The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

After finishing “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” I realized that there were so many plot twists and character developments in the last part of the book. First of all, the major thing that we discover at the end of the book is Aunt Helen’s full story. Early in the book Charlie tells us how his Aunt Helen was molested which made her turn to a life of drugs and alcohol. So, she came to live with Charlie and his family. We also learn that he feels responsible for her death because, she was going to buy him an extra birthday present. However, what we didn’t was that Aunt Helen actually molested Charlie when he was younger and that in order to cope with it, Charlie suppressed these memories. I was so shocked that I had to read through a few other
parts of the book just to make sure I got it correctly because, the author doesn’t just come out and say but, there is a number of things that point to Aunt Helen abusing Charlie. First, when Sam and Charlie started kissing he has a type of freak out and freezes up. Then right before Charlie falls asleep he says “I can’t do that anymore.
I’m sorry… But I wasn’t talking to Sam anymore. I was talking to someone else” (Chbosky 202). This quote explains how he had done something like this before with someone that he didn’t want to do it with. Then when he has a dream he says that in the dream Aunt Helen was doing the same things Sam was doing which proves that Charlie’s Aunt Helen molested him when he was younger. I was thoroughly shocked to find this out because, Charlie always said that Aunt Helen was the only person that would give him hugs and she was the one that he could talk to her about anything overall, it was quite an unexpected plot twist. Yet, despite Charlie’s horrifyingly painful childhood he still believes there is good in the world. He doesn’t blame his Aunt Helen because he decided that there is more to him than what happened during his childhood. Also, he said that if he blames Aunt Helen, then he blames his grandfather, his great grandfather and so on. Even though Charlie had more reason than anyone to hate his Aunt Helen and the world, he doesn’t which really shows how much Charlie has changed. At the end of the book Sam and Patrick take Charlie for a ride through the tunnel so he can stand in the
back. Because Sam told Charlie that being a true friend is really being there for someone and in that moment Charlie describes the feeling “ But mostly, I was crying because I was suddenly aware of the fact that it was me standing up in the tunnel with the wind over my face. Not caring if a saw downtown. Not even thinking about it. Because I was standing in the tunnel. And I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite” (Chbosky 213). It was a really defining moment in the book for Charlie because he finally understands what Sam meant by you can be there but, not actually be there for a friend. He comes to terms with everything that has happened in the past year and what happened to him as a child. In conclusion, the end of the book Charlie realizes that your past isn’t what defines you, it’s the choices in life that make you what you are.