Characters and Plot
There are 3 main characters in The Perk of Being a Wallflower. The three main characters are Charlie, Sam, and Patrick. There are other characters that you hear throughout the story such as, Mr.Anderson ,Mary Elizabeth, Brad, Craig, Alice, Candice, and aunt Helen. Although there are many other characters. The story revolves around charlie and his life. He is trying to cope with the loss of his only middle school friend who committed suicide and his favorite aunt named Helen who died when Charlie was just a kid. And to top it all off he is just starting high school. He is very anxious and nerves to start high school. He doesn't know anyone, he is antisocial and he has depression. To handle all of this stress and anxiety of starting high school he writes letters to a "friend." Charlie enjoys writing and he is quite good at it. His writing helps him cope with starting high school. Charlie meets two Senors, Sam and Patrick. They take him in and become close friends. Sam and Patrick show him the "ways of life." They introduce Charlie to drugs, alcohol, and parties. Through out the book Charlie and his friends Sam and Patrick go through things or problems. They have their ups and downs just like any other set of friends. They are all just trying to find them self's and who they are. Charlie often experiences a lot of depression and flashbacks of his aunt Helen who died. For example when his friends are going away to college he has a hard time with that especially at school. He is feeling very depressed at that point.
Themes
There are definitely Many themes throughout this book. One of the themes would be accepting who you are even if you are different, This is one of the themes because even though Charlie has all these issues Sam and Patrick still accepted him and became friends with him. Even though he was this awkward antisocial kid Patrick and Sam still accepted Charlie as his friend. (chapters 1). Another reason this is one of the themes is because Patrick is gay and he never denies that he is gay. He is not ashamed to be gay he knows who/how he is and he doesn't try to hide it or isn't ashamed of his sexual preference. Another theme that could be found in this book is friendship. One way friendship is a theme in this book is that you can become friends with anybody no matter the age. For example Charlie is just a 15 year old freshman while Sam and Patrick are senors. Another example of friendships is no matter the problems they may have, arguments or fights they have they will always be friends in the end.(chapter 3/4) Another theme in this book is that being a teen is hard. Throughout the book Charlie and his friends go through things. For example through out the book Charlie keeps having flashbacks of his aunt Helen who died. Every time he has a flash back he goes back to his depression or he goes further with is depression. He gets into his feelings and he just starts over thinking and all that does is it takes him back to that bad place that he tries so hard not to be in. And Patrick on one occasion gets picked on by the football team because of his sexual preferences. For example with out giving to much away Patrick has a secret relationship with the one of the quarterbacks of the football team named Brad. This relationship brings or causes many problems mainly due to the fact no one knows about them and because no one knows Brad Is gay.
There are definitely Many themes throughout this book. One of the themes would be accepting who you are even if you are different, This is one of the themes because even though Charlie has all these issues Sam and Patrick still accepted him and became friends with him. Even though he was this awkward antisocial kid Patrick and Sam still accepted Charlie as his friend. (chapters 1). Another reason this is one of the themes is because Patrick is gay and he never denies that he is gay. He is not ashamed to be gay he knows who/how he is and he doesn't try to hide it or isn't ashamed of his sexual preference. Another theme that could be found in this book is friendship. One way friendship is a theme in this book is that you can become friends with anybody no matter the age. For example Charlie is just a 15 year old freshman while Sam and Patrick are senors. Another example of friendships is no matter the problems they may have, arguments or fights they have they will always be friends in the end.(chapter 3/4) Another theme in this book is that being a teen is hard. Throughout the book Charlie and his friends go through things. For example through out the book Charlie keeps having flashbacks of his aunt Helen who died. Every time he has a flash back he goes back to his depression or he goes further with is depression. He gets into his feelings and he just starts over thinking and all that does is it takes him back to that bad place that he tries so hard not to be in. And Patrick on one occasion gets picked on by the football team because of his sexual preferences. For example with out giving to much away Patrick has a secret relationship with the one of the quarterbacks of the football team named Brad. This relationship brings or causes many problems mainly due to the fact no one knows about them and because no one knows Brad Is gay.