Dear Friend

“And in that moment, we were infinite.” -Chbosky

Dear friends, welcome to the life of Charlie! Today’s post is on parts 1 and 2, but, I have to admit, I have already finished the book. It is SO GOOD. Whereas “The Catcher in the Rye” was very complex and eventful, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is much more relatable, containing event we see everyday. And so it begins…

As I mentioned before, this book is written in the form of letters. Charlie’s first letter describes an incident where his best friend committed suicide in 8th grade and how his councilors are very careful with him. He also mentions that his Aunt Helen passed away. These two incidents show us early on that Charlie has had a rough life thus far, and he is scared of what’s to come. In his second letter, he talks about a fight he got in on his first day of High School (which he is very good at). It’s very easy to see that Charlie is someone people try to avoid. At this point, his only friend is his English teacher and the books that he reads; however, he does very well academically, so his life isn’t in pieces.

I’m a later letter, Charlie writes about how he witnessed his older sister’s boyfriend hit her, standing up to his bully, but he later finds them sleeping together. He writes about what his parents say about this boyfriend, which shows how oblivious they are to what’s going on. Charlie seems to be someone who sees all. He later talks about how his mom his always in a diet and how his dad calls her beautiful, but she never hears it. Charlie sees hurt in his family and doesn’t think much about it. It makes him sad, but he’s used to it.

In October, Charlie makes friends: Sam and Patrick! They are very good at including Charlie, asking him questions and involving him in things. However, these friend are seniors, so with them comes many opportunities. These “opportunities” include sex dreams, masturbation, parties, drug abuse, etc. Because of his young age, many today would label Charlie as corrupt, but who isn’t?

Through bonding with his teacher, Bill, Charlie learns an important life lesson: we accept the live we think we deserve. This is a big theme throughout the novel, relating to Holden and everyone around him. One thing that is really great about the book is the fact that Holden isn’t the only one with problems. We see faults in everyone around him.

We soon see that Charlie is a Christian, so he struggles with regret and shame. This is another characteristic that makes this book so relatable. At some point, every Christian hits a crossroads and has to learn what they believed in, rather than what their parents believe.

Charlie begins to get a sense that the books Bill gives him are supposed to teach him a lesson of some kind. They’re all similar in a way just like “The Catcher in the Rye” (which is a book that Bill eventually gives them), which is they’re all about coming of age, or not wanting to. We’ll learn more about this lesson as we get deeper into the book.

Charlie describes a new event of how he saw a teenager get raped in his room, and he couldn’t really do anything about it. One ironic thing is that his sister continuously calls him a pervert when things like this happen, but these events are what could possibly or not turn him into one someday.

Charlie is soon introduced into his first party scene, in which he eats an I ordinary brownie and finds out his best friend is gay. This is also when the title of the book is coined. A Wallflower is defined as someone who sits to the side and doesn’t really fit in. According to Patrick, it’s someone who “sees, keeps quiet, and understands.”

At the very end of part one, Charlie experiences a crazy, fun time with Sam and Patrick. He describes a feeling of being infinite. This is important because it shows hope for Charlie– everything isn’t all thorns and rain.

This post is much longer than I though it would be, so I will continue tomorrow. Talk to you later:)