The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Theme Essay
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky follows an introverted and socially awkward Charlie as he navigates through his freshman year of high school. With the help of his amazing best friends Patrick and Sam, the reader follows Charlie as he experiences many of his firsts, but not all of these experiences are good. Along the way, he faces everything, such as drugs, pregnancy, suicide, sexuality, mental illness, and more. It’s not pretty stuff, but it’s real stuff. The Perks of Being a Wallflower covers the good and the bad, which is what makes it such a wonderful and relatable book. Overall, in this novel, there are many themes. An extremely important theme, one of the biggest ones in the novel, is Charlie’s coming of age. In the beginning of the book, Charlie comes off as innocent. Very innocent, and he’s looking at the world wide-eyed and scared. After taking a chance and
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Everyone experiences things like these in their lifetime, but not often are they talked about. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, key issues are faced that most authors would shy away from. Charlie’s best friend Patrick is gay, and struggles with his sexuality throughout the book. Facing having to keep his sexual identity a secret in order to protect his boyfriend, Brad. We also see Brad struggle with his sexual identity, refusing to believe in what he was, and blaming alcohol and drugs for his actions. In the end, Brad dumps Patrick in order to keep his sexuality a secret. Faced with this heartbreak, Patrick finds himself sleeping around. Yet even then, “After a while, the whole thing just wasn't interesting to him anymore, and he ran out of things to keep himself numb” (163). It is very difficult to read, but it is the reality for young people with these types of experiences in high school. While many books try to ignore this issue, it is present and it is important to
Everyone experiences things like these in their lifetime, but not often are they talked about. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, key issues are faced that most authors would shy away from. Charlie’s best friend Patrick is gay, and struggles with his sexuality throughout the book. Facing having to keep his sexual identity a secret in order to protect his boyfriend, Brad. We also see Brad struggle with his sexual identity, refusing to believe in what he was, and blaming alcohol and drugs for his actions. In the end, Brad dumps Patrick in order to keep his sexuality a secret. Faced with this heartbreak, Patrick finds himself sleeping around. Yet even then, “After a while, the whole thing just wasn't interesting to him anymore, and he ran out of things to keep himself numb” (163). It is very difficult to read, but it is the reality for young people with these types of experiences in high school. While many books try to ignore this issue, it is present and it is important to