BOOK REVIEW

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

By Stephen Chbosky
I. INTRODUCTION

A prototypical teenager’s life could be quite a challenge to describe considering the copious
amounts of minute details that can contribute to much complex and wider arrays of social, personal and
mental development. “I felt infinite”, were one of the most notable lines mentioned in the length of this
book. Just like how the term can be interpreted in infinite ways, the novel felt like an “infinite” source of
unconnected, but distinct events during our memorable years as high schoolers. The author’s
introduction in the early chapters of the novel conveyed the lack of social interaction of the main
character, this is argued throughout the rest of the text and concluded that developing a strong bond
with family and friends is a tremendous factor in ensuring the success to become mature. With that in
mind, I firmly believe that the main character, Charlie, is truly an introverted child and has signs of being
autistic. This behavior of his is what drives him to seek social interaction and he gets it by getting out of
his bubble.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR

Stephen Chbosky is a novelist, screenwriter, and director from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was
born on January 25, 1970. He grew up in a Catholic family with his mother, father, and younger sister. As
a teenager, Chbosky was moved by J.D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which was one of the
many books mentioned in Perks of Being a Wallflower. Salinger was most popular among post-World
War II college students with his short stories during his duty as a soldier in Europe. Upon graduation
from Upper St. Clair High School, Chbosky met Stewart Stern, the screenwriter of Rebel Without a Cause,
also a book mentioned in Perks of Being a Wallflower and the two became very close friends. After
writing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky revealed that the character Bill, a literature teacher,
was based on Stern and reflected the positive influence of Stern on his own development, much like
how Bill was not only a great teacher to Charlie but also a great influence in particular, being a good
personal advisor.

Chbosky left his hometown of Pittsburgh to go to the University of Southern California's Film Writing
Program. There, he began his work on his first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, which premiered at
the Sundance Film Festival. Following this initial success of his career in the arts, Chbosky spent the
1990s writing screenplays that sadly went unpublished, but in 1994 he began work on the novel he is
now most famous for - The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In a 2001 interview with Ann Beisch of LA Youth,
Chbosky described the initial stages of the project: "I was writing a very different type of book
than Perks, but then I wrote the line, 'I guess that's just one of the perks of being a wallflower.' And I
stopped. I realized that somewhere in that sentence was the boy I was really trying to find." After five
years of grueling research and composition, Chbosky finally published the novel in 1999; the book
became a bestseller and a favorite among book readers alike. Chbosky went on to tell Beisch that he
wrote the book "for very personal reasons," and was happy that people had been able to relate to it in
such a positive way. These “very personal reasons” are highlighted within the main idea of the said
book.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was Chbosky's very first novel, as well as his most successful, but
Chbosky's talents extend beyond his role as a novelist. In 2005, Chbosky wrote the screenplay for the
film adaptation of the Broadway hit Rent, though this adaptation was met by mixed reviews from critics.
In 2012, Chbosky went back into the field of film, serving as the screenwriter and director of the movie
version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In a 2012 interview after the film was released, Chbosky
revealed that he had always hoped his novel would become a film, and that he was delighted and at the
same time thrilled to be so heavily involved in the production of his own novel. This time, his film, which
starred famous actors such as Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra miller to name a few. The effort
given to the creation of this movie were met with great praise: the 2012 film earned $33 million
worldwide as well as numerous awards.
In addition to film and literature, Chbosky has also shared time to work in television; he wrote
notably for the TV drama Jericho, which premiered in September of 2006 but was unfortunately
cancelled in 2008. The series follows the aftermath of a nuclear attack in a small Kansas town; at
present, there are rumors that Netflix is interested in resurrecting the CBS series. Currently, Chbosky
lives in Los Angeles, California, and continues to write, although little is known about the project he is
working on at the moment. He is an active supporter of gay rights and continues to be employed as a
film consultant.

III. SUMMARY OF THE STORY

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is narrated through the point of view of the
main character, Charlie, the “wallflower’. It is a series of letters that he writes to a stranger
beginning the evening before he attends his first day of high school in 1991. The letters mention
different events and experiences he had in his life, both present and past. Though very shy and
emotionally sensitive, Charlie is rather an intelligent and well-spoken individual, this is highlighted
with him being very observant and obsessive, something that people with autism has signs of.
Although rather dark as the opening of a coming-of-age story, his first letter directly tells his “friend”
about the recent suicide of his friend as well as the death of his aunt, which both events have great
significance in his emotional trauma.

Charlie befriends two seniors, Patrick and Sam, who were watching a football game. Charlie
then develops a huge crush on Sam, along with this, he also developed a habit of smoking early on
after he met them, first as a coping mechanism and after a while, a common ritual. It also good to
mention that Patrick who is gay, has a secretive relationship with one of the school’s football player,
Brad. Charlie also meets his English teacher, Bill, who acknowledges Charlie’s interest in literature.
Bill assigns him different books throughout the length of his junior year and makes him pass reviews
about them. Charlie then becomes a very close friend to him, recognizing him as a great mentor.
Because of this, Charlie becomes more and more active in participating in social events. With the
guidance of his newly found friends, Charlie gets integrated to their friend group, specifically
through a house party.

As the school year progresses, Charlie begins to come out of his dark cave of insecurities and
introverts. As this happens though, his social life also starts to deteriorate. His relationship with his
family and his friends become more and more complicated. However, Charlie’s friend group helps
him to overcome this stress which makes him more at peace with himself and his life in general. The
holidays coming up always makes it a difficult time for Charlie especially because of the traumatic
events he had during those times. Even though Charlie finds solace in his hobby of reading and the
help of his friends, he struggles to cope flashbacks of the death of his Aunt Helen which triggers his
depression even more.

As Charlie matures, his relationship with his family, his sister in particular, deepens. This is
highlighted with his few but memorable experiences he had shared with her. For instance, Charlie
founds out about his sister’s abusive relationship with her boyfriend. Charlie then shares this
information with Bill, his English teacher and mentor. Bill then informs Charlie’s parents about this
which lead to his sister and Charlie feuding. But when Charlie finds out about his sister’s pregnancy
early on, he is the only one that was there for her to trust. She decides to have an abortion and she
trusts Charlie to drive her to the clinic and never speak of it to anyone.
 After Charlie performs at one of the viewings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a 70’s musical
comedy horror film, Mary Elizabeth and Charlie starts dating. Despite this, Mary Elizabeth becomes
more interested in herself rather than having a romantic relationship with Charlie. Charlie starts to
doubt his feelings for her. During a game of Truth or Dare in one of their hangout spots, Charlie is
dared to kiss the prettiest person in the room, in which he chooses to kiss Sam. Mary Elizabeth walks
out of the room crying. Everyone then rushes to comfort Mary Elizabeth and Charlie was advised to
leave and let things cool down. It is also good to note that at the time, Sam was currently in a
relationship with someone name Craig.

Brad’s abusive father finds out about his son’s homosexual relationship with Patrick and goes on
to beat him after walking in on them doing the deed. Brad is then sent into rehab and when he
returns, he never spoke to anyone up until Patrick confronts him in the cafeteria. A huge brawl
breaks loose after Brad makes a derogatory comment about Patrick’s sexuality. Charlie then comes
in to the rescue in which he is then integrated, yet again, to their friend group. Because of this
event, Patrick becomes thoroughly depressed and seeks the attention of Charlie for emotional
support. They get to the point of kissing because of the influence of alcohol but they both
acknowledge it as Patrick just being sad. Eventually, after taking Charlie to the parking lot where gay
men interact privately, Patrick spots Brad in there too, which promptly shakes him up. After this,
Patrick decides to pull himself together and finally move on.

At the end of the school year, Charlie becomes more and more anxious again as the thought of
his friends, who are seniors, moving away after graduation becomes more and more imminent. The
friend group spends the last couple of days of them being high schoolers by organizing parties and
hangouts, just like what they used to do. In one instance during the night before Sam moves out to
college, she and Charlie begins to kiss and start to have sexual contact. Charlie gets extremely
uncomfortable because this triggered him to dredge up a repressed memory of his Aunt Helen
molesting him as a child.

In an epilogue, Charlie writes his final letter to his “friend”. The letter was sent two months after
the last letter of his. His parents found him “naked” in a couch, starting at the television that isn’t
even on. His parents found him and he was catatonic or wasn’t responding to them. This prompted
them to take him to a mental hospital where it was then revealed that the memories about him
getting molested by his aunt wasn’t just a bad dream. Charlie then forgives his Aunt Helen. The
 novel ends with him promising to start participating more in his life and that he planned that he will
stop writing letters to his “friend”.

IV. ANALYSIS

• Establish how the author's life and times are reflected in the story (Biographical/Historical
Approach)

Stephen Chbosky grew up in Sr. Clair, a suburb in Pennsylvania that is much like the setting of
The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He was highly influenced by J.D. Salinger which published the book The
Catcher in the Rye. Many of Chbosky’s critiques criticized him and his book as just a pale imitation of J.D.
Salinger’s. However, many readers actually loved it, two teenagers even said that it saved them from
committing suicide. By the year 2000, the novel had swelled up and gathered a cult following not just
from teens but also adults.

Part of the reason why the book was a commercial success was because it was also culturally
relatable. Not only was the story good but it also portrayed it realistically. It wasn’t concerned with
anything unusual, especially with the lives of the teenagers at the time. Cultural icons such as music, film
and books are highly present in the tale. This made it acceptable. It was a brutally honest depiction of
what a teenager at the time in that place was exposed to, albeit good or not.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower contains many references to cult classics both during the time of
its writing and the decades before that. One major trait that the author incorporated to one of its
characters, Charlie, is him having keen interest in reading. Charlie is usually seen mentioning one or
several books at a time when he is writing letters to his friend. As a young high schooler, Chbosky sent
an anonymous letter to the author of Rebel Without a Cause which featured an iconic, young, rebellious
hero, much like Charlie’s friends in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. To add to the rebellious theme, his
friends also introduced him to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of the most legendary cult films of all
time.

The book also deals with much serious topics such as addiction, drug use, abortion, suicide, and
homosexuality, which at the time was very prominent, even as a teenager. Because of its controversial
content, many schools in the US have actually decided to ban them from their shelves. Despite all of
these, The Perks of Being a Wallflower still remains to be one of the most critically acclaimed novels up
to this day.
• Look into the elements in the story (plot/narrative structure/ op setting/characters, foreshadowing)
and how they all create a unified text (Formalism)

The first letter starts off saying “Dear friend, I am writing to you because she said you listen and
understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have” (Chbosky
2). The initial letter at first viewing, doesn’t let you know of what Charlie’s character is yet. Initially,
through this first statement, the fact that he might be an introvert is highly contested. This trait of his
then develops, as readers who go on to read his experiences throughout high school, we begin to
acknowledge him more for who he really is, and finally why he acts or says the things he wants to say.

His Aunt Helen is a character periodically mentioned throughout the book. She gets mentioned
ever so often when Charlie seeks to understand something, especially when he is sad. By the end of the
book, it is revealed to why he can be quiet, awkward, and sometimes be sexually frustrated. The
repressed memories of his Aunt Helen molesting him repeatedly when he was younger is what drives
him to a mental hospital for two months. We soon then realize that these traumatic events may be the
reason why Charlie is the way he is.

Though very subtle, the friends he met along the way also paid great significance in him finding
his true self. Through them, he had the courage to actually open up and eventually acknowledge his
insecurities. Sam who was his “crush”, is somewhat the reason why his repressed memory actually
surfaced.

Like every tunnel, it's a division of two places. In the novel, the tunnel symbolizes the division of
Charlie's life, before and after. As a child, he was different, but seen as normal by the people who are
around him. He is very intelligent yet at times, can become very unreasonable. There are situations
wherein he would do or say something that is deemed as weird and the reader might find it very funny
not considering the reason why he does what he does. Unexpectedly, this weirdness of him is what
drives him to meet new friends.

-How interesting is the plot? Can the author sustain the plot throughout the book? is the plot
confusing?

The plot of the book can more than be understood by a teenager. It is presented in a way that it
can be easily understood and at the same time can be interpreted many ways. Many of the letters sent
by Charlie to his friend has time stamps. Charlie would occasionally mention specific months, weeks,
days and even time during the day. This gives a better understanding to what is happening in the story
with relevance to time. It is coherent even if it jumps back from a story when he was younger and to the
present. Surprisingly enough, it is very relatable which makes it not confusing. There are experiences by
Charlie and the people around him that can make the reader very nostalgic and feel home to. Events
such as prom, graduation, family gatherings to name a few.

-How believable are the characters? Do you care about them? Can you tell them apart, or do they all
sound the same, especially in dialogue?

Chbosky introduced a material that made the characters memorable. Each of them was unique.
Not only that but also, they were almost realistic to the point that they can be compared to a real-life
person, someone in our own lives has a Sam, Patrick, or even a Charlie. No two characters in the story
sounded the same as they were all interpreted by Charlie. Sam spoke softly as to Patrick was more
vulgar, Mary Elizabeth talked like Mary Elizabeth and Grandpa talked like a Grandpa. It might very well
be very different on how they actually sounded compared to what Charlie thought they sounded. The
characters’ words when quoted are as brutally honest as they could get. They aren’t sugarcoated to fit
the narrative of a socially acceptable book. With that in mind, profanity was highly featured especially
when put in situations suited for them.

Nonetheless, the portrayal of each character and how they develop is realistic for me. Charlie
has flaws as well as his friends and in general, the people around him. They interact in a way that is
suited in every situation they are in. Although beginning as a wallflower, Charlie blooms into a person
who is quite noticeable, much like an ornamental plant with bright petals placed on a coffee table.

-How does this book compare to other books in the same genre?

Coming of Age or Young Adult books have a lot in common. The style of writing varies from
author to author of course. In this instance, Perks of Being a Wallflower were highly influenced by books
of genres outside of its own. Growth and development of the characters are its driving theme and I
suppose that’s what most books of the same genre have very well in common. Although drugs, sex and
alcohol were a common reoccurrence throughout the story, I don’t think other books of the same genre
could get anymore close into vividly describing how they are seen through the eyes of a teenager.
 The genre often portrays teenager without realizing much of the needed context on the writing.
For example, minute details are what creates a sense of realism. Other books may exaggerate and even
create stories that are realistic which makes them dull and repetitive.

-How well does the author create mood through setting? Can the action be visualized?

“There's something about that tunnel that leads to downtown. It's glorious at night. Just
glorious. You start on one side of the mountain, and it's dark, and the radio is loud. As you enter the
tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust to the
lights, you can see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because
the waves just can't reach. Then, you're in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm
dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can't get there fast enough. And finally, just when
you think you'll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back
even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the
bridge. And there it is. The city. A million lights and buildings and everything seems as exciting as the
first time you saw it. It really is a grand entrance.” With this line nearing the end of the book, you can
almost feel the evening breeze and the feeling of both excitement and nervousness Charlie had while
driving to his friends to celebrate Christmas. Chbosky managed to create such hypnotic but at the same
time, coherent writing in the story. He truly puts the readers perspective to the all of the characters
senses. Everything is highly visualized and detailed down to the most unconventional and unnoticeable
characteristic of everything Charlie experiences. At times you become so pulled into how he creates
scenarios that you can literally visualize them.

-If there is humor, does it work?

Chbosky introduces humor very subtly. One might find something funny because of Charlie’s
repetitive and stupid questions to his dad or laugh about the thought of visualizing Charlie wearing an
underwear during a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Humor works by making the reader
relate to something that the character’s experience. It is a feeling of nostalgia that Chbosky incorporates
with humor. Adults and teenagers could appreciate this way of portraying humor because it is an
indirect way of making someone think of something and finding comedic value off it. Though the story
revolves around very specifically serious topics, it is honest enough to find humor in even the most
serious times. Take for example, the time when Charlie decides to “cheat” on Mary Elizabeth. Charlie
goes on to be upset about the experience but after a while of driving with Patrick, he becomes more and
more relaxed because of Patrick’s jokes. Charlie begins to laugh and I as a reader, joins in too.

The usage of humor in the form of nostalgia and pure stupidity is a remarkable feat by Chbosky.
It is something that can’t be replicated without the knowledge and experience on things that we have
felt firsthand. It is brutally honest and shocking considering the fact that things such as drugs and sex are
what teenagers at the time were actually real. The story takes this in context and manages to create an
atmosphere of humor.

-Is the narration consistent throughout?

Chbosky made the book to appeal not only to a young audience but also to every reader. The
narration throughout the book was very consistent and clear. It depicted time very realistically through
the usage of things that have relevance to the current situation. Charlie often mentions this by
describing the current situation of his life, his friend’s and at the same time his family. Chbosky makes it
clear that the one receiving the letters has everything figured out and does not leave anything out of
context. Each letter becomes useless without reading the others. They are pieces of puzzles that are
needed to be connected for the whole picture to be seen as complete.

-What style of writing did the author use?

The book is narrated through the point of view of the main character Charlie. He writes letters
and sends them to an unknown individual. These letters are what comprises the content of the book and
the story lies inside of them. It is an epistolary novel, which is a form of writing with the usage of letters,
diaries and other documents. The word epistolary is derived from Latin from the Greek word epistolē,
meaning a letter. This form of story-telling made it a much more different experience. It introduced a
new way of understanding through a more personal approach.

• Examine the psyches and behaviors of the major characters and establish how the same or different
these are with/from reality

(Psychoanalysis/Psychological Approach)

According to the Oxford Dictionary tone is defined as - "the general character or attitude of a place,
piece of writing, situation etc. Charlie's Aunt Helen is "his favorite person in the whole world". Charlie
says that his Aunt Helen was the only person who would always get him two presents on his birthday,
one for his birthday, and one for Christmas since his birthday was on the 24 th of December. She was
extremely troubled growing up, being born to a poor household with an abusive father. Her experiences
not only affect her, but Charlie as well. Aunt Helen died in a car crash while she was on her way to buy
Charlie his presents, therefore leaving Charlie feeling responsible for the death of his Aunt. This
portrayal of an abusive family member is more than realistic. A number of researches and statistics
often say that a family member is more than likely to sexually abuse a child than someone who is not.
Aunt Helen was depicted as someone that was loved and revered to as Charlie’s only friend during his
childhood. Considering the possibility that Charlie may have autistic traits, this may have prompted his
aunt to take advantage of him.

Meanwhile, Patrick, Sam's step-brother, who is homosexual. Patrick is Charlie's first friend in high
school, he unknowingly befriended him during an introverted interaction at a football game. He is
depicted as a happy, outgoing, and funny guy. Patrick is in a romantic relationship with Brad, the
quarterback at their high school, but their relationship is kept under wraps. Patrick is an accurate
portrayal of a closeted gay, but rather open person. He is depicted as one of the roundest characters in
the story having just one major interaction with the main character which prompted him to change for
the better.

Sam is Charlie's crush, and Patrick's step-sister. She was thought to be an older sister figure for Charlie
as she tries to guide him in his new experiences. Sam accepts Charlie for who he is, introduces him to
her friend group in a house party, even though he's a freshman while she’s a senior. Sam is depicted as
supportive, non-judgmental, has good taste in music and most importantly, beautiful. Realistically
speaking, we all have a Sam in our life. With disregard with the gender or sex of a person, we look up to
someone who might be older than us and acknowledges them as great companions. Crushes develop
mainly because of surface attraction; Sam is what we call an accurate portrayal of an ideal person.

The tone Charlie has throughout the story is hard to convey considering the factors that may affect the
way you do so. Charlie pieces his words in a way that the only way you could understand him is to
pretend that we are him. In this way, his tone makes us understand him completely, because it makes
you feel like you can fully read his mind, and just envision him as an individual, whether it’s the way he
thinks, talks and acts. He often can describe things that can be visualized and, in this way, you could
truly understand him in every situation.
 Charlie even mentions the time when his mentor and teacher Bill commended his writing. " Bill
gave me a C on my To Kill A Mockingbird essay because he said that I run my sentences together. I am
trying to now practice not to do that. He also said that I should use vocabulary words like "corpulent"
and "jaundice". I would use them here, but I really don't think they are appropriate in this format."

The novel is told in his perspective, in letters from him to an unknown "friend". He is the
"Wallflower" in the novel. Charlie is a quiet, young boy, facing the obstacles of freshman year. Charlie's
shy and timid personality makes him misunderstood and unnoticed. These characteristics might be
common to some of us today but experts say that these traits are most commonly found in patients who
had a traumatic experiences or people who have autism. In some passages, Charlie would talk start by
telling a story and invertedly switch into a topic unrelated to the original. This way of portrayal becomes
evident throughout the novel as it starts in subtle and intensifies during specific parts.

• Establish the morale of the story (Moral/Philosophical Approach)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower champions and celebrates inclusivity and tolerance by showing both
how people can blossom when they are accepted for who they really are and how painful life can be for
people who are ignored or abused. When Charlie enters high school, he is withdrawn and doesn’t know
his place. He tries not to be social because he is actively grappling with the pain of the two traumatic
deaths of people close to him, in a way, he is still mourning. Charlie is portrayed as an outcast; without
some he can truly trust and open up to. Soon, however, two people, Sam and Patrick, becomes close to
him. Charlie’s friends’ participation in the likes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the frequent
hangouts they organize with the presence of alcohol and drugs, clearly demonstrates it is a necessity in
all friend groups for everyone to feel both completely included and utterly uninhibited.
The effects of being rejected by a person or by society are devastating. Charlie’s grandfather is
inherently racist and homophobic as depicted with his derogatory comments during his sister’s
graduation and when Charlie kissed him on the cheek, and even though Charlie could understand his
Grandfather acts the way he acts, he still gets affected by them, it also makes family gatherings rather
challenging and awkward. Patrick also feels deeply excluded when Brad rejects his homosexuality and
therefore his relationship with Patrick. The two have carried on a closeted relationship throughout the
novel. Patrick’s friends include him and accept him, but Brad does not have a similar support network,
and with the lack of people who will accept him in his life, Brad cannot learn how to accept himself. At
the beginning of the novel, Bill tells Charlie, “We accept the love we think we deserve,” and this mantra
proves to be true throughout the book. The more inclusive and honest people are, and the more
accepting they are of each other, the more harmoniously everyone will be in the long run.

Throughout The Perks of Being a Wallflower, people can only fully develop into the best versions
of themselves when they voluntarily take charge of their lives and learn how to stand up for themselves,
rather than either standing off to the side all the time or lying down and letting others walk all over
them. In the very beginning of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Bill, Charlie’s English teacher, tells
Charlie that he has to start participating in his own life, rather than simply observing and taking in what
others are doing. Charlie’s friendships with Patrick and Sam arise as a result of him trying to participate
in events instead of standing aside and observing. He participates in his friendships by becoming an
extremely empathetic listener, he acts to how the situation before acting upon it. Charlie discovers that
true participation in his own life has many layers to offer. Participation does not only mean placing
himself in the middle of events, It also means standing up for himself and asserting his own needs,
rather than letting people walk all over him.
Participating in one’s own life is not necessarily always a happy experience; it can also be sometimes
haunting to see it the way people see you in their own perspective. Indeed, participation in life often
means confronting deep, raw emotions, something that Charlie and the other characters showed
through the length of the story. Many characters in The Perks of Being a Wallflower used coping
mechanisms that are rather harmful and damaging to try to escape from the harsh realities of life rather
than facing the truth. For example, Brad does not want to admit his homosexuality, so he dates a girl
and hooks up with Patrick on the side. When Brad is finally confronted with the choice to confess the
truth, he does not do so, instead choosing to suppress his emotions. Patrick, in turn, tries to numb
himself from the pain of rejection by drinking, kissing Charlie for emotional support, and having sexual
encounters with strange men in the park. Participation in life means facing hard situations and working
through them, rather than avoiding the issues or relying on emotional crutches to limp by.

V. CONCLUSION

The Perks of Being a Wallflower exemplifies the power of sorrow and joy in High School, where
suffering is invoked by mistakes and tragedies throughout each of the character’s lives, particularly
Charlie and his friend group, as well as the ideological implications of being a teenager which truly
make one feel invisible to the world, yet watched so closely, all at once.
 With this in mind though, I truly cannot commend Chbosky for writing such an outstanding
novel. In general, literature allows us to live other people’s lives through their stories and that’s
what Charlie did with his letters. We can discover what it is like to be a different gender or age, to
live in a different place or time with different values. In this way, reading becomes remarkable feat
of empathy and understanding. But occasionally we find a fictional scenario which in some way
matches our own circumstances so profoundly that there is no need for empathy, we just need
acknowledgement. When I first read The Perks of Being A Wallflower, I was Charlie. Although our
backgrounds were in some ways different, I had never, and have never since, read a textual
representation of teenage that matched my own experiences so well. This is the strength of
Chbosky’s writing. He crafts Charlie’s voice in a way that defies context. Charlie is inside every lonely
teenager and every adult remembers him fondly. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a masterpiece,
and to Stephen Chbosky I will always be grateful.

VI. REFERENCES

https://www.gradesaver.com/author/stephen-chbosky#:~:text=Stephen%20Chbosky%20is%20a
%20novelist,The%20Catcher%20in%20the%20Rye.

https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?aid=3751

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/movies/2011/06/01/The-perks-of-a-Pittsburgher-Back-home-
Stephen-Chbosky-directs-a-film-version-of-his-novel/stories/201106010170

https://scriptmag.com/interviews-features/screenwriter-noveliststephen-chbosky-rebel-with-a-
cause-2

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/autism/what-is-autism-spectrum-disorder

https://raisingchildren.net.au/autism/learning-about-autism/assessment-diagnosis/signs-of-asd-in-
teens#:~:text=Nonverbal%20communication-,Older%20children%20and%20teenagers%20with
%20ASD%20might%3A,is%20teasing%20them%20using%20sarcasm

https://www.healthline.com/health/autism-in-teens

http://www.layouth.com/interview-with-stephen-chbosky-author-of-the-perks-of-being-a-
wallflower/

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-671-02734-6
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/08colli.html?_r=0

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epistolary

https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202123/http://www.wordriot.org/template.php?ID=552

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/catcher-in-the-rye-is-published

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_(magazine)

https://sites.psu.edu/comparingbooktomovie/2014/03/05/week-4-the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower/

https://theperksofbeinga-wallflower.weebly.com/similarities.html

https://perksofbeingawallflower.fandom.com/wiki/Charlie%27s_Lists

IV. ELECTRONIC COPY OF THE BOOK

https://www.pdfdrive.com/perks-of-being-a-wallflower-pdf-e6813144.html