Individual Text Feature: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

My final research project will be based on the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This novel encompasses a large variety of adolescent issues without sacrificing the narrative or becoming overwhelming. The protagonist Charlie represents the brink of adolescence at the beginning of the novel, and although he still exhibits some innocence towards the end, he grows into a more experienced and mature young adult by the end of the novel. Similar to The Catcher in the Rye, Charlie ends the story in a mental institution. However, rather than having the cynical mindset of Holden Caulfield, Charlie’s character presents a dynamic of being a hypersensitive teenager in a rather insensitive atmosphere – high school. The novel addresses the adolescent issues of identity, sexuality, religion, abusive relationships, sex, child molestation, drug use, sexism and feminism, death, suicide, depression and anxiety, and overall maturation.

            Despite Charlie’s timid demeanor, he proves to be compassionate and mature for his age, supported by his friendships formed with the high school seniors Patrick and Sam as well as his short love interest with Mary Elizabeth. He shows a struggle to find his identity as he begins the novel writing letters to an unnamed character – taking the similar “if you want to hear about it” tone Holden Caulfield uses. Charlie writes the letters to cope with the recent loss of his only friend Michael to suicide, and expresses his nervousness as he is about to begin high school. Losing a close friend to suicide at the age of fifteen right on the brink of beginning at a new school allows the audience to witness Charlie’s character development as he befriends his older classmates as well as his English teacher.

            Sexuality is a common adolescent issue dealt with throughout the novel. This is introduced through many of the characters. The relationship between Patrick and Brad addresses the difficulties and complications that come with homosexual relationships in high school with the added element that Brad is still in the closet due to his homophobic father. Candace, possibly taking after their Aunt Helen, enters an abusive relationship and is caught by Charlie having sex with him in the basement. Sam expresses that she used to be (and still is by her peers) considered “easy” and would use partying as a coping mechanism for her low self esteem. She does not seem to have gotten over this completely as she dates an older boy in the novel who treats her condescendingly and ends up cheating on her. Charlie begins to develop sexual desires towards Sam but cannot act on them since she has a boyfriend, causing him to pursue Mary Elizabeth somewhat against his will. When he finally kisses Sam though, this evokes repressed memories of Aunt Helen molesting him as a child, giving the emphasized bond he felt towards his Aunt Helen a new meaning.

            Death becomes a central theme to the novel as well since it begins with Michael’s suicide and Charlie’s frustration that he was unaware of what Michael was going through. Charlie also expresses several times how much he loves and misses his Aunt Helen who died in a car accident on Charlie’s birthday, causing him to think it was his fault. Charlie harbors a lot of guilt and blame for both deaths of people so important to him, providing insight as to why he is such a people-pleasing character throughout the novel. He struggles to identify himself outside of these tragedies and the comfort of his friends, which also ties into his later drug use in the novel.

            In addition to this being an adolescent novel, age becomes a central theme as well. Charlie attempts to place his identity in the form of age as he counts down how many days he has left of high school. He befriends his English professor who is much older as well as surrounding himself with seniors. The relationship with his English teacher could be seen as Bill taking on the parental role that Charlie never fully had as his own father seems cold and removed. He bonded the most with his aunt before she passed away, idolizes his brother who is in college, and attends parties mixed with high-school students and college students. Both of his romantic interests are at least three years older than he is, which is partially why he gets into drug use as well.

            Drug use is slightly addressed in the novel as well, although it is not expanded on as much as the other issues. Charlie tries LSD at a party, causing him to have an existential crisis of questioning if he is too different from the others. This sparks the revelation that he has suppressed memories of tragedy which becomes relevant again during a brutal fight in the cafeteria. These issues all begin to intertwine as his drug problem sheds light on his memory suppression which exposes his childhood molestation and traumatic bonding with his Aunt Helen.

            While the novel tackles many different problems posed by the transition from childhood into adulthood, it does so in a way that mirrors the reality of these issues accurately. However, since the demographic is white middle class, it does not represent race or a wide range of economic status well. The social issues represented exist only within a certain construct making the novel relatable on some level to all teens, but more so to the teens who have similar backgrounds as those in the novel. Also, although it is not explicitly stated other than the suppression of memories, it could be assumed that Charlie has some form of social anxiety or a type of social disorder. He has trouble forming relationships and seems to bond with the group of seniors solely on the fact that he acts different and is as much of a misfit as they are. The concept of identity has more depth in this sense since it is applicable to not only the protagonist, but to his circle of peers and family members as well.