The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Author's Craft

In “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, the protagonist, teenage Charlie, finds himself alone after a traumatising childhood, including the death of his aunt, and the suicide of his best friend, the two only people he trusted. This loneliness causes him to constantly worry about relating to others and forming connections, connections which would be a way out of his isolation. Stephen Chbosky uses flashbacks, first person narrative, and symbolism to show Charlie’s longing for ways to relate.

Chbosky’s use of letters to narrate the story is the first thing that hints at Charlie’s loneliness. Chbosky uses the letters in order to demonstrate his urgent need for companionship. Charlie begins his first letter “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,” immediately revealing to the audience that he needs someone to be there for him. Someone to listen, and someone to understand. Chbosky uses the letters to confirm Charlie’s lack of proper attention in his immediate life and therefore his need to write letters to someone he has never met, simply in order to have someone he can talk to. As the book progresses, and Charlie finds real people that know and appreciate him, the letters became a place for him to understand himself. He even states in one of his last letters “how [letters] were better than a diary because there is communion and a diary can be found,” further developing the idea that Charlie simply needed to figure out his feelings in a way where he felt understood, and a part of something. He needed to feel as if someone cared.

Charlie’s need to know that people understood, and cared, seems to have developed at a young age, as expressed by Chbosky’s use of flashbacks. “When I was very little, I remember going to sleep while my brother and sister and Aunt Helen watched [TV Shows]. I could never stay awake when I was that little and I wish I could, because my brother and sister talk about those moments sometimes.” Charlie yearns to be able to relate with his siblings over anything, even something as small as staying up to watch television. This can be linked to both Charlie’s loneliness and the insecurities he has based around his importance in other people’s lives. Charlie’s requirement to feel needed leads to his tendency to “be there” for people, even if they really need honesty. Numerous time throughout the book, Charlie remains in situations most people would not be in, simply because he enjoys the attention. Charlie remained an accomplice in his friend Patrick’s drunken ways to cope with pain, because he enjoyed being the one Patrick wanted around. This has been a trend since his childhood, where people’s trust in him makes him feel like they trust him to understand. “I walked to the kitchen, and I saw my dad making a sandwich... and crying. [...] Then, he walked up, patted my shoulder, and said, “This is our little secret, okay, champ?” When Charlie has meaningful one-on-one interactions with people, he feels as though he is important enough for the other person to share that with him, giving him a sense of importance.

Charlie’s severe, and long term, loneliness is heightened and made more impactful due to Chbosky’s use of first person narrative. This, along with the narrative style, with the use of letters, creates a deep connection with Charlie, and makes the audience feel his emotions almost as intensely. The first person narrative also gives the reader insight into Charlie’s thoughts and motivations, helping to build the connection between his insecurity and his loneliness. He was so unsure of himself, that he was unable to go out of his way to interact with others, leaving him trapped in this inescapable pit of friendlessness. As he learns from his english teacher to “participate” and encounters two friends to help him escape his shell, he is able to easily interact with others, without getting overwhelmed around people he knew cared. “It was especially fun to think that people all over the world were having similar conversations in their versions of the Big Boy.” As his isolation lessened, he was able to not only feel unity with his friends, but feel unity with those his age everywhere, giving him a sense of normalcy. Charlie also gained a sense of communion from this, needing to rely less and less on his “escape”, or his letters, and eventually not needing to write them at all. He enjoyed knowing that he was having similar experiences to teenagers everywhere, without needing to send his thoughts to someone he at one point thought could relate. He could finally relate to those around him.

“The Perks of Being A Wallflower” perfectly captures the need for unity during adolescence, and the need to understand others who feel the same way. Charlie’s long journey to find those who provided him a sense of communion allowed him to understand himself, before leaning on those who cared to build his adult identity. All of this leaves us to wonder - what about togetherness is so appealing as a teenager? Is it the idea that people understand you, or is it more of a way to know you are safe?

By Akanksha