The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Essay Example

everything about winter, and did not think that the scenery of his home looked like someplace better. However, since only Charlie describes in this way, this is how the moment is perceived, as someplace magical and sparkling.

Being able to follow only Charlie’s feelings makes the story easier to comprehend and analyze, as well as being able to relate to. Throughout an average, everyday novel, normally a character is read about. In this novel, however, Charlie is read with. The reader is able to follow him throughout his experiences, which is only possible due to the point of view that is used by the author. Since the letters he is writing have no recipient, it is easy to assume that the reader is the recipient. Such an assumption makes it easy to relate to Charlie, feel the emotions that he does, and take his side in the story.

Chbosky describes a confrontation between Charlie and his older sister, “‘You’re a freak, you know that? You’ve always been a freak. Everyone says so. They always have. ’ ‘I’m not trying to be. ’ Then, I turned around and walked to my room and closed the door and put my head under my pillow and let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be” (Chbosky 26). This moment was easily relatable for most teenage readers. Since Charlie’s was the only perspective received, maybe Charlie’s sister had a right to say such a thing. Although, it would never be known.

The way the story was written, Charlie looked like the victim, and could make the reader feel a sense of sympathy towards him. In the way Chbosky writes, the

readers can connect to Charlie on a personal level. He writes the way a teenager would, and in a way, the story can be visualized, from one teenager to another. The writing technique makes it easy for the reader to envision a little bit of himself or herself in Charlie, in one-way or another. There was a personal connection felt to one of Charlie’s many “typical high-school” moments in the novel: “I walk around the school hallways and look at the people.

I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why” (Chbosky 34). This quote was one of the most identifiable quotes in the novel for the average, every day American teen.

It is believed that everyone feels such a way at some point in his or her lives, pondering life at random. This quote is the epitome of a general, yet specific thought in a teenager’s mind, and quite possibly the most relatable. The Perks of Being a Wallflower give a strange glimpse into the day-to-day life of the run-of-the-mill yet quirky teenage boy. Charlie is “caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, which puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory” (Chbosky 218). From his

point of view, readers feel connected to Charlie, through his story and letters to o one. There is a perspective given that may not be seen by the majority of readers during their lives, and it opens up the deep, thoughtful mindset of “that nerdy kid” that is rarely interacted with by students throughout this generation. This book gives the ability to create a more open mind about everyone around us. “So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them” (Chbosky 62).