August 25, 1991
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. Please don't try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don't want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don't want you to find me. I didn't enclose a return address for the same reason. I mean nothing bad by this. Honest. I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist. I think you of all people would understand that because I think you of all people are alive and appreciate what that means. At least I hope you do because other people look to you for strength and friendship and it's that simple. At least that's what I've heard. 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. I try to think of my family as a reason for me being this way, especially after my friend Michael stopped going to school one day last spring and we heard Mr. Vaughn's voice on the loudspeaker. "Boys and girls, I regret to inform you that one of our students has passed on. We will hold a memorial service for Michael Dobson during assembly this Friday. " I don't know how news travels around school and why it is very often right. Maybe it was in the lunchroom. It's hard to remember. But Dave with the awkward glasses told us that Michael killed himself. His mom played bridge with one of Michael's neighbors and they heard the gunshot. I don't really remember much of what happened after that except that my older brother came to Mr. Vaughn's office in my middle school and told me to stop crying. Then, he put his arm on my shoulder and told me to get it out of my system before Dad came home. We then went to eat french fries at McDonald's and he taught me how to play pinball. He even made a joke that because of me he got to skip an afternoon of school and asked me if I wanted to help him work on his Camaro. I guess I was pretty messy because he never let me work on his Camaro before. At the guidance counselor sessions, they asked the few of us who actually liked Michael to say a few words. I think they were afraid that some of us would try to kill ourselves or something because they looked very tense and one of them kept touching his beard.
Bridget who is crazy said that sometimes she thought about suicide when commercials come on during TV. She was sincere and this puzzled the guidance counselors. Carl who is nice to everyone said that he felt very sad, but could never kill himself because it is a sin. This one guidance counselor went through the whole group and finally came to me. "What do you think, Charlie?" What was so strange about this was the fact that I had never met this man because he was a "specialist" and he knew my name even though I wasn't wearing a name tag like they do in open house. "Well, I think that Michael was a nice guy and I don't understand why he did it. As much as I feel sad, I think that not knowing is what really bothers me. " I just reread that and it doesn't sound like how I talk. Especially in that office because I was crying still. I never did stop crying. The counselor said that he suspected that Michael had "problems at home" and didn't feel like he had anyone to talk to. That's maybe why he felt all alone and killed himself. Then, I started screaming at the guidance counselor that Michael could have talked to me. And I started crying even harder. He tried to calm me down by saying that he meant an adult like a teacher or a guidance counselor. But it didn't work and eventually my brother came by the middle school in his Camaro to pick me up. For the rest of the school year, the teachers treated me different and gave me better grades even though I didn't get any smarter. To tell you the truth, I think I made them all nervous. Michael's funeral was strange because his father didn't cry. And three months later he left Michael's mom. At least according to Dave at lunchtime. I think about it sometimes. I wonder what went on in Michael's house around dinner and TV shows. Michael never left a note or at least his parents didn't let anyone see it. Maybe it was "problems at home. " I wish I knew. It might make me miss him more clearly. It might have made sad sense. One thing I do know is that it makes me wonder if I have "problems at home" but it seems to me that a lot of other people have it a lot worse. Like when my sister's first boyfriend started going around with another girl and my sister cried for the whole weekend. My dad said, "There are other people who have it a lot worse. " And my mom was quiet. And that was that. A month later, my sister met another boy and started playing happy records again. And my dad kept working. And my mom kept sweeping. And my brother kept fixing his Camaro. That is, until he left for college at the beginning of the summer. He's playing football for Penn State but he needed the summer to get his grades right to play football. I don't think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football player and likes his car. My sister is very pretty and mean to boys and she is in the middle. I get straight A's now like my sister and that is why they leave me alone. My mom cries a lot during TV programs. My dad works a lot and is an honest man. My Aunt Helen used to say that my dad was going to be too proud to have a midlife crisis. It took me until around now to understand what she meant by that because he just turned forty and nothing has changed. My Aunt Helen was my favorite person in the whole world. She was my mom's sister. She got straight A's when she was a teenager and she used to give me books to read. My father said that the books were a little too old for me, but I liked them so he just shrugged and let me read. My Aunt Helen lived with the family for the last few years of her life because something very bad happened to her. Nobody would tell me what happened then even though I always wanted to know. When I was around seven, I stopped asking about it because I kept asking like kids always do and my Aunt Helen started crying very hard. That's when my dad slapped me, saying, "You're hurting your aunt Helen's feelings!" I didn't want to do that, so I stopped. Aunt Helen told my father not to hit me in front of her ever again and my father said this was his house and he would do what he wanted and my mom was quiet and so were my brother and sister. I don't remember much more than that because I started crying really hard and after a while my dad had my mom take me to my room. It wasn't until much later that my mom had a few glasses of white wine and told me what happened to her sister. Some people really do have it a lot worse than I do. They really do. I should probably go to sleep now. It's very late. I don't know why I wrote a lot of this down for you to read. The reason I wrote this letter is because I start high school tomorrow and I am really afraid of going.
Love always, Charlie
P3rksOfBeingAWallflower
Over view of the plot:
My novel was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” this book is about a young boy named Charlie who writes unique and funny letters in first person directed to the reader. He doesn’t tell us his real name nor the names of those who are around him, but rather uses generic names and never last names. This books takes place in the school year 1991/92. At the beginning of the book Charlie(the protagonist) is essentially a ‘wallflower’ but as the book continues he becomes more familiar with high-school and makes friends who introduce him to what its really like to be a teenager. Charlie is introduced to parties, sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, love, and the true meaning of friendship. He goes through some hard times around Christmas because of his childhood. Throughout the book Charlie is faced with many challenges one being helping his older sister when she gets herself into an abusive relationship and in a tight spot. This book is about learning from your mistakes and losing your childhood innocence. As the book goes on it is filled with talk of the future, flash backs of the past and things that happen through the year. The biggest challenge of Charlie’s childhood was the death of a close friend and also the death of a close relative. This book is the ride of growing up, and Charlie takes in everything that is going on in his world and relays to the reader perfectly.
What type of person would like your novel?
The type of person who would like this novel are people who like to read non-fiction novels that relate to being a teenager. So a parent of a teenager or a teenager themself would be the most interested in this book. The adult because then they can realize that a lot of teenagers go threw fazes, and everybody is different. They can learn that their son or daughter may not be perfect all the time and that everyone makes mistakes. A teenager would like this book because Charlie seems like he has multiple personalities and is never just a kid into drugs or just a boy who loves school. He’s literally all over the place, which makes him easy to relate to many different types of other teenagers.
When was it published? Author?
The author of this novel is Stephen Chbosky and it was published in February of 1999 by MTV networks.
What other books has this author written?
Stephen Chbosky has written unproduced screen plays, a book called pieces, a semi-biography and wrote the screen play, was the co-creator and was the executive producer for a movie called Rent.
Novel’s strengths?
To me, the biggest strength of this novel is that it’s really easy to relate to, and that Charlie seems like a typical teenager with a bit of a twist. Another thing I really love is that it’s not like any other book I’ve ever read. Not only is this book set up in letters which is unusual, so it doesn’t have chapters; but it also has so much going on but not too much going on as to confuse the reader that keeps it both interesting and fairly easy to read and understand.
Novel’s Weaknesses?
One weakness of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is that some of Charlie’s language is very advanced. Sometimes the book can be hard to understand because you are reading and you stumble upon a word you’ve never even heard of before. Another example of a weakness is that you never who Charlie’s “friend” is, which is quite disappointing because you read dozen’s of letters all addressed to as “dear friend,” and you never get to discover who that “friend” really is. Another weakness I found was the fact that the location in which Charlie lives, is never enclosed.
Themes?
The main theme is this novel is loss of innocence. At first Charlie is completely in hate with school, he loves his classes but he isn’t very social like his older siblings. At this point Charlie isn’t really sure how to socialize and expand on his friends. He’s only really ever had one friend; Michael. It isn’t until he meets Sam and Patrick that he first discovers what it’s like to live your life, and this is when he first starts to lose his innocence and learn from his mistakes.
Protagonist? Is he or she interesting?
The protagonist in this novel is a boy names Charlie. Charlie is honestly the most interesting character I’ve ever read about. His character has so much personality its insane. He’s unlike any other person even in a fictional book. Charlie is the type of person who would rather “watch from the sidelines” then participate in what life really is. He does not dance at dances, he does not go on dates, he never use to even go to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” until Sam and Patrick came along. He’s a very interesting and focused character. Charlie some what tries to fit in, by doing the same things Sam and Patrick do. They are after all his best-friends and two of the three he’s ever had. He doesn’t want to lose them and be left alone with just his thoughts again.
Setting?
This novel’s location is actually kept anonymous just like all the Characters in it and who Charlie’s “friend” actually is.
