The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Personal Response Essay

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a meaningful and significant book to me. I enjoyed this book because it related to me. The main character Charlie is unpopular and he's a "wallflower." Sometimes I feel like a wallflower. I blend in around my peers and I feel unnoticed. The definition of a wallflower is, "a person who has no one to dance with or who feels shy, awkward, or excluded at a party." Sometimes I feel shy around people, not wanting to socialize; I tend to stick around people I know. I feel insecure around new people because I fear that they will judge me. Charlie is a symbol of adolescence in which how he acted around people and how peer pressure affected his choices. Charlie was exposed to drugs, smoking, and drinking through his friends Sam and Patrick. Although I haven't been pressured into doing anything like this, I feel pressured into buying the most trendy clothes and outfits based on other's opinions. It is sad that I want things for how popular they are and not for what I like. One quote that stood out to me was, "So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe
This book reminds me of 1984 by George Orwell. Both books are revolved around the thought of freedom. In 1984 there was no freedom, while in The Perks of Being a Wallflower there was an abundance of freedom. Both societies had conflicts whether they had freedom or not. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the teens misused and misunderstood what their freedom should be used for. Charlie did drugs and this is what had happened, "After thirty minutes, the room started to slip away from me. I was talking to one of the girls with the belly button ring, and she seemed like she was in a movie. I started blinking a lot and looking around, and the music sounded heavy like water" (Chbosky 35). This reminds me of how when my parents don't punish me on attitude it just turns into a bigger issue. There always has to be limits in order for you to have the right behavior and