Perks Of Being A Wallflower Coming Of Age Essay

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a touching coming of age story about a teenage boy named Charlie who is entering into his freshman year of high school and trying to cope with death, life, friends, and sexuality. Charlie a shy, introvert teen that becomes friends with new people and starts to experience new things in his life. Charlie’s life is greatly shaped by a few of his friends, namely, Patrick, Sam, Bill, Mary Elizabeth, Michael, Aunt Helen, and lastly his sister. There are many examples of influences on Charlie’s life in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie, the main character and the ‘wallflower’ is exposed to new ideas from all different sides. Charlie meets Patrick and Sam who probably end up leaving the biggest impression of all on Charlie. Patrick and Sam were Charlie’s best friends. They were always there to give him a word of advice and help push him out into situations to learn new things. While not everything Charlie did because of them was the best, such as the time he let Patrick kiss him even though he didn’t want him to, they definitely helped Charlie to broaden his horizon and give him a new outlook on life. Patrick and Sam were the first real friends Charlie had ever had. They stuck by him. Sam encouraged him to keep writing by
Because Charlie was a wallflower he would observe what others wanted and do his best to make that come true. I think that is part of the reason he decided to get in a relationship with Mary Elizabeth. While he learned new things from her and did like her, Charlie ultimately wasn’t happy because he was in love with Sam. He shows some immaturity when at the “Truth or Dare” scene he kisses Sam instead of Mary Elizabeth. This hurt there relationship greatly for a while. She eventually forgave him though and remained his