Diamond Allen

Mrs. McBride

Jan.18th.2017

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Have you ever wondered why your aunt becomes extremely scared around your great uncle or

why its always time to go when your older cousin starts drinking or why theres this awkward silence

during the family Thanksgiving dinner? In Stephen Chboskys book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower,

he tells about the many dysfunctional things that some families go through. This book tells the many

reasons of why everyone does the things that they do. Stephen Chbosky was making this book during a

hard time in his life. He was 14 when he started writing and finished writing the book at 17. Set in the

early 90s, a teenager, Charlie meets friends in his first year of high school and is introduced to drugs,

alcohol, love and the world. Through his journey, he writes to this unknown person everything that he

encounters and the stories that people tell him and some that happened before high school. Before

reading this masterpiece, the reader should know the importance of this book. This book helps adults

understand what a teenage boy may go through, and to see the different challenges that each teen faced

throughout the book. They should also know that adolescents arent monsters, theyre just looking for

who they are while being shaped into whats around them. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a truly

masterpiece, because it illustrates great themes such as the difficulty of wrestling with substance abuse,

is a reminder of profound human values like security, power, and conformity that importance was shown

through the topic of child abuse in the novel, the author is deeply involved in the understanding of his

fellow men and women by creating characters based off of his friends, and it moves us to feel great

emotions like hopefulness, loneliness and intimacy, etc.

Substance abuse, drugs and alcohol are a theme that play a part in teenagers lives. Through the

book, it is seen as a method to cope with whatever demons that the teens were facing or hiding. There

are many reasons as to why people do it, and it may seem like a remedy, but itll drive them insane in the
long run. As Charlie was writing to his friend about what had happened since his first party he went to

and was drugged. He began to tell about Brad, It got to a point where Brad was getting stoned or drunk

before school; his parents sent him to rehabilitation because Brads father didnt want him to miss his

chance at a football scholarship. And my mind played hopscotch. My brother ... football ... Brad ...

Dave and his girlfriend in my room ... the coats ... the cold ... the winter ... Autumn Leaves ... dont

tell anyone ... you pervert ... Sam and Craig ... Sam ... Christmas ... typewriter ... gift ... Aunt Helen ...

and the trees kept moving ... they just wouldnt stop moving ... so I laid down and made a snow angel.

(Chbosky 55) Charlie went to his first party with Sam and Patrick, and at that party someone slipped

LSD into his drink. During the party, Charlie experiencing a trip, was wondering to the bathroom and on

his way he saw Brad, the schools quarterback, and Patrick making out and it worried Brad. After that

party, Charlie noticed how Brad was dealing with is sexualty; Charlie also experienced a bad trip and

wasnt really himself for a week. He couldnt remember what happened at the party, he even cut his hair.

Drugs and alcohol can be used as suppressants in ways of coping, in this case, sexuality. During this

time, in the early 90s, the LGBT community wasnt treated as respected human beings, they were looked

at as sinners and horrible people just because they werent deemed normal. As Blaser, the author of

Hallucinogens. was talking about the effects of LSD, or hallucinogens, he mentions, The distortions

in reality, exaggeration of perception, and other effects can be horrifying, especially if the user is not

aware that he/she has been given the drug. This constitutes what is informally called the bad trip...but

their primary effect is one of inducing euphoria, relaxation, stimulation, relief from pain, or relief from

anxiety. Probably the most commonly used of the psychedelics is marijuana...because of unforeseen

adverse side effects such as flashbacks, which occurred after the user had ceased using the drug.(Blaser

1). This can explain why Charlie reacted the way he did and why many people do this on purpose. These

drugs are used to get away from everyday life or the problems faced in it. Its in their name, but

hallucinogens can cause hallucinations and cause the user to feel relaxed or in a euphoric state. Many

people in everyday life use these drugs to get away from their realities and its not healthy, it can lead to
death. By Chbosky choosing to have this in his book, adolescents or adults who read this can see the

effects of LSD or other drugs and although some things may seem like good choices at the moment,

they could permanently damage the health of the user.

A profound assertion of human values. Child Abuse. This is shown when Charlie and Sam were

becoming intimate, but Charlie stopped because he had some flashbacks of what his Aunt Helen had

done to him. After that, he had a dream of an incident that he didnt think happened between him and his

Aunt Helen. He later found out in the hospital that what happened was true. As Charlie was describing to

his friend the moment he and Sam became intimate, he started, So, I kissed her. And she kissed me

back. And we lay down on the floor and kept kissing. And it was soft. And we made quiet noises. And

kept silent. And still. We went over to the bed and lay down on all the things that werent put in

suitcases. And we touched each other from the waist up over our clothes. And then under our clothes.

And then without clothes...It was like everything made sense. Until she moved her hand under my pants,

and she touched me (Chbosky 114). When I fell asleep, I had this dream. My brother and my sister

and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was

thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing(Chbosky 116). Its like if I blamed my aunt Helen, I

would have to blame her dad for hitting her and the friend of the family that fooled around with her

when she was little(Chbosky 119). Sam was about to leave to go to college and they had an intimate

discussion about his feelings and so he acted on them. As things were going further, Charlie started

feeling under pressure and this was the moment that brought a secret to light. Later in the story when

Charlie was in the hospital, it is revealed that he had been molested as a child by his aunt Helen; which

was why when Sam touched him, he grew angry. In the book, Chbosky touched on many topics such as

child abuse, substance abuse, domestic violence, abortion, LGBTQ, PTSD, and suicide. Child abuse of

any kind is hard to talk about, whether its physical, mental, verbal or sexual. Chbosky was able to bring

it to light and tie that into the way people are and why they do the things they do. As the author was

telling about how child abuse could affect the mind of a child, he stated, that negative clinical results
(in contrast to what the studies' subjects reported) included PTSD, major depression, paranoia,

aggressive behavior, poor self-image, poor school performance, substance abuse, and running away

from home. (Doak 1). When Charlie was being intimate with Sam, the PTSD kicked in and he became

angry and aggressive. This also could probably explain his blackouts where he would just roam around

the neighborhood and be found somewhere, as described in the book. By talking about PTSD, it can

open up thoughts or ideas as to why someone immediately gets angry when touched on their shoulders

or when someone has a panic attack when a certain person is around. Knowing these things could

possibly cause an increase in people getting help for those stressors instead of turning to drugs or

harming another person.

The artist must be deeply involved in the understanding of his fellow men and women. Stephen

knew how he wanted his characters to be and used some of his friends as an inspiration for them. By

understanding his fellow men and women, he was able to form many stories into one and challenge the

way teenagers are looked at. The way he portrays them shows how much he understood about them and

by understanding the teens, he was able to write from their perspectives. As Ratcliff was writing this

article about Stephen Chbosky and his inspiration for the book, he said, The unexpected and lovely

magic trick of creating Perks is that every time somebody comes up to me and says that the movie or the

book made them not feel alone, it actually makes me feel less alone, Chbosky said. Because if they

tell me that I get them, that means that they get me. What I figured out at the end of this road is that

there are a lot more of us than there are of them (Ratcliff 1). The character of Charlie is loosely based

on Chbosky, just as Patrick and Sam are pieces of real people in the filmmakers life. Chbosky, who has

a new daughter Maccie Margaret, said he looks forward to the day when he can show his highly

impactful project to her (Ratcliff 1). What Im hoping is that she will realize at a young age that her

parents get what shes going though a lot more than she thinks that we do, he said. One of my

missions for the movie was that I wanted to create a movie that young people would love because it

validated and respected and celebrated what theyre going through every day, but at the same time, it
would be nostalgic for their parents, so that they would remember what it felt like. And then maybe it

would bring those two groups that are so often at odds, that are so often silent with each other

maybe a little step closer to each other (Ratcliff 1). Stephen Chbosky wrote the semi-autobiographical

bestselling novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower knowing that he wanted to turn the book into a movie

that he would ultimately direct (Ratcliff 1). Stephen Chbosky was 14 when he started writing this book

and finished when he was 17. He tells that many of the characters were based loosely on him and his

friends lives. By him being an adolescent when writing this, makes it more meaningful to other

adolescents because it says, You are not alone, Ive gone through it too. Chboskys book isnt to

portray adolescents as ignorant children who dont know anything, its to show their lives and the things

they go through, the good and the bad. This book says, Its ok to be different, its all apart of finding

yourself. In an interview with Stephen Chbosky, Script Magazine asked Chbosky ow his personal

experiences translated into the film and Chbosky answered, But I was always the kid that girls felt safe

around and could tell things to as a friend. I would listen and hear their confessions and the things they

were going through. And over the years, noticed patterns. So, when it came time to write Sam, even

though she was originally inspired by someone I knew, she became an amalgamate and a celebration of

all the girls that I was friends with back then.(Script Magazine 1) Patrick became a celebration of all

the kids I knew who were gay and finding their way to their own identity. And Charlie was just an

expression of how I felt deep in my heart observing everyone and everything and really just wanting

everyone to be happy(Script Magazine 1). Chbosky was able to relate himself and the people around

him to his characters and that built on the significance of the book and its meaning. People love being

able to take something from the book and having a chance to apply it to everyday life. Relation is an

important part of writing a book, because many times people just want to read a book where they can

identify with the characters in it. Being able to connect with a book could help the reader find ways to

deal with things differently or openly.

When experiencing my masterpiece, I felt many emotions, such as, anger, loneliness, scared,
sensitive, accepted and hopeful. When Charlie was at the party and felt that he belonged. I didnt know

that other people thought things about me. I didnt know that they looked. I was sitting on the floor of a

basement of my first real party between Sam and Patrick, and I remembered that Sam introduced me as

her friend to Bob. And I remembered that Patrick had done the same for Brad. And I started to cry. And

nobody in that room looked at me weird for doing it. And then I really started to cry (Chbosky 25).

When Charlie found his place and where he belonged, I felt optimistic for myself and that I could relate

myself to him. As a teenager in high school, it feels good to be accepted and fit in somewhere without

having to change yourself to be liked. Knowing that you have friends who have become a second family

to you not feeling scared that theyre going to judge or disown you. Feeling happy that youve found

where you belong whether its freshman year or junior year of high school.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower a masterpiece because it brings to light strong ideas, shows that

everyone has a challenge to face, helps us understand from different perspectives, and reminds us that

everyone is human. Perks helps understand the reasons why some things happen and why people are the

way that they are. This masterpiece tells what its like to be the quietest one in the room, the life

changing secret holder and the broken hearted one. Dealing with all of these things shapes us into the

people that we are and whether thats a good thing or a and thing, you have the choice to not let your

past determine and control your future. Be the one to initiate the change and do the unexpected.

Works Cited

Blaser, Larry. "Hallucinogens." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda

Wilmoth Lerner, 5th ed., Gale, 2014. Student Resources in Context, Accessed 5 Jan. 2017.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket, 1999. Print.
"Child abuse." World of Health, Gale, 2000. Student Resources in Context, Accessed 21 Dec. 2016.

Doak, Melissa J. "Child Sexual Abuse." Child Abuse and Domestic Violence, 2011 ed., Gale, 2011.

Information Plus Reference Series. Student Resources in Context, Accessed 5 Jan. 2017.

"Screenwriter and Novelist Stephen Chbosky: Rebel with a Cause." Script Magazine. N.p., 20 May

2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

"Underage Drinking." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Student Resources in

Context. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.