The Perks of Being a Wallflower (novel)

***The Perks of Being a Wallflower*** is a novel written by Stephen Chbosky and released in 1999. Each chapter of the book is a letter written by the main character, a boy of 15 called Charlie, to an unnamed friend.

## Background and Publication 
“The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger, which Chbosky says was an inspiration for him to write "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". Also some music titles had inspired him, for example Asleep" from "The Smiths".

Stephen Chbosky was born in Pittsburgh, the same town where "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" plays. He has said that much of what Charlie writes about in the book is based on what he, the author, has experienced himself. Charlie, the “wallflower” isn't ready to take the responsibility for his own life. High school, love and parties are overstraining him. “People who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want.”  is Charlie's way to accept, that life happens the way it does and that he must stand it.

Main quote of the second part of coming of age, “What you need in life”, is “We accept the love we deserve.” Bill teaches Charlie that it needs more than people who give you love. You must give back. You must love yourself. You must trust others. You can't love alone. Charlie is also wishing for a person to keep contact “I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands.” By all the mess he had to go through, he tries not to lose his good mind about community.

Last main part of growing up is “becoming individual”. Sam, and also Charlie, understand that being an adult means to be unique. “I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is.”. That’s the way Sam declares her readiness. But adolescence also is about doubting, “Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense.” The book conveys an important advice to pass adolescence: Just be yourself, find out who you are, leave your past far behind, but never forget where you started.

### Music 
Music is a very important part of Charlie’s life. Mostly, he listens to music in the car, either on the radio or from one of his mix tapes. These mix tapes are pretty special, because they are made by a person with their personal and favorite songs. Charlie thinks that when you know the taste of music of a person, then you already know them, because music says a lot about someone. Because of the personality, mix tapes are often used as a present. With music, Charlie connects a lot of memories, from car rides, high school dances, theatres or parties. On the mix tape of his sister is Charlie’s favorite song, called „Asleep“. He really loves this song and whenever he feels sad or lonely, Charlie listens to it.

### Literature 
In the novel, many books by other authors are mentioned. Charlie’s English teacher sees that Charlie loves reading and writing, so he helps him develop his skills by giving him extra "homework": books to read and essays to write.

Those books are:

*"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
* "This Side of Paradise" by F.Scott Fitzgerald
*"Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie 
*"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
* "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
* "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
* "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs
* "The Stranger" by Albert Camus
* "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand

Charlie likes all the books except "Naked Lunch" because he does not understand it.

All these books were written between 1911 and 1960; by and by, Charlie starts to see similarities in the books.

He also gives him the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. 

### Sport 
Charlie went to the high school football game. He went to the games sometimes, when the games were popular and sometimes Susan and Michael were there, but this time, Michael is gone and Susan hangs around different boys, also he went alone. He knew Patrick in the football game. He loves the “Football game”, then he can analyse play-by-play.

### Mental illnesses 
Although it’s not clearly said in the novel, Charlie probably has several mental illnesses, including: PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), occasional depression, and perhaps drug(cannabis)-induced psychosis and/or schizophrenia. Before the end of the novel Charlie’s state of mental health deteriorates, because of his emerging PTSD (from the death of aunt Helen) and perhaps psychosis and/or schizophrenia. He is brought to a mental hospital, from which he finally recovers. Early in the book, it is mentioned that Charlie’s best friend Michael appeared to have suffered from depression and had killed himself (before the book). There are several more people in the book who appear to have depression and/or bipolar disorder.

### Suicide 
Teenagers, like adults, may decide to take their lives for a variety of reasons. Michael, who was Charlie’s friend, had committed suicide (killed himself) but the reason behind it is never explicitly said in the novel. The school counselor guessed that he might have had "a problem at home" but nobody to talk to, so he felt desperate and lonely. As suicide is a tragic event, it impacted many of the people around him, like Charlie (his best friend) and Susan, (his girlfriend), in addition to the rest of his school. It did, however, help the staff and students become more aware of mental illness in and beyond the school. In addition, it is mentioned in the book that both Bridget and Carl struggled with suicidal thoughts when facing problems in their lives.

### LGBTQI 
This theme appears often in the book, as one of the main characters, Patrick, is homosexual. Patrick is in a relationship with Brad, they are two very different people with very different lives. Brad is one of the most popular boys in school and is dating a girl to cover up his sexuality because he is ashamed of people knowing. Patrick is known by the nickname "Nothing" in school and is bullied often, however that doesn't disturb him at all. In their relationship they go through pain, fear, love, but mostly sorrow. Their whole relationship is told from Charlie's perspective. He explains the phases Patrick goes through and stories he is told throughout their affair. Brad at the beginning had to take drugs and alcohol every time they got together, so that he had something to blame for the next day. Patrick was always very upset about this, however when it finally stopped he wasn't at all bothered that Brad wanted to keep it a secret, as he had deep feelings for him. Things start becoming more complicated when Brad's dad walks in on them. Brad is beat up terribly by his father, which caused him not to come to school for a week and ignore Patrick completely. When Brad comes back to school he calls Patrick "faggot" in the cafeteria, in front of the whole school. This provokes a huge fight, including Brad's friends and Charlie who ends the fight. Brad and Patrick never get back together.

### Family relationships 
Charlie's family consists of both of his parents, mom and dad, an older brother who is in college and an older sister who is a senior in high school. The family member Charlie is closest with is his mom's sister: aunt Helen. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident on his seventh birthday. Often, Charlie gets flashbacks about her, but he wouldn't understand why it happened. He later realizes after being in the hospital because of a mental breakdown, that his aunt Helen used to sexually abuse of him. Charlie's mom is always home, and does not work. According to Charlie, she is quiet and does not talk much, but when she does everybody listens to her. His dad is considered an honest man by Charlie, he is a hardworking man and a good husband. Since his brother is in college, he loses connection with him, and they don't talk much after that. However Charlie and his brother were never close in that sense. Charlie's relationship with his sister gets worse when he sees her boyfriend hit her. Eventually, Charlie discovers that his sister is pregnant, and he agrees to bring her to an abortion clinic and keep it a secret. She then breaks up with her boyfriend and the relationship between Charlie and her improves. Everybody in Charlie's family is busy and nobody ever has time for him. For that same reason, Charlie feels lonely and sometimes even depressed.

### Drugs 
In the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Charlie has a few experiences with drugs, at parties he goes to. Unfortunately, these were all due to bad influences from Patrick since his confusion with finding himself made him try different things.

## Movie adaption 
The book was adapted into a movie in 2012, having Stephen Chbosky direct it and starring Logan Lerman as Charlie, Emma Watson as Sam and Ezra Miller as Patrick. Although the plot of the movie shows many similarities to the novel, it has some clear and distinctive differences. For example, in the movie, Charlie helps Sam with schoolwork to improve her grades, but this is not mentioned in the novel. And the side-story about Charlie’s sister getting pregnant is only in the book, not in the movie.
The movie received mostly positive reviews following its first appearance in theaters, including 85% positive feedback on the website Rotten Tomatoes.

## References