TW: Before I start, this is my official trigger warning. The content that I am going to be speaking about has references to mental health issues, suicide, sexual abuse and substance abuse. If you wish to disconnect from audio due to sensitive content, this is the time. Thank you.
“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.” If this isn’t the most relatable and relevant quote for a teenager in the 21st century, I don’t know what is. I have experienced the pure delight of reading this, along with many other life-changing quotes and experiences, in one of my all-time favorite texts- The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by the ever talented Stephen Chbosky.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel, where the narrator is a young introvert boy but intelligent with unconventional thinking capacities, called Charlie. “He’s a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.” as Patrick said in the book. The story revolves around a series of
letters that he writes to a stranger, beginning the night before he starts his freshman year of high school in 1991 cataloguing his experiences as he wanders wide eyed through a series of house parties and Rocky Horror Picture Show productions with his new, older friends, the world of first dates and mixtapes, family dramas, sex and drugs. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school, to navigate your life when everyone else seems to
know exactly what they are doing and to not lose yourself while finding your way. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts Charlie on a strange course through uncharted territory. Although the book is, at times, very upsetting, it is ultimately uplifting and life-affirming. This is a story well known, a
story that has impacted the lives of many, and those who have read it can certainly agree with this.
But the part of this book that makes me fall in love with it all over again, every time I caress its pages is the way Chbosky intelligently explores stock YA themes whilst simultaneously reminding the reader about how exciting it is to be young and idealistic. The book covers a variety of topics, which could not be more relevant to our generation, like- physical and mental health, consent and sexual abuse, substance abuse, figuring out and accepting one’s sexuality, abortion, pornography, suicide and self harm, sexual advances, self-love and bullying. These topics are so essential and crucial for our generation to understand. It is so important for us to realise that everyone around us might be going through something, like in the book- where Sam who was sexually assaulted as a child, Patrick who is having a tough time understanding his sexuality and asking others
to understand it back, Charlie who has repressed memories of sexual abuse at the heart of all the trauma like self harm he has been processing the entire time, his sister who keeps herself trapped in an abusive relationship and ends up pregnant, Craig who has trouble being loyal, Mary Elizabeth with her self esteem issues, Brad: a clossetted homosexual who is supressing his sexuality due to his oppresive father, Bob who is a drug addict, Charlie’s dad: who left his sister and mother under the care of an abusive man, and he’s never forgiven himself, Aunt Helen who molested Charlie, Charlie’s grandfather who frequently makes racist and homophobic remarks and Micheal who committed suicide due to depression- is fighting their own battles and how these battles get just a little harder when you step into the blackhole that high school can be.
What makes Chbosky’s stream of consciousness style beautiful, is the lyrical, philosophical nature of the prose. At one point, Charlie starts going to the mall simply to try and figure out why people go there. He sees “Old men sitting alone. Young girls with blue eyeshadow and awkward jaws. Little kids who look tired.” “It all felt very unsettling” to him. The writing here is so rhythmic that it’s almost hypnotic. I love the control that Chbosky exercises: he demonstrates Charlie’s deteriorating mental health to the reader simply by having him see sadness wherever he goes. Beyond the writing style, there is still a lot to like about the novel. The cast of characters is diverse. The female characters are numerous and as well developed as their male counterparts. Chbosky’s approach is always unflinching, even when the content is upsetting. Underpinning everything is a
desire to acknowledge the complexities in other people, an understanding that nobody does bad stuff because they are innately bad.
The discussion around homosexuality in the book is another thing that makes me sing its praises. It can be very hard, I have heard from friends, especially in our country which has so many beliefs and conventional practices that go against same-gender love, to own what you are and who you love. It can be very hard to
accept the way you feel and even harder, to expect others to accept your truth as well. That craving of love and acceptance comes from our basic nature as humans- and that has been portrayed beautifully in this book. Charlie used to kiss boys in the neighbourhood when he was little and is very aware that this concerned his father. Similarly, Charlie’s grandfather doesn’t like to hug family members – especially the boys. The contrast between the older generations’ fear of homosexuality and Charlie’s acceptance of Patrick is indicative of the way that society’s response to homosexuality was changing in the 1990s. It also has a kind of didactic purpose in showing the reader that it’s ok to be gay, which I think is particularly important in YA fiction. Charlie worded it the best, “So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
Talking about love, one of my most favourite quotes from the book is when Sam goes “We accept the love we think we deserve.” This quote, although it has simple diction, has such a deep meaning. It comes during such a pivotal point in the story, a point where a new bond between Sam and Charlie has been established, a more intimate one- a point where they can both understand each other and what they have gone through. In this age of social media and the internet, all of us crave a stamp of acceptance, something- anything that tells us we’ve fit in, that we’ve made it. And so in this cycle, we tend to lose sight of our self worth. We accept whatever we get, even when it is not enough. This quote made me reflect on my worth of myself at so many levels and to think, how much it can help you, once you read it.
Another reason why I think this book is worth reading is because of the level of relatability it contains. Throughout the book, there come so many moments- when Charlie is with his family or even his friends- that we can actually see and understand what the author is trying to say. More importantly, it makes us feel understood that we are not the only ones going through this. Charlie once said, “I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won’t tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn’t change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have.”, and I don’t think I have ever understood anything more.
A great part of this book is how it makes you feel so big and so small at the same time. It can make you feel like the center of the universe- “I just want you to know that you’re very special… and the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has.” and it can draw your attention to the infinite beings in it- “ I
thought about how many people have loved those songs. And how many people got through a lot of bad times because of those songs. And how many people enjoyed good times with those songs. And how much those songs really mean. I think it would be great to have written one of those songs. I bet if I wrote one of them, I would be very proud. I hope the people who wrote those songs are happy. I hope they feel it’s enough. I really do because they’ve made me happy. And I’m only one person.” and “And all the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. and that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing ‘unity.”.
This story will make you reflect on every little thing you have heard, seen, tasted- known in your lifetime. Charlie said “I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a
mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.”
This story is like a rollercoaster. It talks about self-love and self-worth, it is amazingly relatable, it can make you feel so big and so small at the same time- it can make you feel like the center of the universe and it can draw your attention to the infinite beings in it. It will make you reflect on every little thing you have heard,
seen, tasted- known in your lifetime.
All in all, I cannot recommend The Perks of Being A Wallflower highly enough. In general, literature allows us to live other people’s lives through their stories. 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 is a remarkable feat of empathy. But occasionally we find a fictional scenario which in some way matches our own circumstances so profoundly that there is no need for empathy. I had never read a textual representation of adolescence 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 gift, and to Stephan Chbosky I will always be grateful.
I wish to end with my most favourite quote from this book, “And in that moment, I swear we were infinite”.
Interview Questions
The mental health and general wellbeing of teenagers is a widely discussed topic today. How do you think this text is relevant to teenagers and issues that they may face?
(As mentioned before) The book touches upon a plethora of issues that teenagers face in their lives and I feel that it is very important and applaudable that it does, so authentically and fiercely. I feel it’s relevant because we need to understand that even teenagers go through tough situations in life, and that it is okay and they need to be discussed more- spoken about more. The text speaks about so many taboo topics- mental health, sexual and substance abuse, homosexuality and I urge everyone to read it, to understand and there are others who understand.
A young adult coming of age novel is not hard to come by; how was this text dif erent in changing your perspective and opinions?
– Raw and honest- narration (way of speaking), diction and description
– Multiple perspectives have been provided
– Realistic and relatable situations
– Captivating and reflective quotes
Brief for the magazine/PPT
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel, where the narrator is a young introvert boy but intelligent with unconventional thinking capabilities, called Charlie. The story revolves around a series of letters that he writes to a stranger, beginning the night before he starts his freshman year of high school in 1991 cataloguing his experiences as he wanders wide eyed through a series of house parties and Rocky Horror Picture Show productions with his new, older friends, the world of first dates and mixtapes, family dramas, sex and drugs. This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school, to navigate your life when everyone else seems to know exactly what they are doing and to not lose yourself while finding your way. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts Charlie on a strange course through uncharted territory. Although the book is, at times, very upsetting, it is ultimately uplifting and life-affirming. The book makes you realise that everyone around us might be going through something, everyone is fighting their own battles- and how these battles get just a little harder when you step into the blackhole that high school can be.
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