad are in a secret relationship is not the part that many LGBT critics or readers find offensive, it is more the shame that seems to coincide with their relationship. When the two first hook up, they’re both drunk (Chbosky 43). Every time after that, Brad gets stoned or drunk in order to be with Patrick - until his father starts to notice and send him off to rehab (43). When Brad returns, he reignites the relationship with Patrick and this time is has accepted himself to the point that he no longer needs to drink to show that he loves his boyfriend. Things take a turn for the worse when Brad’s father finds out about the two of them and whips Brad with his belt in front of Patrick who narrowly escapes the …show more content…
They do not seem to realize the importance of education in these topics, because ignorance can be deadly. In Perks, Charlie’s, albeit false, innocence causes him nothing but trouble, especially in his relationship with Mary Elizabeth in after which he ends up losing all of his friends for a time because he did not understand the fact that most people have a larger differentiation than him between platonic and romantic love. He kisses Sam in front of Mary Elizabeth after Patrick dares him to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Either Charlie wanted Mary Elizabeth to suffer, or, more likely, he just didn’t understand the magnitude of what he’d done. Naturally, Mary Elizabeth is devastated by what her, now ex, boyfriend just did, but it ends up being for the better as later in the book she meets a well spoken college student named Peter who she likes much more and finds herself intellectually challenged
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 …show more content…
However, LGBT characters are must be looked at differently than straight or cisgendered ones. Although Patrick is not defined by his sexuality, it is the only motivating force behind his character’s plot line (Perks of Thinking Queer 1). He is in a relationship with the high school quarterback, Brad, who as far as any of his classmates know is straight. The only people who know about the relationship are Patrick, Sam, Charlie, and a very few select others. Charlie was not even supposed to find out about the relationship, he just happens to walk in on the two of them when he is high (Chbosky 36). The fact that Patrick and Brad are in a secret relationship is not the part that many LGBT critics or readers find offensive, it is more the shame that seems to coincide with their relationship. When the two first hook up, they’re both drunk (Chbosky 43). Every time after that, Brad gets stoned or drunk in order to be with Patrick - until his father starts to notice and send him off to rehab (43). When Brad returns, he reignites the relationship with Patrick and this time is has accepted himself to the point that he no longer needs to drink to show that he loves his boyfriend. Things take a turn for the worse when Brad’s father finds out about the two of them and whips Brad with his belt in front of Patrick who narrowly escapes the …show more content…
They do not seem to realize the importance of education in these topics, because ignorance can be deadly. In Perks, Charlie’s, albeit false, innocence causes him nothing but trouble, especially in his relationship with Mary Elizabeth in after which he ends up losing all of his friends for a time because he did not understand the fact that most people have a larger differentiation than him between platonic and romantic love. He kisses Sam in front of Mary Elizabeth after Patrick dares him to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Either Charlie wanted Mary Elizabeth to suffer, or, more likely, he just didn’t understand the magnitude of what he’d done. Naturally, Mary Elizabeth is devastated by what her, now ex, boyfriend just did, but it ends up being for the better as later in the book she meets a well spoken college student named Peter who she likes much more and finds herself intellectually challenged