While reading the coming of age
novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky, I’ve been paying close attention to how Chbosky narrates
the character, and describes youth through him. This book is about a boy in
high school, learning out to adapt and fit in, although at my current half
waypoint, he seems to be a clear outsider. The boy “Charlie” (it is never clear
if that is his real name) tells the story by writing letters to someone. He
doesn’t know this person personally, and so far we don’t even know their name.
Charlie doesn’t leave anything out, and describes his life in full detail,
talking about whatever is on his mind. From the way he writes, to the way he
acts in the stories he writes in the letters, it is clear that he is very
different from everyone else. Although, shortly after starting high school, he
does meet a close group of friends. While he does spend a fair amount of time
writing about recent stories, he also puts some time writing about stories he
remembers from his child hood, and just about important people that stand out
to him in general. While reading it is clear to see, that Charlie just doesn’t
seem to know when, its okay to do what, and seems to be very immature and
ignorant (although he is very smart) for his age. However throughout the book
he is gaining more and more knowledge on the ways to act in order to survive
high school, and come of age.
Charlie
is a very emotional character that is not afraid to show it. He seems to have
trouble knowing what is okay to see and do, and what is not okay to say and do,
although he seems to be gaining knowledge on this subject. Charlie mentions two
people who he was very close with that died. One of them being one of his
closest friends from middle school Michael, that committed suicide (while in
middle school, when they were close), and the other being his Aunt Helen, who
he describes almost like a second mom to him, although willing to be more like
a friend then a mom, who died in a car crash. Both of these people didn’t have
very good lives. Michael was also an outsider, and people bullied and made fun
of him a lot. Charlie was one of his few friends, so he had little support.
Aunt Helen was raped as a little girl, and was also not supported, or helped.
He talks about these people throughout the book, and is constantly explaining how
these people made him feel. Because he does have problems knowing what is okay
to do and say, he expresses the hurt he has from losing these people in strange
ways. For example, he says that after his Aunt Helen died, his parents would
find him passed out in strange places (98-100). As you can see the loss of
these two people to whom he was very close with, had a very hard effect on
Charlie. Some may think that these things might cause him to come of age. I
think if anything these terrible losses seemed to slow down his coming of age,
and cause him to act a lower maturity level.
While
Charlie’s maturity level seems to be very low, from the beginning of the book,
to my current half way position, it is clear that he is really becoming his
own. Although he still has some trouble knowing what to do and say when,
Charlie has clearly gained knowledge on this subject, and seems to be growing
up. He has met friends who are older, which probably help with this process,
but also seems to be just an overall happier person. He has started to get over
his losses, and I think this has allowed him to grow and expand. Although he
seems to be far behind in his maturity level, not because he choices to be, but
mostly just because he can be very ignorant, he is definitely catching up.
Chbosky has Charlie realize
throughout the book a message; to enjoy and make the most of your youth. It is
clear that although many characters that are in the book have had hard lives
growing up, Charlie’s is pretty good. As he begins to realize that, he is
learning to make the most of his child hood because it is short, and some
people don’t even get a real one. This message is portrayed throughout all the
parts of the book I have read so far. It seems that the author is almost saying
that sometimes being a little less mature, and a little more ignorant can even
work to your advantage. Even with these flaws, Charlie seems to be enjoying his
high school life, and they may have even lead him to friends, people and
experiences that will cause him to grow up in the right way at the right time.
