By Tiffany Ayuda
Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows the underdog of underdogs; a remarkable story of a smart, awkward teenage boy named Charlie through his years of high school in a constantly changing world. The story recounts the year 1991, Charlie's sophomore year of high school. Through Charlie's letters to an anonymous friend, he reveals the secrets, lies and triumphs of growing up. The beginning of the story tragically opens with the suicide of Charlie's friend Michael; it is then that Charlie develops the habit of writing letters to relieve his sorrow. Charlie's grief becomes very overwhelming, hindering him from making new friends, appreciating his talents and giftedness which his teachers incessantly compliment him with, and even being in a relationship with a girl. As the "wallflower," Charlie observes and experiences the usual tribulations of a teenager.
Charlie makes friends with a group of seniors, Michael who is gay, Sam who is pretty, Craig who is Sam's boyfriend and Mary Elizabeth who is intelligent. Through this group of seniors, Charlie takes away the greatest lesson of growing up. Charlie's relationship with Patrick causes him to come out of the closet. On top of this, his love for Sam teaches him heartbreak. In addition, the exposure of the issues of sex, drugs and alcohol are a part of Charlie's accounts. There is one incident in which Charlie is at a party, and he is tempted to give into peer pressure. In the letters, Charlie also includes his family's problems, such as, his sister's dysfunctional relationship with her abusive boyfriend. When his sister discovers that she is pregnant, Charlie supports her when she needs an abortion. He is also Patrick's only friend when he is gay-bashed. In a sense, Charlie's letters are a confessional; they are written out of his sorrow, fears, joy and the reality of life as a teenager.
From this shocking story of growing up, readers can do much more than relate to the character Charlie; from his experiences, readers can take away what it is like to grow up in the early 1990s, when the issues of sex, drugs, and homosexuality have recently become exposed into the mainstream. In a picture perfect world of white picket fences and beautifully trimmed gardens, Charlie's confessional exposes the true image of a middle-class, suburban American life. Charlie writes that the average lifestyle is what is genuine because in reality not everything is perfect; the realities of life involve dealing with family problems, peer pressure, being in love, getting heartbroken, sexual frustration, drugs and ultimately, growing up. It is the image of perfection that prevents someone from experiencing life for what it truly is. As Charlie's sophomore year of high school comes to a close, he has come to a new revelation about life; he is older, not only in the literal sense, but he knows more about life than his peers. Because Charlie's senior friends are off to college, Charlie learns the lesson of growing up-the lesson of goodbye; to leave the past, live in the present and hope for the future.